Martine McCutcheon was on verge of global superstardom before decade of death & bankruptcy ended with hubby dumping her
JUST days ago, Martine McCutcheon was posting a gushing message to her “Darling Jack”, declaring: “I love you unconditionally and I just wish I could make it all better.”
While more than 16,400 fans on Instagram liked the long and rambling message of support, her husband was not one of them.
And on Thursday the actress was forced to publicly declare that Jack McManus, 40, had “decided” to end their troubled 12-year marriage, adding: “I accept his decision.”
The split is the latest blow for Martine, 48, who had been plagued with bad luck since tying the knot with the songwriter and dad of their nine-year-old son Rafferty.
She had the world at her feet before they met, having won the nation’s hearts playing doomed single mum Tiffany Mitchell in EastEnders for four years.
After leaving the BBC One soap, she had a No1 single in 1999 with This Is My Moment and her portrayal of Eliza Doolittle in a West End production of My Fair Lady won her an Olivier Award in 2002.
And she was set to become the toast of Tinseltown after starring as Natalie, the Downing Street tea lady who catches the Prime Minister’s eye in 2003 romcom Love Actually, with Hugh Grant playing the lovestruck premier.
Agents lined up meetings with Hollywood movie producers, but she never quite made it to the very top.
Instead, the past 15 years has seen her battling chronic illness, heartbreaking miscarriages, family tragedies and bankruptcy, as the acting work dried up and she was dropped by her record label.
‘There’s going to be a horse’s head in our bed’
Jack and Martine first met at a live music event in London, and she once recalled: “We laid eyes on each other and that was it.
“When we met, something very wonderful happened.
“I thought when I met The One I’d be shouting it from the rooftops, because that’s the sort of person I am. But it was like a quiet contentedness.
“It was so calm and warm, and I felt, for once, that I didn’t need to brag. I think he felt the same.”
Martine also insisted the eight-year age gap between them was not an issue, revealing: “All the women in my family have either dated or are with younger men.
“We’re all very vivacious and we have a real zest for life.
“I forget about the age difference most of the time.
“If anything I’m the one saying, ‘Yeah, let’s do this, let’s do that’ and Jack is the one reining me in and saying, ‘It’s time to go home’.”
In 2012, five years after they met, they tied the knot at a glitzy wedding on the shore of Lake Como in Italy — but even that wasn’t without drama.
Jack later revealed the happy couple incurred “hidden costs” and had to stump up “thousands” to the mafia to let off fireworks on the lake.
When the mobsters discovered they had sold the rights to the photos of the big day to a magazine, they demanded more cash, which Jack refused to pay leaving Martine in fear of her life.
She said: “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.”
The actress was already suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as ME, which causes extreme tiredness that cannot be relieved by sleep.
She was diagnosed with ME in 2011, and had previously battled Lyme disease, which can cause fever, and Fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder that creates pain throughout the body.
Within a year of their big day, the couple were also facing serious financial troubles.
Although she was once worth £2million, Martine had been dropped by her record label and was on the brink of bankruptcy.
To pay off mounting debts, she was forced to flog the £25,000 engagement ring Jack gave her when he proposed.
She said: “I just thought my health, money, career have all been taken from me, and now even my engagement ring — the one thing that represents what is solid in my life — has gone.”
And Martine, who desperately longed for a baby, struggled to conceive, while the early years of their marriage were rocked by a series of “horrific” miscarriages.
Medical experts warned she may never become a mother.
Martine said: “The top doctors were absolutely amazing but said, ‘You can’t have children. Your immune system and disease thinks it’s got to fight everything off and that includes, sadly, babies. So we have no idea how you managed to keep Rafferty.’
“To this day they don’t know how I had him.”
Soon after her son was born, Martine revealed that she was keen to try for another baby straight away, joking: “Then maybe me and Jack can be at it like cat and dog!”
Sadly, a second child was not to be — and there was further heartache for Martine last year.
She was devastated when her younger brother Laurence — known as LJ — passed away suddenly aged 31, just weeks before she was due to be bridesmaid at his wedding.
In a tribute which she posted on social media, Martine said there was “no medical explanation” for his death, adding: “My heart is forever broken.”
‘My friends have made me see sense’
It was yet another tragedy to blight the family.
Martine’s mum Jenny Tomlin was physically and sexually assaulted from the age of four by her father, Ronald Ponting.
In her memoir Behind Closed Doors, Jenny also recalled how Ronald would beat her mother Lilian and abuse her sister Kim.
Martine’s dad Thomas Hemmings was also a violent drunk who ended up behind bars.
“He wasn’t interested in Martine,” Jenny wrote.
“Luckily I got myself away from him as soon as possible.
“I had a hell of a time, though. Me and Martine had to move all the time.”
The actress has also spoken about bouts of crippling anxiety and battles with her weight.
Martine lost five stone over the past few years, dropping three dress sizes thanks to the strict Cambridge Weight Plan Diet.
She explained: “For 80 per cent of my week I will have mainly just healthy proteins, vegetables and fruit, and then I’ll have treats 20 per cent of the time — I’ll have that slice of pizza or a G&T.”
Following the shock announcement of the split, Jack stayed holed up at home with his mother.
Martine put on a brave face in Marbella, Spain, after whisking Rafferty away for a “much-needed” holiday.
The final decision to part, which she has laid at his door, seems to have been prompted by the recent death of Jack’s father Mick.
But while his loss may have been the final catalyst, the cracks have been showing for months.
The couple quietly put their £1.5million Surrey mansion on the market in May and have been living separate lives ever since.
She has not featured on her husband’s Instagram account since last September, when Jack posted a photo of them in fancy dress captioned: “Welcome to the circus. #family.” Martine commented:
“We most definitely are a circus! Love you baby.”
In what was seen by many as a bid to save their ailing 18-year relationship, the couple renewed their wedding vows two years ago.
But just two months later, Martine confessed that they “don’t have the perfect relationship by any means.”
She added: “But through the trials and tribulations, my friends — when I feel I can’t get through to him — have made me see sense.”
With the marriage she tried so hard to save now over, she will need those friends more than ever.