The Chase star Mark Labbett ‘is dating TV presenter Hayley Palmer’

The Chase star Mark Labbett is reportedly dating TV presenter Hayley Palmer after splitting from his wife Katie.

Sources claim the TV star, 57, best known for his alter-ego The Beast, courted the GB News presenter on a series of dates after being ‘friends for a while’.

It is thought that the pair took their romance public this week by enjoying a date on the beach in Portsmouth.

It comes after Mark split from wife Hayley in 2020 after seven years of marriage, blaming lockdown, mental health and their huge age difference as the causes of their relationship ending.

A source told The sun“They’ve been friends for a while and lately it’s blossomed into something more.

“Mark and Hayley have been keeping it low key, but this week they went on a day date.

“The beach was busy and there were a lot of people around, but they were both comfortable with people who saw them as a couple, not just friends.”

MailOnline has reached out to representatives for Mark Labbett and Hayley Palmer for comment.

Hayley, who regularly appears on GB News, hosts shows like At Home With Hayley and Saturday Night With Hayley Palmer, and she met Mark through her television work.

In 2020, Mark revealed that he and Katie had split following their marriage in 2014, with the couple’s parents having a six-year-old son.

In a candid interview at the time, Mark admitted “it’s better for us to go our separate ways,” after the couple’s attempts to have an open marriage fell through.

He told The sun“There was never any cheating on Katie’s part, but it’s gotten to the point where I now realize it’s better for us to go our separate ways and stay friendly.”

While Katie added, “I just want everyone to know what’s what and we’re all happy.”

About: It comes after Mark split from wife Hayley in 2020 after seven years of marriage (pictured in 2018)

Before: In January last year, Mark revealed he had shed 10 stone (pictured before the 2018 weight loss)

It has been revealed that Katie, who works as a nurse, has been seeing her senior design engineer, Scott Bate, 30, for 18 months.

Mark admitted that he felt she was hanging out with Scott, but decided to do things wisely for the sake of their son.

But when the lockdown came, things got tense between him and Katie and she started seeing Scott, which led to Mark making the decision to end their marriage for good.

He explained, “When Katie first told me about her boyfriend, I had a hunch. But from the start my attitude was quite pragmatic – this was spilled milk, what can we do to make amends?’

He added that because they had a “family” he could just “throw that lightly” as they had other “considerations”.

Mark and Katie married in October 2014 at Arundel Castle, West Sussex.

In September last year, Mark confirmed he was still with his wife, despite her admission four months earlier that she had cheated on him with a younger man.

Slim Jim: Mark had to deny having weight loss surgery after his incredible 10 stone weight loss (right, pictured in 2019)

During an appearance on Loose Women, the TV personality was asked about the status of his marriage where he admitted that they’ve been ‘going through a rough patch’.

“Like many relationships, you are going through a rough patch. We’re working through it,” Mark told the Loose Women.

In May 2019, Mark’s wife, Katie, confirmed that the couple had split just weeks after the pair denied claims of trouble in paradise with their age gap love.

In a twist in their love story, Mark and Katie are cousins ​​- something they realized about each other three years after their wedding in 2014.