IT was lust at first sight when Professor Green saw Millie Mackintosh in her underwear on the front of a lads’ mag and begged for her number.
The rapper from Hackney wooed posh tottie Millie and the unlikely couple ended up marrying in 2013 – but just two years later it descended into a toxic break-up. Now, nine years on, the pair continue to surprise, and the latest twist in their saga has done exactly that.
When their marriage ended, it was shrouded by poisonous rumblings – rumours of infidelity on both sides, talk of substance abuse from Stephen and then a brutal diss track, which mocked their sex life, and it looked like the former lovers would never see eye to eye again.
But, Pro Green, real name Stephen Manderson, raised eyebrows this week when he described his ex-wife as ‘beautiful’ and, despite years of unease, he revealed they are back in touch.
Hopefully we can both go forward and find happiness and belonging.
Professor Green
Stephen, 41, is believed to still be with his fiancée Karima McAdams, with whom he shares a son called Slimane, while Millie is married to her Made In Chelsea co-star Hugo Taylor.
An insider told us: “Stephen and Millie were head over heels when they were together, but will both admit it just wasn’t the right time.
“They have both moved on – Millie is living a picture-perfect life with her two daughters, but Stephen’s relationship is a bit rockier.
“There is one big change though – they have started speaking again, and they are on better terms than they have been in a decade.
“Both being parents has played a huge part, and they have both grown up a lot. They have also both given up booze, which was a huge issue when they were together.”
‘Back In Touch’
In an interview this week, Stephen confirmed he’s now back in touch with his ‘gorgeous’ ex-wife and has reflected on their ‘trauma bond’ over their mutually undiagnosed ADHD.
He revealed he had spoken to her recently about both being neurodivergent and not realising it – and the pressure on their relationship, which saw them wed in 2013.
Speaking to Jamie Laing – who also appeared on MIC with Millie – he explained: “If there wasn’t that pressure, we may have never got married. It very nearly didn’t happen.
“I remember having a conversation with my two best mates, Lewis and Phoenix. “Am I getting cold feet? What’s going on here?” And one of them said yes. One of them said, No. I won’t put him in it, because it’s not their responsibility.
“I made my own decision. We made our decision, and we didn’t get married for the wrong reasons. We loved each other.
It was actually quite toxic.
Millie Mackintosh
“It was probably an element of trauma bonding. And it takes a lot to get to a place of going, “I had a significant part in that, 50% at least, because there were two of us in the situation, and it didn’t work out.”
He continued: “There’s no resentment in me. She is gorgeous. We were not good for each other at that time.
“We were for a point, and then, you know, I think things that we didn’t understand were happening, and it was way more than we could have ever.”
His comments were a far cry from how he felt shortly after the split when Millie was spotted looking a touch worse for wear on a yacht with Hugo Taylor.
He cruelly wrote: “London’s Gurning”, before adding: “Money really can’t buy you class, can it?”
Despite all the barbs at the time, Millie now has a very similar view on the marriage and said previously: “I think we [Professor Green] both were in our own struggles, and I think we maybe both thought we could fix each other. But we couldn’t.
“And ultimately, we both had our own struggles, and it just magnified it.
She added that they were in a ‘nice place’ now, saying: “We both moved on and started families. We’ve sent each other pictures of our kids. It feels like there’s no bad blood.”
Millie also said she knew the relationship “wasn’t right, but I was too scared to call it off because of the shame of letting everyone down”.
Booze battle
The mum-of-two later shut down rumours they split because of their different upbringings, despite former weed dealer Pro himself admitting he sometimes felt like a novelty around the Quality Street heiress’ family.
There were a number of reports around the time of their break-up about screaming matches in public during drunken nights out, as the young couple had little regard for each other or who heard them.
Since then, the pair have both been diagnosed with ADHD and have both given up booze.
Millie got the diagnosis after being a mum – she said it was validating for her because she couldn’t understand why going to soft play would ‘put me into a weird kind of disassociation.’
After splitting with Pro Green in 2016, Millie went back to her Chelsea ex-boyfriend, Hugo, who she went public with just one month after finalising her divorce.
There were questions at the time about whether she had been in touch with Hugo the whole time, and just a few months ago, she got mixed up with her dates when posting about their relationship on social media, suggesting a crossover between the men. She has denied that this was the case.
It was a “breakthrough in therapy” in October 2022 that made Millie decide to give up alcohol for good, and Stephen made a similar decision.
Their friendly comments are certainly a far cry from when they first split, and in true rapper style, Pro Green released a damning diss track, which appeared to make a series of claims about their broken relationship.
He rapped: “Behind closed doors, what’s my wife like/It gets crazy in bed – We watch a couple episodes/Of a box set and and then it’s night night/When she hears this s**t it’s lights out/I’ll probably get kicked out of my house/Till I come back with a brand new Chanel bag.”
He also referenced his drug use – “what’s one more spliff/What’s one more glass/What’s one more line, what’s one more toke/I’m already a dead man when I get home”.
Of course, things are very different for both of them now – as Stephen says himself, “I used to rave, but now I roast.”
