Former page 3 model Rhian Sugden to write tell-all book 16 years following sexting scandal with Tess Daly's estranged husband Vernon Kay

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 19:08 EDT, 18 July 2026 | Updated: 19:39 EDT, 18 July 2026 It was the infamous sexting scandal that rocked the marriage of Strictly Come Dancing's former host Tess Daly and her husband Vernon Kay.Now, 16 years after the BBC Radio 2 DJ exchanged a series of risqué messages with former page 3 model Rhian Sugden, the first photograph of the pair together has emerged.Kay, now 52, who is in the process of getting a divorce from Ms Daly after 22 years of marriage, is seen in the 2010 snap with Ms Sugden at a pub in Bolton, before their messages were made public.Among others, the pair were joined in the picture by comedian Peter Kay.Around the time it was taken, Vernon Kay had spent four months texting Ms Sugden every day after meeting the model in a club in Bolton – a scandal which, after it emerged in a newspaper, attracted so much controversy, he was forced to issue a public apology to his wife on his Radio 1 show.Father-of-two Kay has always maintained that the messages were flirty banter, and that he never acted inappropriately.But it can be revealed that Ms Sugden is now writing a book which will go into detail about her relationship with the star.An insider said: 'Rhian has been approached for a tell-all book deal in a bid to get her to spill all on what really happened with Vernon. The first image of Vernon Kay and Rhian Sugden together, along with radio host Chris Moyles and comedian Peter Kay Sugden is expected to write a tell-all book 16 years on from the sexting scandal with Tess Daly's estranged husband'She's never spoken out publicly about everything that happened with Vernon and she's kept a lot of secrets over the years to protect his reputation while it inadvertently destroyed hers.'Rhian publicly admitted several times she's bored of hearing his name after being dragged back into the headlines again after he split with Tess with some people even accusing her of being responsible.'It is understood that Ms Daly and Kay's divorce announcement in May sparked renewed interest in Ms Sugden from book publishers.Now 39, she is married to former Coronation Street actor Oliver Mellor and the couple have a two-year-old son, George.She has previously claimed the scandal ruined her career and that Kay 'got away with it' after apologising.She said it 'made her feel sick' that he returned to his presenting duties afterwards and that she wished she had never met him.Kay, meanwhile, had vowed never to contact the model again – although he was found to have messaged her in 2016.One source who knew Kay in 2010 said: 'He took Rhian to meet his brother, his dad and his friends at his local pub, to us it wasn't a secret what was going on.'It was fairly obvious. There's so much more to this story than has ever been told.'