A jilted husband who watched his wife abandon their marriage for a steamy affair with TV chef Stephen Terry has said his life has been turned upside down by the pair’s ‘selfish’ actions leaving him on the brink of financial ruin and contemplating suicide.
Just two years ago, Paul Browning, 37, was living the perfect suburban family life with his wife Jo Browning, 32 and their young daughter in leafy Abergavenny in South Wales.
But his wife’s chance meeting with Stephen Terry in the town wine shop sparked a series of events that has seen him lose his house, his marriage and his peace of mind.
Now, Paul says, his wife who he had intended to spend the rest of his life with, is ‘dead to him’.
Terry, 56, who was best man at Gordon Ramsay‘s wedding and is a well known TV chef on programmes like Great British Menu, was also having an affair under the nose of his wife Jo Terry, 54, who Paul says has been left in the same lurch as him.
Terry trained under Marco Pierre White at Harveys and became best friends with Gordon Ramsay when they worked together.
Terry’s The Hardwick restaurant won awards including a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide, being named the best restaurant in Wales in consecutive years and named the 19th best gastropub in the coveted Estrella Damm 50 Best Gastropubs list in 2020.
Father-of-three Terry was running the restaurant with his wife Joanne after her family helped fund the purchase and they added plush rooms for guests to stay.
He announced its sudden closure after 18 years in October last year and his affair with Miss Browning was revealed soon after.
Speaking at the time, Terry said: ‘I regret the pain it’s caused my family and I will for the rest of my life.
‘But you’ve only got one life. I’m supporting my wife the best I can. I don’t want this to be messy.’
According to Paul, ‘messy’ is an understatement.
Speaking to MailOnline, Paul claimed Terry and Jo’s behaviour during and after the divorce has pushed both of their jilted families to breaking point.
Paul first got wind of Jo’s dalliance with Terry in 2022.
He explained: ‘They first met when he first saw her working in Chester’s wine merchants in Abergavenny.
‘I actually got her the job. She wanted to quit this job, and I said, No, you need this. This is for you. You need to have your own piece of life, your own work, because our daughter’s growing up.
‘He made mention to the owner of Chester’s wine merchants that he liked her.
‘She even said this to me, saying “oh, he’s got a thing for me”, and I did warn her to be careful.’
Shortly after this chance meeting, the two began their affair, which they managed to keep a secret for over a year until Stephen’s daughter’s found out, prompting Jo to finally tell the truth.
Paul said: ‘My wife came clean about the affair in May last year. She actually only came clean after Stephen Terry’s daughters had seen her name pop up on their dad’s phone and she knew that I was going to be told.
‘Sure enough, the next day one of Stephen’s daughters messaged me.’
Divorces are rarely easy, but Paul claims his has been fraught with difficulty and he is now facing financial ruin whilst his wife holidays abroad with Terry and drives around town in a car he bought her via a personal loan.
He said: ‘I’ve been left to pay the mortgage and all of the outstanding bills.
‘Despite paying the bills, they go off away on weekend trips together.’
During the divorce, Paul says he had begged Jo to keep the house they shared with her disabled mother so as not to ‘financially ruin’ both of them.
Jo however refused and now Stephen lives alone and only sees his daughter on the weekends.
He explained: ‘The house which we bought is on the market for £600,000 at the moment. I still have an outstanding mortgage of £130,000 pounds.
‘I told her we can’t afford to move out. We have a daughter. The school is just down the road. I work away Monday to Friday. We can live on separate floors. It’s a 3-storey house.
‘We can live on separate floors and just wait and get it done to save us both financially.
‘My daughter is 8 years old. She knows something is up. It’s difficult, she’s now living with a man who she doesn’t know.’
And whilst Paul suffers in silence, he says Jo and Terry have been living the high life on a series of luxury holidays including most heartbreakingly of all a dream trip to Paris that he had organised himself for Jo.
He explained: ‘We had Blink 182 tickets in Paris and she took him. We had paid with them from our joint account and I said I would go with a friend.
‘She just took the Airbnb and the tickets and they swanned off to Paris.
Throughout the whole sorry affair, Paul has found unlikely solace in the form of Jo Terry, the jilted wife of Stephen.
Together they have attempted to navigate the new chapter of their lives which he says has been dogpiled by the destructive wake of their former partners.
He revealed: ‘They have both destroyed two families. I’ve been on a suicide line as at the moment I just don’t know where I am, where I’m going.
‘Emotionally, Jo Terry has been fantastic, we do speak occasionally as we’re the only two people in the world who know how the other feels.’
Looking forward, Paul is determined to be there for his young daughter and forge a new life for himself, putting all memory of Jo and her TV lover behind him.
As is expected, he has no warm feelings for either of them.
He remarked: ‘They’ve both got his and hers Minis. I think he’s having a mid-life crisis.
‘He will probably leave my ex in a sticky situation. That’s her choice. She is now dead to me.
‘Oh, and by the way, she has been described in the media as a “wine expert” – she’s not. She’s done one very basic course.’
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John James
