Amid today’s allegations of investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre cheating, VIP delved into the archives to revisit the time we met him and wife Ameera, back in 2010.
There was widespread shock earlier when the tv producer reportedly posted a picture of her husband and their three children calling him a “lying cheating scumbag”, particularly in VIP Towers as during our shoot just five years ago, they emerged as a committed, content couple.
Donal opened up to us about his wife being a driving force in his life, and admitted she was the person who convinced him to do UK reality show ‘Dancing on Ice’, an extremely different venture for him.
“At the end of the day it was a great thing to do,” he said. “Our kids have suffered in the past – they didn’t know they have because they’re too young, but we have had to move house because of death threats. So for a change my girls could watch me on tv and think that my job was a professional ice skater!”
At the time, the pair were still recovering from a brutal attack in a London pub, made all the more traumatic as Ameera had an MRI scan the following day which confirmed a tumour on her pituitary gland.
Donal fumed that while he expected to “take the slings and arrows” himself as a consequence of his line of work, he was devastated that his wife had been hurt.
“When your family and wife get caught up, that crosses a line,” he said.
And Ameera told us that it wasn’t the dangerous side to her undercover reporter husband that attracted her to him, but his lesser-known funny side.
“Do you know what, it was his jokes and good humour. But there is that slight James Bond element to him,” she smiled.
The pair painted the picture of a very normal married couple; when asked what the plan for 2010 was, Donal said that while trying for a third child, the goal was to simply raise their two young daughters as best they could.
“I do the morning shift with the kids and make basic breakfast and the lunch boxes,” he said. “Ameera does the evening shift so I escape all the culinary responsibilities, which is just as well!
“Most importantly, I’ll be playing with the kids, taking them swimming and teaching them how to play football. That’s my plan.”
A spokesperson for the award-winning journalist today released a statement on his behalf, which said he wouldn’t be making further comment.
“It is of course a very difficult time for the family and everyone close is giving the best support to both Donal and Ameera,” they added.
