Big Brother couple end marriage

The couple became engaged in April 2006

Celebrity Big Brother stars Chantelle Houghton and Samuel Preston have split after 10 months of marriage.

"After much soul-searching and tearful discussions we have sadly decided to end our marriage," a statement said.

The couple met in January 2006, when Houghton was planted on the reality TV series as a "fake celebrity".

Houghton, 23, who went on to win the Channel 4 series, married the 25-year-old The Ordinary Boys singer in August last year.

Houghton entered the Big Brother house posing as a member of a fictional girl band.

We did have a whirlwind romance, but we were genuinely in love Joint statement by Chantelle Houghton and Samuel Preston

She quickly caught the eye of musician Preston, best known for The Ordinary Boys' hit single Boys Will Be Boys.

"No one else is involved in our decision," the couple said in a joint statement.

"We hope we can always remain friends and still love each other, but we both think we put so much pressure on one another to make our marriage work that it has ended up destroying our relationship."

No regrets

The couple, who became engaged four months after they first met, denied they had rushed into marriage.

"We know people will think we married too quickly on the back of Big Brother, but the truth is that, what anyone thinks, we did have a whirlwind romance but we were genuinely in love.

"We will never regret our time together.

Houghton and Big Brother's Davina McCall at the Bafta TV Awards

"But we now both agree that we should go our separate ways. We are both young and we still have our lives in front of us."

The couple married in London last summer, but details were kept secret as part of a lucrative magazine deal reported to be worth £300,000.

Since winning Celebrity Big Brother last year, Houghton has fronted E4's fly-on-the-wall series Chantelle: Living the Dream and Chantelle's Dream Dates.

She also published her biography, Living the Dream.

Earlier this year, Preston stormed off BBC quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks, after presenter Simon Amstell mocked his wife's memoirs.