Jeremy McConnell and Stephanie Davis' toxic romance - jail, cocaine binges and shock pregnancy
Stephanie Davi s and Jeremy McConnell had one of the most rollercoaster relationships in reality TV history, meeting on the set of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 and instantly falling into an on-again-off-again pattern that dogged them until their very last fight.
The young couple made headlines for their toxic twists and turns, which resulted in the surprise pregnancy of their son Caben and Jeremy's stint behind bars for a horrific assault on his ex.
Irish model Jeremy then appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2018 to spill all about his part in the mistakes they made, after months of tearful recriminations, poisonous revenge stories in the press and - of course - his jail sentence.
Years on, Jeremy has retired from showbiz and cleaned up his act, settled down with his partner and their child, and now spends his days training for extreme races.
Here's the inside scoop on Steph and Jeremy's relationship history, from the start until the very bitter end.
Explosive first meeting
Ex-Hollyoaks star Steph had been fired from the soap after turning up on set drunk, and was determined to restore her reputation with the public. Unfortunately her good intentions flew out of the window the second she set eyes on Irish model Jez in January 2016.
Stephanie had gone into the house coupled up with boyfriend Sam Reece, who she'd said she could see marrying. But over the course of the month, Sam was forced to watch on TV as his girlfriend flirted, snuggled and even kissed Jeremy under the covers in front of millions of viewers, prompting speculation they'd had sex on screen (which they both subsequently denied).
Sam promptly dumped her while she was still in the house and refused to come and meet her when she was evicted in the finale, instead allowing Jez to swoop in to claim her.
Cheating rumours and hotel flight
There were fireworks just hours after Steph was reunited with Jez the following month when they were recorded having a screaming argument in their hotel corridor.
In the Mirror's exclusive audio clip, Stephanie could be heard yelling: "Jez is leaving me, oh my God he's actually leaving us. You're actually leaving us after everything I put on the line for you. How much I love you."
She also threw around accusations that he'd cheated on her the night before the CBB final while she was still in the house, which he initially denied. Megan McKenna was forced to break up their ferocious row and Stephanie later admitted she'd had a few drinks and her emotions were heightened by his plans to fly home to Dublin.
Jeremy later confessed to sleeping with dancer Caroline Pope after a PA in Newcastle, having branded her a "fame-hungry girl".
Left to fly solo on Loose Women
Steph had been due to show up to the ITV chat show with Jez the previous day, but had to cancel because of an argument. The next day she revealed to the panel that she was in love with Jeremy and opened up about a previous toxic relationship.
"It's been a massive roller-coaster, I'm finally getting back down to earth," she said. "I can't believe I've found someone who loves me, a few years ago I had not a lot of self worth, I never really had anyone who loved me for me."
Steph also talked about a previous suicide attempt that ended with her calling an ambulance and being unable to see. She said she loved Jeremy for his "morals" and his ability to stay positive despite the family trauma he'd been through by losing his mum and sister within two years of each other.
More cheating claims
In March 2016, it seemed like Jeremy just couldn't keep it in his pants, after another woman stepped forward to admit she'd slept with him after he met Steph. Dani Lippe said she'd spent the night with the model but claimed he "wasn't very good".
But Steph defended him, telling OK! mag: "Jeremy isn't the type of bloke to sleep around. It was just a one-night stand and he did it because he knew how bad things got between us. He felt like that was the only way to draw a line under us."
Jez also admitted to cheating, saying: "My own insecurities meant I thought Steph would go out and get with other guys too. "I know that's not an excuse, but...I always think people are going to leave me. It was a drunk mistake and it meant nothing to me."
Shock pregnancy
The lovebirds put their constant rowing and Twitter spats aside to focus on their relationship - and quickly bought themselves pet pooch Simba, allowing their fans to name him in a Twitter poll.
Things seemed to be looking up for the pair, as they were spotted shopping for rings in Liverpool. There were reports at the time that they'd got their dog to practise their parenting skills.
Two months after meeting, Steph and Jez were relaxing in the tropical island of Cape Verde in April 2016 where they declared themselves "so so so happy" after all the turbulence.
But the honeymoon didn't last long - Jeremy was hospitalised needing stitches in his hand from a "booze-fuelled row" and the pair were branded the 'worst guests ever' when they reportedly trashed their hotel room.
Police were called to calm them down. It was on that trip that Stephanie fell pregnant.
Jeremy dumps Stephanie
Just three months after they left CBB, Jez and Steph's relationship laid in tatters. They were at each other's throats on social media, with stories flying on both sides. The most shocking claim to come out was when Steph left a message on Jeremy's Instagram saying she was pregnant - which was quickly deleted.
Days later she confirmed she was indeed expecting, but said Jeremy was no longer taking her calls.
Booze row
Steph found herself in hot water when she was pictured at a pub table drinking what appeared to be a pint of beer weeks after announcing she was pregnant.
But her rep insisted she was taking a sip of her friend's shandy and actually had a soft drink in front of her. Around the same time, Steph claimed she and Jeremy had been trying for a baby - while he insinuated she'd cheated on him by insisting she'd had her period after they last had sex.
He continued to deny paternity throughout Stephanie's pregnancy until their son arrived.
Baby Caben-Albi is born
Steph gave birth to their son on January 13, 2017, following a difficult three-day labour in which she was warned she might need an emergency c-section.
Explaining her unusual name choice to OK! mag, Stephanie said: "It's not actually a name I'd heard before, but it popped into my mind and stuck there. I wanted to give him an unusual name, I also wanted him to be called Albi after my granddad."
Rather than being by her hospital bed as she welcomed their son into the world, Jeremy was thousands of miles away on a boozy lads' holiday. Jez's pals defended his decision, saying he 'needed' a 'well-deserved break', while he continued to deny being Caben's biological father.
Jeremy's DNA test on live TV
A month after Caben's birth, Jez finally got his act together and consented to doing a live paternity test on This Morning. Viewers watched him being swabbed by the same company that provides DNA tests to The Jeremy Kyle Show and tell then-hosts Holly and Phillip he still doubted he was the dad.
"She told me personally she'd been with other lads," he said. "I don't know if people think I left her when she was pregnant, but it was the month before."
He'd previously told one interviewer: "You'll see in the future that it's not my kid, and she'll look like a mug." Predictably, the results gave Jez and Caben a positive match... and he and Steph got back together.
Jeremy attacks Steph and smashes her house
Jeremy was arrested on March 16 2017 after beating Steph and causing criminal damage to her Liverpool home. He'd flown back to Dublin after the assault and then returned to Liverpool for a voluntary police interview, where he was arrested.
He denied wrongdoing but was later convicted of GBH. Stephanie showed the extent of her bruising on a Snapchat photo of her legs in the bath.
Stephanie's awkward This Morning interview
Three months after giving birth, Steph was back on This Morning to introduce baby Caben to the world. But she clashed with Phillip Schofield over the comments he and Jez exchanged in the February.
"It was out of order," she told Phil. "I'd just had a newborn baby, I had the worst pregnancy in the world and my son was in the special care unit."
Shockingly, she confirmed she was back with Jeremy and he was taking some time out of the spotlight to battle his demons - which was later revealed to be in a rehab centre paid for by his father shortly before his death.
Hotel brawl arrest and Stephanie's second pregnancy
Steph was arrested hours after appearing on CBB's Bit On The Side after a fight between her and Jeremy turned violent. She was held in custody on suspicion of GBH but later released, and was pictured leaving the police station in a bloodied tracksuit with bruises and scratches to her face.
Jeremy was also spotted with a black eye and a cut to his nose as he flew home to Dublin - hours after he was found slumped on a park bench, having been kicked out of the hotel. In an interview shortly after, Jeremy announced that Stephanie was pregnant with their second child.
She was cleared by police in February 2018, with no charges brought against her.
Court case for GBH, August 2017
Jeremy was convicted of a horrific assault on Stephanie at her home in Liverpool on March 9 while she was holding their eight-week-old son. The court heard how jealous Jez had flown into a rage and accused her of cheating on him with a firefighter who lived on her street and a pregnant friend of hers.
He beat her violently, including bruising on her arms and head and a bite mark, during one of his frequent coke rages. Steph told the court how she was a "nervous wreck" after the attack and had "severe anxiety" and depression.
Jeremy, who had denied the attack in court, was sentenced to a 20-week suspended jail term and had to complete 200 hours of community service, pay Steph £1,000 in compensation and complete a Building Better Relationships course with the Probation Service.
He was also banned from contacting her or her mum or aunt for three years under the terms of a strict restraining order.
Horrific miscarriage
Heartbroken Steph revealed she'd lost her second baby a week after the court case, blaming her miscarriage on the stress of the situation . She opened up about her grief two weeks later, saying in an Instagram post: "To loose a child is something I hope no one EVER goes through. The grief and pain is UNBELIEVABLE . Words CANNOT describe. My heart is BROKEN.
"I lost my baby due to the stress Jeremy put me under, history repeating its self after carrying caben alone for 9 months while he goes out with women and partying and posting pictures on purpose when I was in hospital and nearly lost caben on several occasions."
Steph continued: "He knew I was pregnant and has never ONCE again asked about his unborn child OR asked how caben is, he's been to busy out on benders and spending money on drink and drugs and getting women to lick his nipples. He's not paid ANYTHING towards caben since he was born. He doesn't care about his child, he was simply a trophy child to him. He was found guilty, for a reason."
Jeremy jailed for skipping community service
Jeremy's good intentions didn't last long - he was soon boasting about getting a hair and beard transplant during a trip to Turkey with friends, and therefore missing his community service.
His probation team didn't think much of his actions and brought him back to court, where he was told he'd be jailed for 18 of the 20 weeks he'd previously been handed.
Jail might have forced even the most hardened criminal to reflect on their poor choices - but Jeremy didn't seem to care about his time behind bars, instead celebrating his release by tattooing his prison number onto his body.
He followed that up with a string of inkings, including one of a skull on his actual head, and flew overseas again for new veneers and a nose job.
Jez opened up about his cocaine addiction, saying it made him so paranoid he thought he was going to be assassinated. "There were times when I would get £200, shove it up my nose and do double barrelled lines. We used to call them the M50 after the motorway in Dublin. There's a video of me snorting cocaine off a woman's privates," he told the Sun.
"If I do a line I'm paranoid to f**k. I'm so paranoid I'll be looking under the door and out of the blinds. I think the cleaners are hit-men. I think I'll get a bullet off a cleaner."
Stephanie heads to rehab
Having previously talked about her trouble with booze, Stephanie announced she's an alcoholic and booked herself into rehab in November 2017. She came out in February 2018 and revealed she was 90 days clean.
"I knew that if I didn't take drastic measures to turn my life around, I would end up dead," she told OK!. "I was drinking heavily and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after I split up with Jeremy, because of everything I had been through while we were together.
"I was drinking most days until I would black out, and I was feeling suicidal. I knew that for Caben's sake, I had to sort myself out before it was too late."
Jeremy appears on The Jeremy Kyle Show
The convicted criminal burst into tears as he was told his dead parents would be "disgusted" with his behaviour over the last couple of years. He refused to answer questions about his violence against women until the very end, when he finally confessed.
Jeremy made an emotional plea to see son Caben but admitted that while there were legal channels he could go down to make contact, he hadn't got around to it yet. During his half-hour interview, Jez picked at his clothes and shuffled awkwardly in his seat as Jeremy Kyle grilled him on his cocaine use, prison spell and his reputation.
The shamed model admitted his TV career was over as he sobbed that "no-one will touch me with a 10ft pole", but insisted he hadn't taken drugs since coming out of prison.
Birth of Jeremy's daughter
Jeremy found love with the lawyer who had defended him at his assault trial, and the pair moved in together just eight months after.
Katie McCreath welcomed their baby daughter in November 2019 and they named her Storm. Jeremy was forced to justify why he was only focusing on his daughter and not son Caben.
"I'm not removing myself and forgetting about having a son. I'm a very loving father," he said at the time. "A lot of people say I don't care about my child because I'm moving on but what options was I left with? I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.
"People say to me 'Why are you acting like you have just one child?' But there's a time and a place. Anyone that has half a brain cell needs to understand the reason I am not part of Caben's life is because not every situation can be fixed."
He went on: "I protect my son as much as I can. It's not neglecting, it's protecting. I'm a very loving father. This is better for Caben.
"My priority is my baby girl because it's in my control – I have rights over that. My main focus is my girl. I've done all the things I needed to do in order to get where I am now. I've got an amazing job and I've moved myself away from certain things."
Jeremy McConnell now
As of 2025, Jeremy has embraced a clean living lifestyle and now spends his days training hard for events like the ultra Marathon Des Sables and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity.
He and partner Katie jet around the world for holidays in the Maldives and St Lucia. Their little girl Storm, now five, is a keen equestrian like her mum, and even has her own pony.
He has taken a step back from the showbiz limelight and appears to have settled down.
Stephanie Davis now
Sober Steph has also found happiness, getting together with Joe McKalroy and having a little boy with him. Samuel was born in January 2025 and Joe admitted it was a "traumatic" delivery.
Steph had had a difficult pregnancy with him, three years on from a devastating miscarriage in 2022, and wrote towards the end of last year: "Looking back to the start when they told us we might lose you, to where we are now is a miracle. You are one strong baby boy, our little fighter.
"Mummy and Daddy are counting down the days now till you are here in our arms. And your big brother is feeling you move every night excitedly waiting for you to arrive. Our rainbow baby. Our miracle. Our world."
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Steph and Joe, 27, met during a group therapy session in 2021 and have been together ever since. Since her rollercoaster relationship with Jeremy, she has had a small tattoo inked onto her arm that reads, poignantly: "If you're reading this, it's going to be OK."
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