Real Housewives star is ‘going through chapter’ after bitter £3m divorce

A Real Housewives of Cheshire star who celebrated splitting from her property mogul ex by burning her wedding dress is ‘facing bankruptcy’ after being left empty-handed amid a bitter £3million divorce battle. 

Lauren Simon, 51, says she has been ‘destroyed’ after her eight-year court war ended in her getting none of her multi-millionaire ex-husband’s money – and is now facing a £1.2million bill to pay. 

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant had initially been handed a £3million lump sum by a judge in 2018 after the end of her 13-year marriage to Paul Simon.

But property tycoon Mr Simon, 54, then won an appeal against the order after claiming the couple only had £2million between them in assets, and he had no cash of his own. 

The pair later agreed to settle the case in February 2021, with Mrs Simon being given the right to live in a £1.8m mansion in Altrincham, Greater Manchester for life – but with no cash payout.

However, they were dragged back to court by a specialist divorce finance company after it accused them of entering a ‘collusive agreement’ to avoid paying a £1.2million bill that Mrs Simon owes them. 

After claiming the no-cash divorce settlement was a ploy to avoid Mrs Simon paying what she owes, the company Integro Funding Limited – trading as ‘Level’ – was then joined to the divorce case, forcing the couple to be taken back to court. 

The divorce battle finally ended yesterday at the High Court, with Judge Mr Justice Peel saying Mrs Simon had confirmed she wanted to drop her claim and for the legal war to end – despite her ex’s lawyers saying she will get no cash from the marriage.  

It means the reality TV star will walk away from her acrimonious split with none of her ex-husband’s millions and no funds to pay Level’s £1.2million bill, leaving her at threat of bankruptcy.

‘She was crystal clear in not wanting any further litigation, which she said had destroyed her and her family,’ said the judge.

The court heard the couple married in November 2003 and had two children before separating in January 2016. They lived in a lavish £1.8million home in Bowden, Cheshire.

Mrs Simon shot to fame in 2015 after she found a role on Real Housewives of Cheshire, which features the glamorous lifestyles of Cheshire women. She left the show in 2019, before returning in 2020.

She earned £40,000-a-year, but also received perks and the chance to plug her brand of perfume, Lauren Stone Number One, which she launched at a lavish party in Hale Barns, the court heard.

Following a bitterly contested hearing, Mrs Justice Parker awarded Mrs Simon the £3million lump sum as a final conclusion to the couple’s married life in 2018, but that was later overturned on the husband’s appeal. 

In 2021, after reaching the settlement with her ex, Mrs Simon gave an interview in which she described having a party at which she burned her wedding dress to celebrate the divorce.

Lawyers for Level claimed that the agreement the former couple struck in 2021 was ‘collusive’ and that, in providing her with no cash, was ‘seeking to exclude’ the company from claiming its money back.

The debt is unenforceable because Mrs Simon – who owes the money – has been left with no cash or assets, and the company has no claim on Mr Simon’s wealth.

The consent order was set aside by agreement in 2022 and Level were joined as a party to the case the same year in a bid to get their bill paid.

But Mr Justice Peel said there was nothing the court could do to force the couple to reach a new cash settlement – and allow Level to be repaid – if they refused to do so.

‘There have been no direct factual findings, based on tested evidence, but it is not difficult to reach a number of provisional conclusions,’ he said.

‘Husband and wife entered into an agreement… which included as one of its objectives an outcome to avoid repayment to Level of its loan.

‘Other factors may have come into play, but it is probable, in my view, that preventing Level from recouping its monies was part of the motivation, and it was certainly one of the consequences.‘

He said it was Mrs Simon’s application for a financial order that had brought the case to court and that the litigation lender could not ask for an order in her favour so that it could get its money back.

‘Level are not entitled to seek financial remedies orders as between husband and wife,’ he said.

‘This court can only make distributive orders, whether by consent or otherwise, as between husband and wife, on application made by either or both of them.

‘It cannot make a distributive order upon application by Level so as to require the husband to pay the wife such sum as Level is entitled to.

‘The wife does not seek any orders, including a consent order. Nor does the husband. Whatever their reasons for this, I cannot force them to apply for orders, whether by consent or otherwise.

‘If wife and husband, for their own reasons, elect not to pursue financial remedy proceedings, there is precious little that Level can do about it.’

The judge also added that ‘no matter how unattractive the withdrawal by the wife of her application for financial remedies would be as an outcome so far as Level are concerned,’ there is ‘little they can do about that other than making her bankrupt and they would be unable to recoup any of the debt she owes to them’.

Having made ‘no order’ on Mrs Simon’s application, the judge said: ‘Should either wife or husband wish to make an application for financial remedies in the future, it must be issued afresh.

‘If such an application is made, Level is to be automatically joined as intervener, and the application must be served on them.’

The court heard Level are bringing a separate civil case against Mrs Simon, seeking their money back.

The judge said: ‘Level is not without potential remedies, as its civil claim remains pending. I make no observation on the merits, or otherwise, of its claim for a sum which now stands at about £1.2m, including interest but excluding costs.’