Chloe Madeley says husband James Haskell is 'furious' she won't change her name

21 July 2023 , 07:41

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Chloe Madeley says husband James Haskell is 'furious' she won't change her name

Chloe Madeley has revealed her reluctance to officially become a Haskell leaves her "traditional" husband "furious".

The daughter of TV legends Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan and James Haskell, 38, tied the knot in December 2018 and welcomed their first child into the world together last year.

But while their daughter Bodhi is a Haskell, Chloe, 36, is yet to go "through all the admin and hoopla" required to legally change her surname.

Speaking ahead of the release of her first reality TV show, mum-of-one Chloe explains how the original name of her ITV series would have dented her husband's "male ego" for life.

Chloe Madeley says husband James Haskell is very traditional when it comes to names (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

The happy couple become parents for the first time last year, after marrying in 2018

She reveals her fly on the wall series was originally titled At Home With The Madeley’s before officially becoming Chloe Madeley: A Family Affair - with Chloe adding how she didn't want to give viewers the "very wrong, strong impression that this is a Richard and Judy reality show."

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"I didn't want to tar them with that tacky brush. So I was like, You can't call it that. We changed the name of it. It's not fair on the audience. It's not fair on the family," she continued while speaking to Johnny Seifert on Secure The Insecure Podcast. Chloe added: "Also James is a Haskell, Bodhi is a Haskell, so it's not fair on them to call it At Home With The Madeleys. And James is mega traditional and he would have been, I mean, like his male ego would have been dented for life if we'd call that."

‌Reflecting further on her surname, Chloe goes on to admit: "I never changed my name. And I always said, like, when I have to renew my passport, get new bank cards, I'll do it all then. But I'm not going through all the admin and hoopla before I absolutely have to. And James is like furious about it because like I say, he's really traditional. So if we if we start calling him a Madeley oh my God, there will be hell to pay."

‌She continued: "I think I think it will happen. But also I'm not in any mad rush, you know, like me and James are married, I'm going to have to change over all my legal documents at some point. Like I a passport bank cards da da da. I'll do it when I have to. But yeah, I think for James, he very much wants to feel like I've taken on his name. Obviously Boadhi is a Haskell.

"He wants to feel like I've taken on his name and I'm proud of it and I wear it like a badge of honour. And there's an element of me that I really like being a maid lady like I wear. This is my badge of honour. So it feels it's quite bittersweet, you know, when I eventually go, I'm sure it will be lovely and we'll raise a glass of champagne. There's also like an element of sadness to it because I've always been a Madeley. Now my parents daughter. And that will be I think that'll be quite strange."

Chloe and I'm A Celebrity star James were "beaming with pride" in August last year thanks to their new arrival, after unexpectedly falling pregnant at the end of 2021 following a struggle to conceive. While carrying daughter Boadhi, Chloe admitted she was conscious not to share too much surrounding her pregnancy on social media, as was is mindful of others who may be going through similar struggles.

Zoe Delaney