Say what you like about parting couple Katie Price and Peter Andre -- and, let's face it, most of us have -- but there's no denying that their marriage had, up until the news of their split this week, defied nearly all of our cynical showbiz expectations.

The genesis of their love affair hardly bode well for a 'happily ever after' marriage. When both of them met and fell in love in the jungle in 2004 as contestants on the barrel-scraping reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, she was the washed-up glamour model known as 'Jordan', the tabloids' favourite train wreck, with a history of public humiliation and a string of disastrous relationships behind her.

Andre, meanwhile, had seen his stardom fall so precipitously low from the dubious career high of his hit single 'Mysterious Girl' in 1996 that his presence on I'm A Celebrity seemed to be an even greater infringement of the Trade Descriptions Act than usual.

Yet, slowly, tentatively, the two perma-tanned, monster-chested contestants became stars again as they developed a sweet-natured romance, and within weeks of the show ending, they openly declared their love. From there, the duo cannily took advantage of the public's interest in their affair by starring in the first of what turned out to be several reality TV shows revolving around their lives entitled When Jordan Met Peter.

Their fairytale prince and princess-themed wedding in September 2005 was so over-the-top and cartoonish that it made the tack-tacular nuptials in the fictional Footballers Wives look like a quiet, staid blessing down at the local registry office in comparison.

But Price, in particular, proved herself to be a shrewd business-woman, tweaking her image and reputation to re-invent herself as a model, author, singer, designer, and television star, amassing a personal fortune believed to be in the region of €40m.

From the moment they got together, every aspect of Price and Andre's relationship was conducted in the spotlight. Commentators in the media scoffed and didn't hold out much hope for the union to survive. However, despite all the odds, the pair seemed to have had a, dare I say it, genuinely happy few years together, producing two children with the alert-the-social-services names of Junior Savva Andreas and Princess Tiaamii Crystal Esther, to join Harvey, Price's first child from her ill-fated relationship with former Manchester United soccer star Dwight Yorke.

They had their stresses and strains -- including Harvey's continuing health problems, although Andre quickly became a father figure to the disabled child -- yet somehow managed to stick together and come through it and all with the TV and paparazzi cameras trained on them.

Of course, in the past few days, the revelations have been pouring out from "friends" that the marriage has been on the rocks for the best part of the year, and that conducting a private life in the glare of the media (high/lowlights include simulating sex live on air and televising Price being told she had suffered a miscarriage) had finally took its toll.

Katie, who often appeared in public without her wedding ring, told OK! magazine in October: "I wouldn't [leave him]. It would only be if he cheated on me. I think that's the same for both of us -- there's nothing else that would make us break up -- only if one of us was unfaithful."

Andre (36) is believed to be the driving force behind the separation and divorce, citing Price's increasingly frequent and publicly embarrassing problems with alcohol.

He has previously said he struggled with Katie's occasional penchant for wild nights on the town where her alter ego, Jordan, would come out of the closet.

In his autobiography, teetotal Andre admitted: "I trust her when she's sober, but I don't trust her when she's drinking. It makes our relationship vulnerable. From the moment she starts drinking I lose her, and I won't get her back until the next morning."

For her part, the 30-year-old is said to be devastated -- the split comes in the same week as she happily chats about having another child with Andre in OK! magazine.

- Declan Cashin