AT the start of the last decade there was one ex-couple who dominated magazine covers week after week: Peter Andre and Katie Price.
But their rows and bitter court battles raged on, Peter found solace in the arms of someone very different to his brash ex-wife – medical student Emily MacDonagh, then aged 21.
At first glance the pair were chalk and cheese – Pete, the flash Aussie singer of Greek Cypriot origin, most famous for his six-pack and marriage to the UK’s most notorious glamour model, and Emily, the refined, well-spoken daughter of a urology consultant, Dr Ruaraidh MacDonagh, from Taunton.
It’s turned out to be a match made in heaven.
Family values
Peter, 47, and Emily, 30, have been married for almost five years, together for eight and are even planning baby number three.
Despite their different backgrounds, the ab-flashing Mysterious Girl singer and his junior doctor wife share the same core value in life: a deep belief in the importance of family.
“He really loves how much her family mean to her,” a source close to Pete told us.
“When they met, that resonated with him. He felt like he’d met someone with the same values as him. It all felt right – it was the dream.”
It was written in the stars
As Pete admits, “fate” brought them together.
In November 2010, he’d been in Taunton on tour. In agonising pain from a septic kidney stone, he was rushed to Musgrove Park Hospital where Emily’s father, Dr Ruaraidh (pronounced “Rory”) operated.
As a thank you, Peter produced concert tickets, and Emily went with her mother Rebecca. He gave her a signed programme which read, “Dear Emily. You are gorgeous. Love, Pete.”
She says of that moment, “It was instant, I couldn't explain it. It was bizarre. We made eye contact and little did I know he was my future husband.”
Peter and “Dr Ru”, as he called the doctor who saved his life, stayed in touch, and in February 2012 the pair went on a charitable trip to Zanzibar. Emily, then studying at the University of Bristol, went too.
It was instant, I couldn't explain it. It was bizarre. We made eye contact and little did I know he was my future husband
Our source says, “That was when they really bonded. They could get to know each other with no one watching.”
Pete admitted later, “After that trip I had feelings for her like I couldn’t believe… The moment I thought, ‘Oh my God this is The One’, in my heart, was in Zanzibar in 2012.”
The romance was sealed over family dinners at the McDonaghs.
Her lady-like ways
Emily revealed the moment she knew he’d fallen for her: “It was the way he looked at me over the dinner table. I looked awful! I was wearing old clothes. He kept looking at me and then looking down.”
Pete’s made no secret of the fact he loves her natural beauty. Last year, he gushed, “She’s a proper, beautiful, educated lady.”
However, the situation was potentially awkward. Emily, who just turned 22, was still a student, while Pete was 39, with a lot of baggage. Plus, he was best friends with her dad.
Our source reveals, “He was desperately trying not to offend her family. At that time when his life was so chaotic, their home was like a haven to him, and Junior and Princess loved it too. In the end, he asked Dr Ru’s permission. He needed to know he was doing the right thing before he asked her out.”
Pete: The true gent
But what was the attraction for Emily, who’d been dating a fellow student, Michael Harrison? “It certainly wasn’t the fame although she was flattered he liked her,” says our insider.
“Pete jokes he has to remind her he’s had more than one hit.
“She loved the fact her parents approved of him. She likes his old-fashioned ways and thinks he’s a kind, lovable person.
"She saw him with his kids, and saw what he’d been through with Katie and fell in love. Plus, there’s always been a strong physical attraction.”
Their first public engagement was the Magic Mike premiere on July 10, 2012. But our source remembers another party at Pete’s home that summer, where he invited “the world and its wife” to meet Emily.
Overcoming the age gap
During this party insider say, "Emily seemed girly and giggly, and was there with her best friend from Uni.
"There was a feeling she was a bit self-conscious about the age gap, even though she was clearly smitten,” says our source.
“But she’s always been really mature and able to hold conversations with people twice her age.”
She saw him with his kids, and saw what he’d been through with Katie and fell in love
In fact, Pete has always called Emily “an old soul”.
Our insider says, “He knew she was not a party animal, and she didn’t have to get her youth out of her system. They laugh any hatred from trolls about it off.”
She says the gap is “irrelevant” and jokes, “I act a few years older and he acts a few years younger so we meet in the middle.”
Dealing with Katie
However, throughout their eight-year relationship, they’ve had to deal with the spectre of Pete’s ex-wife Katie.
In 2012, she took legal action against Pete and his agent Claire Powell for breach of confidence in a legal case that dragged on for years. That did not prevent Jordan lashing out at her ex or frequently claiming she still loved him.
But our insider says, “Katie has never been a threat to their happiness. It wasn’t a situation where Pete would say, ‘This is my ex wife and I’ll deal with it’. He and Emily were a united front. There was a collective worry about Katie’s welfare.
In the end, Pete felt sad for the way Katie’s life turned out. The bitterness has gone
“Emily, as a trained medical professional, has only ever felt concern for her. Plus, she is so dignified and educated, there’s just no comparison between her and Katie.
"In the end, Pete felt sad for the way Katie’s life turned out. The bitterness has gone.”
Despite the age gap, Pete and Emily’s relationship rapidly became serious. She gave birth to their first daughter Amelia in January 2014, and in 2015, almost three years to the day of their first public date, the couple tied the knot in a lavish wedding at Mamhead House in Exeter. Their second baby, Theo, followed just over a year later, in November 2016.
Now, the couple are even talking about adding number three!
There’s been a gap, because, our insider says, “Theo was a shock to their system. He was as challenging a baby as Mills was an easy one. But Pete will definitely want another one before he turns 50.”
The marriage 'rules'
Where there has been conflict, the pair keep things on track by following mutually agreed rules.
One of these is social media. Emily has always been a stickler for keeping Millie and Theo’s faces private. “She’ll have been livid when Theo briefly popped up on Loose Women the other day,” our source says. “It’s non-negotiable.
“Plus, he’ll never discuss their sex life in his New magazine column or in interviews in the way he did when married to Jordan.”
For a while, there was debate over their style of home. Emily favoured an older house but Pete won that battle and they’ve settled in a mansion full of mod-cons in Surrey, complete with pool and tennis court.
She's not interested in the fame-game
Emily remains as uninterested in the trappings of fame and fortune as she was in the early days. “In normal times, she’d be quite happy to turn up on a red carpet in a £25 Asos frock,” says our insider.
She might have a magazine column and appear in The Sun’s new reality TV show Life With The Andres, but her career comes first, especially now she’s working on the pandemic frontline.
Pete says, “As a husband and as a father, I'd love her to be here so I can protect her. But at the same time, what she's doing and what all the NHS workers are doing is huge. And I'm so proud."
Our source adds, “While Pete may talk about wanting to have her at home more, he’d never make her choose between her career and their celebrity lifestyle.”
In fact, during lockdown, Pete’s become a stay at home dad, keeping the show on the road for his “Ems”, his pet name for her.
Our source says that’s the secret to their happy marriage. “They’ve grown together,” says the insider. “She knows her own mind. She’s not compromised herself and that’s been the greatest success for their relationship.
“She has a vocation which she’s passionate about, and she’s stuck to it. He admires and respects her for that, and for being an incredible mum. Equally, she now needs him more than ever before – he loves cooking healthy food from scratch for her and he looks after the kids while she’s at work. He’s incredibly hands on.”
In other Pete and Emily news, check out their epic Surrey mansion garden as they show it off for the first time.
Peter also joked he’s having ‘heart failure’ about Princess dating – and she should keep ‘2m away from boys for life’
And finally, Pete says he’s ‘friends’ with ex Katie Price as they share sweet exchange on son Junior’s 15th birthday.
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