Rhian Sugden, the British glamour model, stripped naked for an Instagram photograph shared on Friday to celebrate turning 40.
In the picture, she placed her arm across her body to protect her modesty, wearing only delicate jewellery and a pearl headband spelling out her age. She captioned the post "This is 40."
The photo was quickly flooded with birthday messages from followers. Her husband, actor Oliver Mellor, marked the occasion with his own tribute, sharing photographs from the couple's birthday weekend away at Parr Green Hall in Cheshire.
Oliver wrote: "Happy birthday to the light of our lives. Thank you for being a beautiful person and a perfect Mummy. You brought us all together to create unforgettable memories and we love you forever."
Sexting scandal background
The relaxed birthday celebration came after Sugden revealed she had been "spat at" and had her car windscreen smashed at the height of a sexting scandal involving television and radio presenter Vernon Kay.
In 2010, Kay was forced to make a public apology on BBC Radio 1 to his then wife, Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly, after a string of "saucy messages" sent to Sugden came to light. Fresh allegations emerged in 2016 claiming Kay had once again been in contact with her. When Kay, 52, and Daly, 57, announced the end of their marriage in May, the scandal resurfaced once more.
'Painted as a villain'
In a recent interview with Closer magazine, Sugden said she hoped her 40s would finally allow the Vernon stories to be "put to bed." She said: "For much of my life, I've been seen as 'the other woman' and painted as a villain. If people knew the full story they'd know I'm not that person at all."
She said the backlash had taken a toll on her mentally, adding that it was not fair on Kay's ex-wife or their grown-up children. "I've been spat at in the face and had my car windscreen smashed. It was hell back then and I was scared to go out at one point," she told the magazine.
Among the photographs shared from the birthday weekend was an unusual cake that arrived reading "Happy Birthday Killer" instead of Sugden's name, decorated with skulls and fake blood.
Vernon Kay's promise
In 2020, Sugden said the sexting scandal had ruined her career, criticising Kay for "getting away with it" after his apology. She said it still made her feel sick that he returned to his presenting work, including Family Fortunes, and that she wished she had never met him.
Speaking in the Channel 4 documentary Page Three: The Naked Truth, she said: "He just got away with it. It ruined everything for me. I felt like I was going up and up with my career, and then that came along. I wish I'd never met him." She added: "He got to give an apology on the radio and just got to carry on, with Family Fortunes, ironically. It still makes me feel sick."
Kay promised live on air that he would no longer contact Sugden or the four other women he had been caught messaging at the time. The father of two has always maintained that the messages were flirty banter and that he never acted inappropriately.
Kay and Daly's split
Daly and Kay announced their decision to separate in May after 23 years of marriage, saying they had agonised over the choice. The couple, who share daughters Phoebe, 21, and Amber, 17, insisted the split was amicable and that they would continue to be supportive parents.
