Made In Chelsea fans were left scratching their heads on Friday when Jamie Laing completed his Comic Relief challenge of running a brutal 150 miles over five days, raising more than £2 million in the process.
The reality star, 36, had been joined by his friends and family, with the likes of co-star Oliver Proudlock, Traitors winner Leanne Quigley and Radio 1’s Greg James surprising him on his route from London to Salford.
Yet fans were surprised at the absence of one notable star – his self-confessed ‘best friend’ Spencer Matthews, 36 – who is an accomplished runner himself, last year completing 30 marathons in 30 days across the Jordanian desert.
It added further fuel to the claims that childhood friends Spencer and Jamie, who were once inseparable, are no longer as close. In fact, the pair are now rarely seen together.
The root of their issues appears to stem from 2023, when Spencer admitted he was ‘p****d off’ when Jamie snubbed him from his wedding.
While Spencer had attended Jamie and Sophie’s June wedding celebration in Spain, fans were surprised to see he wasn’t present at the legal ceremony two months prior – an intimate affair at London’s Chelsea Registry Office – instead heading on a family holiday to Portugal.
Is this why Spencer snubbed Jamie’s Ultra Marathon? How Matthews was ‘p****d off’ by his childhood friend’s betrayal two years before his Comic Relief challenge
The root of their issues appears to stem from 2023, when Spencer admitted he was ‘p****d off’ when Jamie failed to invite him to his legal wedding ceremony with Sophie Habboo
After fans expressed their shock, Spencer used his podcast with Vogue to set the record straight, revealing he hadn’t actually been invited and admitting he was ‘p****d off’ by the snub.
He explained: ‘I’m being hammered for “snubbing” my best friend’s wedding to go on holiday, and then posting about my holiday. I’m not here to b***h about my best friends but there’s been some serious miscommunication from him.
‘I just want to set the record straight, more than anything. I’m not here to whinge. I was not invited to this part of Jamie’s wedding, and neither was Vogue.’
He added that he was ‘p***ed off’ he didn’t receive an invite, because he would have ‘flown to Japan’ in order to attend.
Vogue then added: ‘Sophie looked absolutely magnificent, we were absolutely thrilled for them, but we also did not know it was happening because we were not invited.’
After fans expressed their shock at the snub, the two couples then had a candid conversation about the ‘miscommunication’ on Jamie and Sophie’s NearlyWeds podcast – with the groom admitting he ‘f***ed up’.
During the honest chat, Vogue admitted that in all her years of knowing Spencer, she had never seen her partner so upset over the mix-up and the criticism directed towards him afterwards.
‘He was very upset, I have to be honest, I’ve never seen him like that,’ Vogue said. ‘He was genuinely upset over something and then it was getting worse and worse because I saw the personalised stuff. And I thought “Oh s*** you really thought about this”.’
Vogue Williams claimed that in all her years of knowing Spencer, she had never seen her husband so upset over the mix-up and the criticism directed towards him afterwards (pictured in 2024)
Jamie took full responsibility for the oversight, saying: ‘I f****d up. We had our wedding, our civil ceremony in the UK. It was a hectic process.
‘Amongst the hectic-ness of getting people there and things like that, I thought Spencer and Vogue were away.
‘Spencer got upset – which is fair enough. So I sent Vogue a message hoping to get a bit of support and then she replied “To be honest Jamie, it’s not good.” And I was like “f***.”
Jamie then explained that Sophie asked if Spencer and Vogue were coming to their special day, to which Jamie explained that he failed to send them an invite because he knew they would be in Portugal on their family holiday.
Spencer said: ‘To be honest, Jamie, like you’re my best friend in the world. Which is why I think it hurt so much.
‘Like if it was anyone else. For your wedding – I would fly three times around the world to come to it because I care about you so much.’
While the pair appeared to have cleared the air with their podcast chat, things haven’t been the same since.
The pair’s award-winning and lucrative podcast 6 Degrees from Jamie and Spencer, which was broadcast on BBC Sounds, suddenly ended last November amid claims Spencer’s wife Vogue Williams, insisted her husband pull the plug on the show.
While the pair appeared to have cleared the air after the wedding snub, things haven’t been the same since. The pair’s podcast was axed and they’re rarely seen together (pictured in 2012)
Meanwhile, a source told the Mail’s Katie Hind last week: ‘Spencer has been a bit non-plussed about Jamie’s challenge which is very odd given they were so close.
‘They were like brothers, he [Spencer] was master of ceremonies at the wedding and they were always there for one another. It is the talk of their friendship group now that they seem to have fallen out. It’s very mysterious.
‘Jamie’s run is perhaps the biggest thing he will ever do in his life – surely he must be missing his friend. You now have to wonder what has happened to cause a change in their relationship.
‘Whatever went on, it caused a lot of friction. It’s still being referred to amongst their unforgiving circle.’
Many fans questioned Spencer’s absence in the comment section of Jamie’s social media commenting: ‘I kept waiting to see Spencer running with him’; ‘wonder why he didn’t? I was hoping he would be there at the end too… @spencermatthews”
‘I thought it strange as he’s been through similar challenges & I thought he would be there mentoring & pushing him’; ‘Where’s Spencer in all this ???’; ‘good question. Expected to see him run with Jamie at some stage to show his support’.
While Spencer shared an Instagram Story voicing his support for Jamie he did not appear in person to support his friend.
MailOnline had contacted Spencer’s representatives for comment.
In a possible dig at Spencer’s absence, Jamie then thanked the ‘great friends’ who had supported him as he choked back tears on the latest episode of his podcast, NewlyWeds
In a possible dig at Spencer’s absence, Jamie then thanked the ‘great friends’ who had supported him as he choked back tears on the latest episode of his podcast, NewlyWeds.
He aired a clip from his Comic Relief video diary in which he said: ‘Halfway through the day I got surprised by my great friend Ollie Proudlock which I was not expecting at all it.
‘Just not expecting at all it was one of those moments where I’m pretty good with surprises but he just came and surprised me and that just was more emotional than anything.
‘And then at the finish line Sophie [Habboo, his wife] was there, which again I thought she was coming tomorrow or Friday it’s just been amazing…
‘The best thing about yesterday was seeing my dad at the finish line. Seeing my dad at the finish line was just amazing an incredible moment…
‘Running in with all those people seeing my family and my friends there it was just the greatest thing in the world.’