WHEN INFLUENCERS get married you know it's going to be a fairytale scene that takes over the internet.
So when fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni married rapper Federico Leonardo Lucia in 2018 the lavish £1 million ceremony soon went viral.
The pair whisked 160 friends and family away to Sicily for a long weekend where the influencer, who has over 14 million followers, dazzled her guests and fans with three designer bridal gowns.
The outdoor ceremony was a modern-day fairytale, with white hydrangeas lining the aisle while the altar was framed with hundreds of roses, dangling from trees, before pastel-coloured flares exploded in the background as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife.
In the evening, the couple had an amusement park set up to keep their guests entertained with an elaborate firework display.
Prior to the big day, Chiara and Federico got engaged on live TV before splashing £1 million on the wedding.
But it seems the picture-perfect marriage and family life was a mirage as their eight-year relationship seems to have been plagued from the start and is just coming to light.
Last week, Chiara - who shares Leone, six, and Vittoria, three, with her ex-husband - sensationally claimed Federico was having an affair throughout their relationship, and even offered to leave her at the altar.
Put a ring on it
Chiara was dubbed 'Italy's first influencer' after starting her fashion blog the Blonde Salad in 2009.
Soon brands like Dior and Benetton sent the fashion influencer all over the world to review their collections.
It wasn't until 2015 that Chiara met her future husband after she was staying with friends in the same hotel.
The pair flirted online constantly until Fedez finally asked her out on a date.
But now she reveals she had a bad feeling from the start.
The MailOnline reports she had a gut feeling she shouldn't date him - but eventually decided to ignore it.
She added: "I was single at the time, I wanted to [go out with him], but I absolutely didn't think he could be the right guy for me, I don't know why.
"But I liked him, I liked him and he seemed like a very honest person."
The pair officially began dating in 2016 and the whirlwind romance saw them get engaged in May 2017.
He popped the question for her 30th birthday at one of his concerts.
While Forever Young played over a montage of their happiest moments, the thousands of fans were then given hearts to hold up in the air.
The rapper reportedly then turned to her and said: "We don’t need rings to be together.
"But to ask you what I’m about to ask, perhaps I do [need one]…"
To most, it seems like a grand romantic gesture, but Chiara now claims he was cheating on her the entire time with Italian designer Angelica Montini.
She wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement last week: 'A few days before Christmas 2024, Federico called me (aware that he was talking to me on the phone) and admitted for the first time to the relationship with his girlfriend that had been going on since 2017.'
Wedding Bells
18 months later, the pair wed in Sicily, Chiara wore three stunning looks designed by Dior's creative director Maria Grazia Chiura, who was also a guest at the wedding.
Pictures from inside the luxury reception show guests enjoying the carousel, as well as arcade games and a traditional Ferris wheel.
The pair looked blissfully happy on the day, but now the mum-of-two claims her husband admitted to calling his girlfriend minutes before walking down the aisle to say 'I do.'
In a recent Instagram post, she wrote: "He put other details on a table with his friend to make public, a very low blow. Details like his phone call with his girlfriend, just before he went up to the altar, telling her that a nod would be enough to give up everything."
In March 2022, after four years of marriage, Fedez underwent surgery to remove a rare kind of pancreatic tumour and was allegedly also texting his mistress beforehand.
Chiara spoke of her heartbreak after learning Fedez had been messaging Angelica while she and her children were holding his hand in hospital and wishing she 'could have that evil in his place so as not to see him suffer'.
Now, Fedez has responded to the allegations, admitting to the cross-over.
Fedez said in a statement: 'When Angelica decided to end our relationship, I made a big mistake—I confided in Fabrizio and a mutual friend. It was a poor decision at a vulnerable time, and now I’m facing the consequences. But I reject any conspiracy theories or claims of manipulation.'
Lowest point
The pair announced they were separating after six years of marriage and two children in February 2024.
It came just two months after Chiara was fined more than £930,000 by Italy's anti-trust authority for claiming the sales of a Christmas-edition cake would raise money for children with bone cancer.
Last month, Chiara agreed to pay at least 1.2 million euros to a children's charity to settle the case.
However, she now faces a criminal conviction which could result in a sentence of between one to five years.
She claimed the accusations were 'deeply unfair', adding that she believed 'sincerely that it was not necessary to hold a trial to prove that I never cheated anyone'.
She added that she is 'ready to fight with even greater determination to prove my absolute innocence.'
In her statement, Chiara blasted her ex-husband for 'abandoning' her at the lowest point of her career.
She wrote: 'I didn't say anything even when I was being abandoned from one day to the next during my first period of difficulty last February, when I could barely get out of bed.
'I heard many times that I kicked him out of the house, but it was never said that I kicked him out of the house after discovering a betrayal in those days (one of many, of course)[...]
'I have remained silent on many topics and slanders to continue pretending as if nothing had happened, my relationship with Federico was real to me, I have never been in an open relationship (it was obviously open only to the other party without me knowing) and despite all that, I am proud to have loved unconditionally.
'I am sorry that for the other party I have been a person to be mocked and used as desired, but sometimes it is good to open your eyes, understand the consequences, suffer, stand up and understand that you deserve something different. A love that may not be perfect but at least true and experienced equally by both parties. I wish it for myself.'
