It’s never easy bumping into an ex so spare a thought for presenter Alex Jones, who had to interview hers live on TV.
The One Show host offered a masterclass in staying calm and collected as Steve Jones, who she dated for three years, stopped by the studio to promote his new novel on Tuesday night.
Alex thankfully didn’t have to fly solo and co-host Jermaine Jenas’s presence perhaps helped make things a little less awkward.
The exes made zero mention of their three-year relationship but at one point, Steve turned the tables on his former girlfriend, as he quizzed her on whether she’s read his book, Call Time.
“As a prolific reader, you’re definitely good at writing,” Alex told him. “I’ve read a bit of the book and it’s got me hooked.”
Steve quipped: “How much is a bit? What page are you on, Jones?”
“Maybe a quarter of the way through,” she admitted.
The Welsh presenters began dating in the late 1990s but split in 2002.
Alex recently revealed the reason for their break-up – placing the blame firmly on her ex-boyfriend.
During an appearance on Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett’s Dish podcast, Alex recalled how she was working on Channel 4’s now-defunct Rise show when bosses called to ask if she could interview Angelina Jolie.
“[Steve] picked up the landline and said ‘Al’s not here. She’s not feeling well, she’s had to go back to Cardiff’. I was in Topshop,” she claimed. “So he did the interview.”
Alex previously recalled the incident without naming Steve during another podcast appearance, claiming he immediately snuck off to do the interview without even leaving her a note.
She told Angela Scanlon Thanks A Million: “And so I got back to the flat and was like, where is he? Hours went past, nobody answering their phones and in the end thought, right I’m going to drive back to Cardiff, because I don’t know where you are, you’ve probably gone to the pub.
“And then the production company called and they were like, we’ve got a bit of a situation.
“Tomorrow morning your boyfriend is going to the premiere with Angelina Jolie and it would be really funny if you came on the line, live on the show and surprised him and said that you know exactly what he’s been up to.
‘So again, I said ‘yes, so on live telly I’m like you lied to me, where have you been?’ So yeah, not surprisingly, we split up live on telly!”’
Both stars have since moved on and Alex is now married to insurance broker Charlie Thomson, who she shares three kids with.
Steve married photographer Phylicia Jackson-Jones in 2014.
The One Show airs weeknights at 7pm, this week on BBC Two.