Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that her marriage breakdown involved factors beyond her husband's alleged crimes, and hinted at a possible new romance. The former first minister, speaking on ITV's The Assembly, said her separation from Peter Murrell was about more than the embezzlement charges he faces.
When asked about a 'secret rendezvous', Sturgeon replied: 'I hope in this whole recording that I'm going to do a politician answer, which is, maybe.' She added that viewers would have to 'judge from my body language and read between the lines'.
Sturgeon also opened up about her miscarriage at age 40, expressing guilt that she had not wanted the baby enough. Tearing up when the name of her miscarried child, Isla Margaret, was mentioned, she said: 'I just had this overwhelming feeling that it was my fault because I hadn't wanted her enough.'
Reflecting on her arrest in 2023 as part of Operation Branchform, Sturgeon described it as 'horrible' and said she entered a 'shutdown state', trying to block the experience from her memory. She was released without charge.
The 55-year-old, who recently stepped down as an MSP, also spoke about her late predecessor Alex Salmond, expressing a hope that he would have acknowledged the breakdown in their relationship 'wasn't your fault'. She described feeling 'really sad' at his death and a 'real sense of grief' worsened by her inability to attend his funeral.
