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Britain’s Got Talent comedian Francine Lewis shocked GB News on Friday when she accused her husband live on air of having an affair.
The impressionist, who shot to fame on BGT in 2013, was on the lunchtime programme to discuss fraud and how she lost her £90k Britain’s Got Talent fortune to scam artists.
At the end of the segment Francine, 47, suddenly dropped the bombshell, telling hosts Patrick Christys and Inaya Folarin Iman that she had found out her husband of 17 years, Joel Ryan, 43, had been ‘cheating on me with his best friend’s girlfriend.’
Bombshell: Britain’s Got Talent comedian Francine Lewis shocked GB News on Friday when she accused her husband live on air of having an affair
‘There’s so many scams going on all the time, but you know what’s ironic? I stuck with my husband through this whole thing and last night I found out he was cheating on me with his best friend’s girlfriend,’ she said.
A shocked Patrick could only exclaim ‘gosh’ before Francine explained how she wished she had left her husband after he introduced her to the scam artists who swindled her out of her BGT fortune in 2018.
‘You know what, I wish I’d gone there and then. He put me in that situation and now he’s put me in this situation and I’m devastated.’
When asked by host Patrick if she was alright, Francine replied ‘I will be. I’m still in shock and numb but you know what I’ll get through it, I have to, I have two children.’
Affair claims: Francine married construction company director Joel Ryan, 43, in 2005 and the couple share two children, Brooke and Jake
After Patrick called her ‘a very strong woman’ and pointed out her husband is ‘hopefully watching,’ Francine sounded emotional as she said ‘I just feel like such an idiot again.’
The comedian then launched into an impression of three-timed married Katie Price, saying: ‘Oh well looks like another divorce, what can I say? I love it.’
She then performed her take on Sharon Osbourne. ‘You know what Mrs, don’t let these men get to you. These scammers, me and my Ozzy will not let that happen.
Francine and Joel, who is the director of a construction company, married in 2005. They share two children, Brooke and Jake.
Joel denied the allegations and told GB News: ‘I haven’t had an affair and I totally deny all of the claims made against me.’
Speechless: At the end of the segment on fraud, Francine, 47, suddenly dropped the bombshell, telling hosts Patrick Christys and Inaya Folarin Iman that she had found out Joel had been ‘cheating on me with his best friend’s girlfriend’
Shocked: The GB presenter could only exclaim ‘gosh’ before Francine explained how she wished she had left her husband after he introduced her to scam artists in 2018
Family: When asked by host Patrick if she was alright, Francine replied ‘I will be. I’m still in shock and numb but you know what I’ll get through it, I have to, I have two children’
‘I sent some messages to a friend’s partner and I hugely regret sending them, but I did not cheat or have an affair. I love Francine very much and I am ashamed of what I did and deeply sorry for the hurt I have caused. I just want to focus on my marriage.’
A spokesperson for Francine told MailOnline: ‘She will not forgive Joel. Despite his denial, she still believes he has been unfaithful after seeing the messages.’
‘She would never break up her family home and marriage of 17 years if she wasn’t 100% sure that he was unfaithful. Francine is devastated for the children.’
‘She is going through hell. This has come as a great shock to her.’
Referring to the alleged texts between Joel and the woman, the spokesperson continued: ‘The messages were very crude and she describes them as disgusting between Joel and the other woman and the messages were details of when they should meet as well as where as well as other crude things.
Tears: After Patrick called her ‘a very strong woman’ and pointed out her husband is ‘hopefully watching,’ Francine sounded emotional as she said ‘I just feel like such an idiot again’
‘Hell’: A spokesperson for Francine told MailOnline: ‘She will not forgive Joel…She is going through hell. This has come as a great shock to her’
‘She had seen messages that he had deleted so he had sent them and then deleted them for some reason.’
They insisted that Francine had no plans to reveal the affair live on TV, explaining: ‘Her intention on GB News today was to talk about scamming, there was no plan to discuss anything that she had found out last night.
‘It was her truth in the spur of the moment and she was being honest, vulnerable and very, very brave. Personally, it was very touching to watch.’
Francine has already unfollowed her husband on Instagram.
Earlier this month Francine revealed how she lost her £90,000 earnings after she and Joel invested the money with a fake stock broker company.
Family: Her spokesperson said: ‘She would never break up her family home and marriage of 17 years if she wasn’t 100% sure that he was unfaithful. Francine is devastated for the children’ (pictured with Joel and their children Jake and Brooke in 2013)
The comedian shot to fame on the ITV talent show with her hilarious impressions of celebrities in 2013 and made it all the way to the semi-finals. She made a life-changing £90,000 during her time on the show and from subsequent tours and events.
But the mother-of-two told The Sun she was swindled out of her earnings as well as money she had saved for her children by devious ‘brokers’.
Francine explained that Joel had been looking into investment opportunities in 2018 when he heard about Fomax Capital.
After speaking with them, he was persuaded to put down a £500 low-stake investment before Francine and her father-in-law invested in what they thought was a respected stock brokers.
But Francine said they later realised that they had been scammed, and she vowed to never invest in a similar venture again after the fraud left her family devastated.
Impressions: The comedian, 47, shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent (pictured) with her hilarious impressions of celebrities in 2013 and made it all the way to the semi-finals
She told The Sun: ‘I handed them all my kids’ money that I had been saving from when they were born, that for me was the worst part of it.’
The impressionist admitted that she had a ‘gut feeling’ that it was a scam but said they were so convincing that she ended up getting ‘suckered in’ herself.
Francine said her husband turned ‘white as a ghost’ when he realised that they had been swindled after he wasn’t able to get any of their money back and ‘collapsed’ from the stress.
She said she was stunned that the swindlers managed to trick her entire family as she recounted the ‘horrific’ ordeal.
‘You ask yourself ‘why, why, why did I do it?’. If only I could go back in time, if only I went with my gut,’ she added.
Fraud: Earlier this month Francine revealed how she lost her £90,000 earnings after she and Joel invested the money with a fake stock broker company (pictured in 2019)
The con artists even invited the married couple to visit their offices, as they had a registered address in London’s Canary Wharf – but were not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Francine said she was left unable to go on family holidays and had to cancel her son’s Bat Mitzvah, saying she now never buys anything online if she doesn’t know the company.
Speaking about how the scam affected her father-in-law, she said he had to continue to work despite his plans to retire because of the money he lost.
Francine rose to fame with her hilarious impressions of celebrities including Katie Price, Cheryl Cole and Stacey Solomon on Britain’s Got Talent in 2013.
She won over BGT judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden and made it all the way to the semi-final.
Shock: GB News broadcaster Dan Wootton was among those to send Francine supportive messages following her live TV appearance
Support: Fans reached out to the BGT comedian on Twitter after the bombshell
But she has previously admitted that she initially had reservations about auditioning for the ITV1 talent show.
Francine explained: ‘A researcher contacted me after seeing my stuff on YouTube and asked me to audition for the show.
‘I did have reservations because it’s the biggest show on TV and you don’t know how it’s going to go. But I am ready to come back into the business after having a long time off to raise my kids.
‘I wanted to be a stay at home mum but then I had the opportunity to do Very Important People [Channel 4 show] and had a very small part but it made me realise I was ready to come back. It could have gone either way for me.’
‘Everything in life is temporary’: Francine posted a message alluding to the affair the night before her TV appearance, when she said she found out about the alleged cheating
Source: DailyMail
