Model Rhian Sugden recently shared a sultry image on Instagram, posing in a red lace bodysuit, just weeks after detailing how the 2010 sexting scandal with Vernon Kay still affects her career.
Sugden, 39, posted the photo on Saturday, captioning it, 'Still keeping my skillset broad.' The image garnered significant attention from her followers.
This social media activity follows Sugden's recent comments where she stated that 'people get less for murder' than the repercussions she has faced from the scandal. She explained that despite the lack of a full-blown affair, the controversy, which first surfaced in 2010, continues to haunt her career.
In 2010, Vernon Kay issued a public apology on BBC Radio 1 to his then-partner Tess Daly after 'saucy messages' exchanged with Sugden came to light. Fresh allegations of Kay re-establishing contact with Sugden emerged in 2016. The scandal resurfaced in May when Vernon and Tess announced their separation.
Sugden is preparing to discuss the long-term impact of the scandal in an upcoming tell-all book. "Of course there'll be mention of him [Vernon, in the book] but I think people are expecting some wild revelation about a sordid affair that didn't happen," she told The Mirror. "People get less of a sentence for murder. I'd understand if there'd been a full-blown affair, but there wasn't. Yet somehow, nearly 20 years later, it's still something that follows me around."
She expressed a desire for her career achievements to be the focus of public discussion rather than this past event. "I've spent years building a career and businesses that I'm incredibly proud of, and I'd much rather people talked about those than one chapter of my life that refuses to go away," Sugden added.
In 2020, Sugden claimed the 'sexting scandal' damaged her career and expressed frustration that Kay seemingly moved on after his apology. She remarked that it 'made her feel sick' seeing him return to his presenting duties and wished she had never met him. Kay had promised live on air that he would cease contact with Sugden and four other women he had been messaging at the time. He has consistently maintained that the messages were flirtatious banter and not inappropriate.
Sugden previously spoke about the scandal in a Channel 4 documentary, Page Three: The Naked Truth, stating, 'He just got away with it. It ruined everything for me. I felt like I was going up and up with my career, and then that came along. I wish I'd never met him. He got to give an apology on the radio and just got to carry on, with Family Fortunes, ironically. It still makes me feel sick.'