Billi Mucklow 'blindsided' by Andy Carroll's romance with Lou Teasdale

Billi Mucklow has been 'blindsided' by Andy Carroll’s new romance with influencer Lou Teasdale, MailOnline can reveal.

The TOWIE star, 36, and the footballer, 35, tied the knot in June 2022, but last week confirmed they are set to divorce after secretly separating earlier this year. 

Friends of Billi say she is still grieving their split and is devastated that Andy moved on so quickly, having been together for 11 years.

Former Newcastle and Liverpool striker Andy has been growing close to makeup artist Lou, 40 - who is friends with Harry Styles - since their separation and she’s even visited him in Bordeaux, France where he now plays.

His new romance grew while Billi was enjoying her own holidays with the pair’s five children, including eldest two - Emilie Rose, 15, and Lucas, 14 - Andy’s kids from a previous marriage whom the reality star brought up as 'her own'.

A source told MailOnline: 'Billi was upset the marriage ended, but accepts it had run its course.

'They had plenty of ups and downs but she doesn’t regret a thing, because it’s given her three children and two more from Andy’s previous relationship, who she’s grown incredibly close to and still live with her full-time.

'Andy is currently based in France, but comes back to see them as much as possible. Billi will continue bring up Emilie Rose and Lucas.'

On his new romance, the source added: 'It was a shock for Billi, given they only split months previously.

'It left her blindsided initially but he’s single now, so he can do what he wants.

'But what she doesn’t want to do is cause any fallouts between herself and Andy for the sake of the kids.

'They intend to co-parent them and continue to provide a loving family unit.'

MailOnline contacted Billi and Andy’s representatives for comment.

Billi and Andy - who also share children Arlo, eight, Wolf, five, and Marvel Mae, two - set up a family home in Rod Stewart old house in Epping, which they bought for £4.1million in 2019.

The pair married in June 2022 in a lavish Hampshire ceremony and days later, threw a Coachella-themed party for their friends and family.

The build up to the nuptials was overshadowed by Andy’s debauched stag do, when he was pictured lying in bed asleep next to glamorous bar manager Taylor Jane Wilkey in a Dubai hotel room.

Taylor also posed for snaps wearing one of his personalised bathrobes.

Speaking to The Sun, Taylor said the photos were 'a joke.'

She explained: 'It was an afterparty. We all went back to his hotel. There was me, Andy and my female friend.

'I didn’t sleep with him, it wasn’t like that, there was three of us in the room.

'It was a full day and night of drinking, we’d been at Cove Beach since 12, it was a really boozy day. Andy was steaming, we were all drunk.'

She added: 'We went back to Andy’s hotel suite and we played some music and he got into bed and passed out.

'I was there with my friend until the early hours and took the photo as a joke.

'My mates back home were goading me for the lowdown so I took that picture for a laugh and sent it to them.

'Nothing sexual happened. It was just a bit of banter.'

Andy flew to Dubai to gatecrashed Billi’s hen do, but stayed on with his pals as she jetted back home.

Although she gave him a frosty reception upon his return, Billi forgave the striker and the wedding went ahead as planned.

Following his notorious stag do antics, Andy has managed to reinvent himself as a devoted family man, posing up for wholesome snaps which Billi has posted on her Instagram page to her 400,000 Instagram followers.

The pair announced their split last Saturday, having quietly separated in the summer.

In a statement, Andy said: 'Billi and I have privately separated earlier this year and we are under way with our divorce proceedings.

'It has been a hard few months for our family and we continue to move forward amicably for our children.'

The following day, his new romance with Lou was revealed and the pair have since been spotted enjoying a date in London’s Spitalfields on Tuesday.

A source told MailOnline: 'Lou is really cool and arty, Andy is a former footballer who has got himself in many a scrape but they have met and get on really well.

'They have been seen together on more than one occasion and she has also been to France to see him.

'Billi is aware and has been telling her friends about them.

'You do have to wonder what Andy and Lou have in common, they come from completely different worlds, but they get on really great.

'Whatever you say about Andy, he is a very handsome man so it's not surprising that Lou wants to spend so much time with him.'

Billi was snapped earlier this week for the first time since the split was revealed, minus her wedding ring, while meeting up with a friend in Essex.

She’s yet to commit publicly, unlike Andy who has been speaking about his new club Bordeaux.

During his football career, Andy has won nine England caps and enjoyed two spells at his boyhood club Newcastle United, plus big-money transfers to Liverpool and West Ham United.

After leaving League One side Reading in 2023, Andy moved to French club Amiens and this summer, joined Bordeaux in the fourth tier of the country’s football league after the club experienced a double relegation due to going in administration.

Andy is reportedly only being paid £750 a week to play for the fallen French giants and recently admitted he joined the struggling side purely for the love of football.

He said: 'To be honest, it’s even costing me money to come and play for Bordeaux but I’m playing football and I am simply happy to be playing football.

'I want to be a part of this club’s history and to be frank, it wasn’t a question of money.'