Vernon Kay was at Wembley Stadium on the day Bolton Wanderers faced Stockport County in the League One play-offs, with promotion to the Championship hanging in the balance. The 52-year-old broadcaster watched as Bolton chased the step up their supporters had been hoping for.
Kay said the mood in his home town had been lifted by the club’s run, saying the whole of Bolton had been buoyed by the chance of reaching the Championship. “For fans to remain and be faithful to Bolton Wanderers is really special,” he said. “The football club drives the town. If the football club does well, Bolton is literally lit up.”
The match mattered beyond the scoreboard because it carried the kind of weight football clubs often do in towns that live through them. Bolton needed to beat Stockport to reach the Championship, and Kay was among those at Wembley taking in a game that had become bigger than a single afternoon in London. He was also still wearing his wedding ring, a detail that drew attention because of what he and Tess Daly announced earlier this month.
Kay and Daly, who have two daughters together, said in a joint statement that they had “amicably” decided to divorce after more than 20 years of marriage. “After much consideration, and with a deep sense of care and respect for one another, we have made the decision to separate amicably,” they said. “This has not been an easy choice, but it comes from a place of mutual understanding and a shared desire for what is best for both of us.”
They added that they “remain great friends and most importantly, fully committed to our roles as loving and supportive parents, which will always be our priority,” and said: “There are no other parties involved in this decision.” A source said the split is expected to be straightforward and that the pair “won’t need to battle” over their fortune.
That fortune is substantial. Kay is thought to be paid £395,000 for his job on Radio 2, while Daly was said to earn around £400,000 when she co-hosted Strictly Come Dancing. The couple also share a five-bedroom house in Buckinghamshire, bought in 2004 for £1.18million and now estimated to be worth about £3million. Their combined wealth has been put at £6million.
For Bolton fans, though, the focus on Kay at Wembley was less about private life than public loyalty. The club’s push for promotion has tapped into a wider sense that success on the pitch reaches far beyond the stadium gates, and Kay said that when Bolton do well, the town feels it. Wembley gave that idea a very large stage.
What happens next for Bolton is clear enough: the result decides whether the club reaches the Championship. For Kay, the next chapter is personal rather than public, but on the same day, under the same roof, both sides of his life were impossible to ignore.
