Anthea Turner has spoken out about the 'barrage of abuse' she received following a photograph taken on her wedding day in August 2000. The former Blue Peter presenter, now 60, married Grant Bovey, and a snap of the couple eating Cadbury's Snowflake bars led to accusations of staging the image for profit.
Turner told The Sun: 'You'd have thought I had single-handedly manufactured Covid-19 in the laboratory and released it to the masses.' She insisted she received no payment for the photo and was unaware of the backlash it would cause. The image was taken by their wedding photographer without any prior arrangement with the confectionery company.
The couple learned of the furore while on honeymoon in Kenya, which Turner said created a difficult start to their marriage. She felt she needed to apologise for years, not only for the photograph but also for having an affair with a married man, as she and Bovey met in 1998 while both were still married.
The backlash led Turner to cut off friends out of embarrassment, and she lost work as she felt 'tainted'. She has since undergone therapy to move on from the anger. Turner is now engaged to businessman Mark Armstrong, though their planned Italy wedding has been delayed by the pandemic.
