Hollywood hardman finds love with ‘sex’ TV host after wife’s death

Hollywood hardman Vinnie Jones has spilled the beans on finding love again after the tragic death of his former wife.

Hollywood hardman Vinnie Jones has opened up on finding love again, saying: “I never thought this would happen”.

The former English footballer turned cult hero actor is dating 47-year-old TV script consultant Emma Ford — five years after the death of his wife Tanya.

Jones faced the tragedy of losing Tanya after a battle with skin cancer, The Sun reports.

The 59-year-old had vowed that he would spend the rest of his days single — before meeting Emma on his In The Country reality TV show.

The former Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star, who lives on a West Sussex farm, said: “You think and say a lot of things when the tragedy first happens.

“I didn’t say I would never have a girlfriend again but I didn’t think I would at the time.

“As time goes on you move centimetres forward. Different things come to life again in your body and your soul and your heart.

“After she died, I thought, ‘I’m done’.

“I never thought this would happen.”

Actor Vinnie Jones and wife Tanya Jones. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for BritWeek.

Soccer player actor Vinnie Jones in scene from film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". /Films/Titles/Lock/Stock/and/Two/Smoking/Barrels

Vinnie and Tanya had been married for 25 years when she died aged 53.

The Gentlemen actor added: “I was on my own after the funeral, everybody had gone.

“The calls dried up. They had nothing to say. That’s when it got lonely.”

A source said told The Sun earlier this year: “Vinnie and Emma’s relationship was very organic and started as purely a working friendship before it developed into something more.

“They’re not rushing into anything and just take every day as it comes.

“Emma has brought the light back into Vinnie’s eyes and she clearly makes him very happy.

“They are a great match and everyone who knows them was thrilled when they became a couple.”

Vinnie Jones and Emma Ford. Photo: Getty, Twitter.

Like her boyfriend, who celebrated 11 years of abstinence in April 2024, she is also a sober person.

According to reports, Vinnie got together with Emma some time after he was voted off the Australian version of The Masked Singer in September 2021.

Her colourful career has recently been making headlines.

In 2011 she appeared in Charlie Brooker’s cult smash Black Mirror as a property buyer.

Movies Emma has appeared in include Erotica 2003 (2003), The Baby Juice Express (2004), The Magic Door (2007) and Solitary (2015).

Emma Ford appears in Men and Motors. Photo: Supplied.

Emma Ford appears in Men and Motors. Photo: Supplied.

According to The Daily Mail, Ford had her own program — Emma’s A-Z Of American Sex, and was also a team captain on the gameshow A Question of Sex in 2003.

She also featured as a model on the blokey Men & Motors lifestyle TV channel which Jones helped launch in 1996.

Ford previously worked as a PA for The Clash rocker Mick Jones and returned to the UK in 2022 after years spent working in Los Angeles.

— This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission