Comedy
The Way They Were | Ian Smith: Effie Gray & John Ruskin (A Very Victorian Scandal)
Each week comedians Grainne Maguire and Chantal Feduchin-Pate take a deep dive into a celebrity breakup, chosen by a special guest, that still lingers in their hearts and minds.
The Way They Were
Published 25 November 2025
The Way They Were / W!ZARD Studios

The podcast where every celebrity split is the one that got away. Each week comedians Grainne Maguire and Chantal Feduchin-Pate take a deep dive into a celebrity breakup, chosen by a special guest, that still lingers in their hearts and minds. They might uncouple ‘amicably with love and respect for one another’ - but we never get over these lost loves!

Effie Gray and John Ruskin looked like the perfect Victorian power couple: she, bright and brilliant; he, the era’s leading art critic. But behind the portraits was one of history’s strangest age-gap marriages. Unconsummated, uncomfortable, and the sort of story that would make Gen Z turn away in horror.

This week on The Way They Were, Gráinne and Chantal team up with one of Britain’s best stand-ups, Ian Smith, to look at the grottiest couples we've ever looked at on the show.

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