Kate Ferdinand steps down as head of donut shop business ‘following legal dispute over her investment in the company’
Kate Ferdinand quit her donut shop business following a reported legal battle over the venture.
The former TOWIE star, 31, stepped down as head of Dolly Donuts earlier this month and removed the store’s handle from her Instagram bio.
The company’s Instagram account has been set to private and says the business is now “temporarily closed.”
Following Kate’s resignation, her friend Lisa Moralee remains the only active director of the company.
The Bromley business first opened during the Covid-19 pandemic before receiving a cash injection from Kate, her husband Rio, 44, and Lisa.
Withdrawal: Kate Ferdinand has left her donut shop business following a reported legal battle over the venture
Business: The former TOWIE star, 31, stepped down as head of Dolly Donuts earlier this month and removed the store’s handle from her Instagram bio
Closed: The company’s Instagram account has been set to private and says the business is now ‘temporarily closed’
In November, Kate was accused of trying to force baker Aimee Clayton out of Dolly Donuts and even offered to buy her out of the business for just £37.
A source told The Sun the line had gotten “very ugly”.
The shop, which was founded as a family business, specializes in candy and even employed Rio’s brother, Jeremiah.
However, according to reports, things turned sour between baker Aimee and her investors and she left as head of the company last year, just months after the shop opened.
A source told the publication: ‘Aimee has gone legal after feeling sidelined from her own business. Things have come to a head and Aimee has started a legal case. She has become very ugly.
Kate and Lisa were named “persons with significant control” within the business before being named directors in September 2021.
It comes after Kate gave social media followers a second look at her growing baby bump on Monday, just over a day after confirming her pregnancy and six months after suffering a miscarriage.
The former TV personality, who is already mother to son Cree, two, with husband Rio, confirmed the news in a pregnancy reveal video over the weekend.
From sweet to sour: Kate was accused of trying to force baker Aimee Clayton (pictured) out of Dolly’s Donuts and even offered to buy her out of the company for just £37
She’s waiting: Kate recently gave social media followers a second look at her growing baby bump
Blended family: The former TOWIE star is also a stepmother to Tate, Lorenz and Tia, her husband Rio’s children, from his first marriage
Returning to Instagram, Kate shared a bathroom selfie as she thanked fans for their positive messages following her surprise announcement on Sunday.
She also confessed to being worried about her pregnancy as a result of her recent miscarriage.
Captioning the post, she wrote: ‘Thank you so much for all your lovely messages, we are all so excited! I’m so happy to have shared this with you, I’ve found it hard to keep this quiet.
Kate, who is also a stepmother to Rio’s husband’s children Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 11, from his first marriage, welcomed son Cree with the retired footballer in December 2020.
She later suffered a miscarriage in July 2022, shortly after finding out she was pregnant with a second child.