Nicola Sturgeon has suggested the end of her marriage was about more than her husband Peter Murrell's alleged crimes, hinting at a possible "secret rendezvous" in a recent interview on STV's The Assembly. The former first minister, who stepped down as an MSP ahead of the Holyrood election, also spoke about her miscarriage and arrest.
Asked directly if she had had any secret rendezvous lately, Sturgeon replied: "I hope in this whole recording that I'm going to do a politician answer, which is, maybe. This is one of these moments where you're going to have to judge from my body language and read between the lines." She announced in January 2025 that she and Murrell had decided to end their marriage after being separated for some time, with Murrell charged with embezzling £460,000 of SNP funds.
Reflecting on her arrest by Police Scotland in 2023 as part of Operation Branchform, she described it as "horrible" and said she went into a "shutdown state", still trying to block it from memory. She was released without charge. Sturgeon also became tearful when discussing her miscarriage at age 40, revealing she felt guilt because she initially had not been sure she wanted the baby and worried it would affect her career.
She spoke of her late predecessor Alex Salmond as the politician she learned most from, despite their bitter falling out. Sturgeon said she hoped Salmond would have said the breakdown in their relationship "wasn't your fault."
