Inside Jack McManus and Martine McCutcheon’s ‘chaotic’ wedding with bridesmaid who quit and his row with the mafia
MARTINE McCutcheon and Jack McManus’ marriage got off to a ‘chaotic’ start when they tied the knot in 2012.
Former EastEnders star Martine, 48, yesterday announced musician Jack, 40, had called time on their relationship after 18 years.
The couple – who share nine-year-old son Rafferty – said ‘I do’ during a lavish ceremony in Lake Como, Italy.
But, despite the picturesque and romantic location, Jack previously revealed they suffered “hidden costs” at the hands of the mafia, with things getting “tense” when he refused to pay up.
Appearing on The Chris and Rosie Ramsay Show in 2022 – ahead of renewing their wedding vows – he said: “It would be nice to do something chilled.
“Our wedding was lovely, I wouldn’t change it for the world but it was quite full on. We had these marvellous wedding planners who were great.”
Martine McCutcheon and Jack McManus - relationship timeline
MARTINE McCutcheon and husband Jack McManus have split following an 18-year relationship. Here are the details.
Martine McCutcheon revealed her split with husband Jack McManus in an emotional message posted to her Instagram Stories.
It came just weeks after the ex EastEnders actress, 48, told how her love for the singer, 40, was “unconditional” – and how she was looking forward to their “next chapter.”
Jack is a singer-songwriter who went to the famous BRIT School.
The pair met at a live music venue in Piccadilly in the early 2000s.
Speaking about when they first met, Martine previously confessed: “We laid eyes on each other and that was it.”
The former couple tied the knot in 2012 at Lake Como in Italy.
The pair welcomed their son Rafferty in 2015.
On August 22, 2024, Martine announced the break-up on social media.
Jack continued: “We were like, ‘We’d love fireworks’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, you need to make a donation to the lake’. It’s a donation, like to the mafia. We had to pay them so many hidden costs.
“It was like, ‘So, you want to have boats in this part of the lake? Ok, you have to make a donation”. This wasn’t hundreds, it was thousands.”
Jack revealed they were charged more when the mafia discovered they’d sold the rights to the photos of the big day to a magazine, with him refusing to pay and leaving Martine “petrified”.
Martine added: “I went, ‘Oh my god, there’s going to be a dead horse’s head in our bed!’ I was petrified.
“I was like, ‘Don’t stand your ground now, Jack please be quiet’. But he wouldn’t make another donation.”
But before they even arrived in Lake Como Martine and Jack’s wedding was thrown into chaos when one of her bridesmaids quit.
Just 10 days before the ceremony Martine’s former best pal Kim Crawford dropped out, branding the singer and actress “evil and vindictive”.
During a fitting for her wedding dress over a glass of champagne, Martine is said to have told Kim her husband Jason kissed another woman on his stag do.
Kim later told The Sun: “I was distraught and it felt as if Martine was enjoying watching me in pain. But when I confronted Jason about it later he was devastated – he had never kissed anyone else. It was all malicious lies to throw a spanner in the works.”
As a result she emailed Martine to tell her she no longer wanted to be a part of her and Jack’s big day.
In 2022 Martine and Jack renewed their wedding vows with just one guest – son Rafferty – at the five-star Beaverbrook hotel.