Chloe Madeley says she hates being called a 'nepo baby'

Chloe Madeley has revealed she hates the word 'nepo baby' and admitted that she was 'so unhappy' being known as Richard and Judy's daughter.

Iconic TV duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan started hosting This Morning the year their daughter, now 37, was born. 

While it was always her ambition to follow in her parents footsteps and go into television, Chloe has now transitioned to a career in health and fitness. 

Speaking to Olivia Attwood on the latest episode of her podcast, So Wrong It's Right, Chloe said she finds it hard when people criticise her for being a child of nepotism.

She said: 'Nepo baby is such a dirty word, and people don't realise how hard it is to hear that about yourself, when you're on the receiving end of it.'

Chloe added that it is very common for people who's parents are doctors and lawyers to follow in their parents footsteps, as that is 'the world they know'.

She revealed that she thinks that nepotism is a really normal part of life, but said that she struggled growing up with people using it as a bad word to critique her.

However, the mother-of-one said that after she qualified as a personal trainer it helped her follow her own path in life. 

Despite struggling with the backlash of being a 'nepo baby', Chloe went on to say there were also perks to her growing up as she got to meet the Spice Girls as a teen.

'We even had George Michael round for lunch once', she added.

Former Love Island star Olivia agreed: 'People don't choose their parents, what do you want them to do, sit at home and knit?'.

Chloe also admitted that the 'most miserable times' of her career have been when she was in the spotlight.

She said: 'Fame isn't a measure of success, and I've made so much more money now than I did when I worked in TV. There is actually no money in TV'.

Elsewhere during the chat, Chloe revealed the real reason behind her split from husband James Haskell and detailed the moment she knew it was over.

The fitness guru and former rugby player James, 39, announced their split in October 2023, after a decade together and five years of marriage.

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She shared: 'I'm one of those people that needs structure and routine. 

'My ex, and I, I think, one of the reasons things became so hard for us was because he thrives in chaos.

'His schedule, I don't even remember when he was in England for a full week. He's all over the place and I just can't do that. Can't live like that.'

'I think I knew that I was really unhappy,' she added. 'And I think he knew that he was really unhappy too. But I don't think either of us ever would have predicted that we were going to break up. Ever.'

But Chloe said she remembers the exact moment where she declared she was convinced the relationship was done. 

'I swear to God it was just like one day, I remember exactly where we were - I remember the day, the time, the temperature, the outfit, everything - I just remember like just saying it, "I don't think that we should do this any more", but really meaning it and it kind of went from there. 

'It doesn't just happen - it didn't for us anyway. It was farmed up as time passed, and it's still like that now.'

The star also said that she could have 'never' predicted their break up.

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When asked how long they have been separated, she revealed: 'Oh my god like, I'll just be honest, like exactly a year.

'We kind of started to have the conversation in August last year. I think people think it's like a specific date.

'As the days, weeks, months pass you realise nobody's fighting for this. You realise you're getting more and more serious about this thing that you're just talking about initially.

'And so slowly, slowly it dissipated, but the first conversation started happening in August last year.'

Chloe said the transition from being in a couple to co-parents has been tough, as life brings many moments where you have to relive the pain. 

'There are still moments now where we kind of boomerang a bit,' she said. 'Moving out the house was a boomerang moment where you have to relive it again. And then we were both at Glastonbury and we ran into each other. I was with all of our mutual friends and he was with his more DJ friends and that was a weird moment. 

'So, you kind of relive it sometimes. You know, here's this person I have a child with and I was, I'm married to him and [we were together for] 11 years. It's a long time.'

But Chloe has hopes that they can build a relationship as friends, as she added: 'But you know, it was never just instantaneous. James and I were really good friends, I just want to be clear. We don't work together romantically. We do work as friends, by and large, we’re very good friends. 

'We spend loads of time together. Me, him and Bodhi are often at Sunday lunch together. He was with me on my birthday to basically be the parent while I got drunk. 

'And I think, and I hope, that over time that is only going to get better, so you know, actually we made the right decision. We're happier and we're closer in many ways now than we were then.'

She isn't ready to date again just yet though, despite downloading some dating apps. 

Chloe said: 'Me and my friend maybe got a little bit drunk last week and we downloaded a few [dating] apps. I'm not active on them at all, I'm not ready to date yet, but I can't see myself actually being active on any of these apps because that's not how I fancy people. 

'I get bored talking to someone I haven't met. I'm not interested in adding someone I don't know into the mix so I'm really hoping that I meet someone in real life.'