Former world champion Ricky Hatton was found dead at his home in Manchester on Sunday, prompting renewed attention on a private life that had frequently made headlines. Friends had expressed concern after Hatton missed an appearance on Saturday at an event featuring one of his boxers, and police maintained a cordon at the property where he was discovered. Authorities have not released details about the circumstances of his death.
Hatton, who won multiple world and United Kingdom titles during a professional career that ran from 1997 to 2012, moved into coaching after retiring from the ring and appeared on reality television, including a stint on ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2024. He is survived by his son Campbell and two daughters, Millie and Fearne; Campbell, born January 9, 2001, had briefly followed his father into the sport before leaving boxing to become a solar-panel installer in July.
Throughout his public life Hatton’s relationships attracted sustained media scrutiny. Most recently, he struck up a romance with Coronation Street actor Claire Sweeney after they met while competing on Dancing On Ice in January 2024. The pair, who had known each other for decades before their relationship, holidayed together in Tenerife but announced their split in December 2024 after about eight months together. Friends told reporters the split was amicable and that they remained on friendly terms; Sweeney later re‑shared a video promoting Hatton’s plans to return to boxing.
Before the Dancing On Ice romance, Hatton had a brief relationship with Playboy model Chelsea Claire that began in the summer of 2023. Media accounts said the relationship was an age‑gap fling — Chelsea Claire was reported to be 14 years younger — and that work commitments and Hatton’s focus on training contributed to its end later that year.
Hatton went public with beauty therapist Angela Blemmings in July 2022. The two attended public events together that year, including a red‑carpet appearance at BBC Sports Personality of the Year, but they had separated by the following year. In 2017 Hatton began a relationship with long‑time friend Marie Pollard; they split in 2018, briefly tried to rekindle their relationship in 2021, and then separated again.
Shortly after his 2018 split from Pollard, Hatton was photographed on a Las Vegas trip with Charlie Nordell. The pair were together for about two years before parting amid reports they wanted different things, with Nordell said to be planning a move to Dubai.
Hatton’s longest public relationship was with Jennifer Dooley, which lasted from 2005 until 2016. Dooley was at his side for many of his career milestones, including when he received an MBE in the mid‑2000s. Their relationship was turbulent at times. In 2009 Hatton proposed to Dooley on Valentine’s Day, and in 2010 a leaked video showing him taking cocaine led to a period of rehab. Media reports later alleged an affair during that period; Hatton and Dooley separated and reconciled on multiple occasions before their split in 2016 amid frequent accounts of drink‑fuelled nights out by the boxer.
Hatton also fathered Campbell with a woman known only as Claire in his early 20s. Campbell briefly pursued a professional boxing career before stepping away from the sport.
Hatton’s prominence in British boxing and his crossover into television kept his private life in the public eye for more than two decades. His boxing career included world and domestic titles and high‑profile fights that made him one of the sport’s best‑known British figures. After retiring from competition in 2012, he remained involved in the sport as a coach and mentor to younger fighters.
News of his death prompted reactions across sporting and entertainment circles, where colleagues and contemporaries noted his impact inside the ring and his visibility on television. Police inquiries at the Manchester address were ongoing, and no further details about the investigation or cause of death had been disclosed at the time of publication.