Jackiey Budden has broken her silence on Jeff Brazier’s split from wife Kate Dwyer — and she isn’t holding back. The mother of late reality star Jade Goody said she “always knew it would not work,” insisting Jeff’s decision to remarry in 2018 only caused deeper fault lines within the family.
This week, Jeff confirmed he and Kate had ended their seven-year marriage, calling time on their relationship after what friends described as a “year of hell”. Jackiey, who shares two grandsons with Jeff through Jade — Bobby and Freddy — suggested the breakdown was inevitable. She said she believed Jeff married Kate because he thought “it would make things easier”, but claimed it “did the opposite”.
According to Jackiey, the wedding in Portugal in 2018 planted the seeds of a long-running rift. She said the marriage was “the root” of why she and Jeff “don’t really get on,” adding that her attempts to be involved in the boys’ upbringing were often dismissed. “They’re my grandsons after all,” she said, before suggesting the relationship “complicated everything”.
Sources say Bobby and Freddy were joint best men at the wedding but privately never accepted Kate as a stepmum, instead seeing her simply as “Dad’s partner”. One insider claimed Jeff had “always hoped Kate could fill the void left by Jade Goody,” but the dynamic never fully settled.
Jeff, who appeared on GMB this week without his wedding ring, is said to have fought to keep the family together during an extraordinarily difficult year. Kate, meanwhile, reportedly ditched her ring during a trip to Las Vegas for the Grand Prix and has now returned to her flat in Hackney.
Insiders describe the marriage as “fiery” behind closed doors, with several break-ups before this final separation. Although Jeff revealed in a recent statement that he split from Kate “months ago,” he insisted he would “always love her,” despite the painful end to their blended family.
