Just a few days after Vernon Kay popped the question to Tess Daly at her parents’ modest home, they were bursting to share their happy news.

Giddy with joy, they called the gossip columnists at a red-top newspaper to give them the exclusive story that, just a year after they met at a festive BBC party, they were going to get married.

Aged 21, and on work experience at the tabloid, I was caught up in their excitement. I could hear their familiar northern voices as they explained the special moment and revealed they would be tying the knot sooner rather than later.

There was no doubting that they were head over heels in love.

Putting aside the age difference (Tess is five years older than Vernon) their romance was undoubtedly helped by the fact they were a working-class, salt-of-the-earth couple who loved a laugh as they started out in their showbusiness careers.

But fast forward 24 years and the message that popped up on my phone on Friday just after 6pm was not one of happy news. Quite the opposite. It was a message to tell me that Tess, 57, and Vernon, 52, had just announced they had split almost 23 years after they married.

It’s not often that news of a celebrity couple splitting comes as a shock. But this one definitely has. There had been no murmurings that all wasn’t well. Only a few weeks ago they shared pictures from their Caribbean holiday although, tellingly perhaps, there were no selfies of the couple together.

Deciding to share their news on Instagram, the pair posted identical statements, which were penned, I understand, with the help of their PR team.

‘After much consideration, and with a deep sense of care and respect for one another, we have made the decision to separate amicably.

‘This has not been an easy choice, but it comes from a place of mutual understanding and a shared desire of what is best for both of us.

‘We remain great friends and, most importantly, fully committed to our roles as loving and supportive parents, which will always be our priority.

‘There are no other parties involved in this decision. We kindly ask for privacy during this time as we navigate this transition together. We will not be making any further public comments.’

All too often when a celebrity couple announces a split on a Friday evening it’s because they’ve just learned a Sunday newspaper is about to reveal some sordid behaviour.

However, Tess and Vernon’s teams insist this is definitely not the case and that no third party is involved.

In fact, I am assured the timing has been chosen for the very best of reasons. They wanted to make the announcement before their eldest daughter Phoebe returned to New York yesterday, where she is currently living.

Far from wanting to get ahead of any extra-curricular misdemeanours – like when Vernon was caught sexting a Page 3 model back in 2010 (more of which later) – friends of the couple tell me that their surprise split was a result of them each being very different people to the ones they were back on Christmas Day 2002 when Vernon proposed.

Back then, the five-year age gap seemed immaterial. Today it appears to be at the heart of their decision to split.

‘They are totally different people now,’ says the friend. ‘They used to have so much in common but things have changed. They have changed. They have aged differently,

‘Tess needs to find a rich, older man with a yacht, while Vernon is still a big kid. He loves going out and having a good time, he loves to have a drink and a laugh. He loves the 90s disco nights that he puts on. He loves football, American football and Oasis.

‘Tess isn’t interested in any of that. She is a woman in her late 50s and a bit stiff. Vernon is only five years younger but the age gap has appeared to widen recently. They’ve realised that they want different things and to lead different lives from each other.’

In truth, in the past year Radio 2 DJ Vernon has regularly socialised without his wife. He went to see Oasis perform their reunion tour five times, though not once with Tess. He also attended the Brit awards where he was pictured with his idol Noel Gallagher. Again, there was no Tess on his arm.

As a big American football fan, he adores flying off to the US to watch the Super Bowl. Tess does not share his passion, nor for golf, which Vernon also enjoys playing.

In fact, notably, Vernon has been spending more time partying with daughter Phoebe, who turned 21 last October. Just two days ago, Vernon posted a photograph of them together at the Rosewood hotel in central London where he appeared to be holding a cocktail.

Friends say that Vernon has recently been focusing hard on the ‘BBC Radio 2 Dance Sounds of the 90s’ live tour that he is hosting across the UK this year. The event, which always sells out, has become something that Vernon ‘loves to do’.

Again, I’m told, ‘it isn’t exactly Tess’s cup of tea’.

My source adds bluntly: ‘Basically, without meaning to, they’ve been living separate lives. They don’t really do much together any more, they have different interests and hobbies.

‘They had grown apart. They acknowledged that and decided that life would be better if they were to split.

‘They are both in their 50s, they have so much time left and they have decided they would be happier not being together – so that’s what they’ve done. It is all very, very amicable. They have lived through so much together, they have had so many happy times.’

Tess and Vernon’s love story was a whirlwind. He was carving a career as a television presenter after a stint as a male model for Mizz, a magazine for teenage girls, while Tess hosted children’s show SMTV.

After meeting at a BBC Christmas party in 2001, when Tess was 32 and Vernon 27, they immediately hit it off.

Less than two years later, in September 2003, they got married at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Vernon’s hometown of Horwich, near Bolton. Phoebe was born the following year with Amber arriving in 2009.

Friends say that the girls were ‘very much’ part of the conversation when Tess and Vernon were discussing their split and are said to be ‘fine’ with the decision.

‘It sounds bizarre but everyone is actually happy with the arrangement,’ says a family friend.

In fact, on Friday, just a few hours before the bombshell statement landed, Phoebe was on a day out in Eton, Berkshire, with Tess.

‘The relations between Tess, Vernon and their children are really close and strong. Their main priority was their girls,’ says the source.

However, while friends say they are both looking forward to their lives apart, ‘in the nicest possible way’ a friend confesses that their split will seriously affect their bank balance.

Today, they are reported to be worth around £5million and own a stunning mansion in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, which boasts a swimming pool. Vernon is one of the BBC’s highest paid stars, earning £395,000 as the host of Radio 2’s mid-morning show, while Tess was banking around £400,000 per series of Strictly, which she left last year after 21 years.

Together they were every brand’s dream. They were paid tens of thousands of pounds to be ambassadors for Marks & Spencer food – though clips of them tasting food together have prompted much ridicule from their fans who say that it is ‘cringe’.

They have also been involved in a campaign for Japanese restaurant chain Nobu, which they advertised on their social media.

Most exciting of all for BBC bosses, there had been hopes that the pair could be the ‘next Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan’ as hosts of The One Show, after they presented the show together in February and were widely hailed a success.

While their split is in its infancy, divorce must inevitably be on the cards. Vernon will likely move out of the family home, although it is not yet known whether they may decide to sell. The pair are still together in the property, though some have joked that Vernon might now be in the outhouse.

‘Things are pretty equal between them,’ says a showbusiness source. ‘They went into their marriage in very similar situations. They are leaving it much richer but also having earned similar sums over the years.

‘It is not expected to be a vicious divorce battle.’

One must wonder though whether the split will recall some very unhappy times for Tess. In 2010 she was devastated to learn that Vernon had been ‘sexting’ Rhian Sugden, a Manchester-based glamour model after they met in a Bolton nightclub.

After swapping numbers it emerged that Vernon had been sending her explicit text messages.

Addressing the situation, he stated he never had a physical affair but admitted it was a ‘stupid decision’. He said: ‘I have let down a lot of people. To my family and everybody, I am very sorry.’

Tess, say sources, was furious and struggled to come to terms with her husband’s behaviour. For at least a year they wondered whether they could stay together.

Then in 2013, Vernon surprised Tess by organising a secret vow renewal ceremony during a trip to France.

‘I booked a weekend in our favourite hotel in the South of France. I spoke to her [Tess’s] stylist and said I needed four dresses. She didn’t know anything,’ revealed Vernon, while he was appearing on I’m A Celebrity back in 2020.

I’ve met Tess and Vernon several times since I overheard their deliriously happy phone call back in 2002 and they have always appeared to bounce off one another.

I recall giggling with them over Vernon’s choice of shorts while he was hosting the ill-fated ITV diving show Splash in 2013.

Tess eviscerated her husband for his outlandish selection and told me she’d banned him from wearing them at home.

‘Times change and things change,’ says a friend of the couple.

Tess’s life now looks very different from this time last year. Last October she stunned Strictly’s millions of fans when she and her co-host Claudia Winkleman announced that they were stepping down from their presenting roles.

In her late 50s, Tess now anticipates life as a single woman while no longer hosting the biggest show on television – all as her ex will likely be painting the town red.

But despite what seems to be a fraught situation, friends say that Tess is happy with the split.

‘She’s tougher than she looks,’ says the pal. ‘She will be just fine.’