The parents of football superstar Jude Bellingham and his brother Jobe have separated, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Former police sergeant Mark Bellingham and his wife Denise, who are widely credited with masterminding the careers of their talented sons, are bringing their marriage of more than two decades to an end following years of living in separate countries.
Real Madrid midfielder Jude, 22, who has just been dropped from the latest England squad, has long paid tribute to his parents for the support and sacrifices they have made over the years for him and Jobe, who plays for German side Borussia Dortmund.
Both Mark and Denise gave up their own careers to nurture and guide their sons’ talent, and moved away from their family home in the West Midlands – and each other – in order to support them as they joined clubs in Spain and Germany.
But rumours about the couple’s marriage began to emerge last week when they were unusually pictured sitting apart to watch Jobe’s game against Athletic Bilbao.
A German newspaper suggested there was a ‘dangerously tense atmosphere’ surrounding the family at the match, with Mark, 49, only talking to a close family member during the game, and not 57-year-old Denise, who was said to have avoided conversation.
Now, sources close to the couple have confirmed that Mark has grown close to Shelley Punshon, a detective constable in the West Mercia police.
Ms Punshon is a divorced mother-of-two from Stourbridge, West Midlands, where the Bellingham family previously lived and raised their sons.
Jude Bellingham’s parents Mark (left) and Denise (right) have brought their marriage to an end
Mark and Denise had been living in separate countries as they helped launch the careers of the Real Madrid star Jude (left) and Jobe (right) who plays for Borussia Dortmund
Jude’s parents Denise (top left) and Mark (top, second from right in a cap) were seen sitting apart at brother Jobe’s match for Borussia Dortmund last week
As his marriage collapsed Mark has struck up a friendship with Shelly Punshon (above), who posted a picture of herself with Mr Bellingham onto her publicly available Facebook page
Ms Punshon (above) is a detective constable in the West Mercia police, from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where the Bellingham family previously lived and raised their sons
It is not clear how the pair met, but Ms Punshon uploaded a picture of the couple looking comfortable together to her public Facebook profile in August. The photograph, taken on a woodland track, features a smiling Mark standing behind Ms Punshon, with an arm draped around her.
Comments underneath the pair include love hearts, with one poster adding: ‘Lovely couple xx’
Ms Punshon also adds that they are ‘off to Santorini soon’, suggesting that they were planning a holiday to the Greek islands together.
It is also not clear when Mark and Denise formally separated, although they have largely lived apart for the last five years, most recently dividing their time between Germany and Spain, as they followed their sons.
Now sources in Germany have told The Mail on Sunday that concern is increasing within the club at the impact the domestic troubles in the Bellingham family are having on Jobe, who is said to be particularly close to Denise.
The source said: ‘It’s obvious to the management that Jobe is struggling with personal matters.
‘He has struggled to make friends in the team, rarely goes out socialising in Dortmund and spends most of his time in his house alone.
‘The atmosphere and tension in the family is affecting his performances on the pitch.
‘At the recent match his parents attended they came and left alone and didn’t speak once. There are worries that Jobe feels very insecure and pressurised by what is going on.’
The split comes during what has already been an unsettled period for the brothers after Jude – who scored two goals for England in Euro 2024 – was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad. Meanwhile, Jobe, 20, has yet to complete a full 90-minutes in any of his 12 league appearances for Dortmund.
Trouble flared at the start of the season in August after Mark reportedly tried to confront Dortmund’s manager, Nico Kovac, after Jobe was substituted at half time in the team’s opening Bundesliga match.
According to reports, he was banned from the team’s dressing room and later engaged in a heated discussion with the club’s sporting director over his frustration that his son had been hauled off.
The concern over the split’s effect on Jude and Jobe is not misplaced. Mark and Denise have been widely credited for masterminding their sons’ careers and protecting them from the pitfalls of fame and the temptations of multi-million-pound salaries.
Mark acts as his sons’ agent, negotiating transfers, salary packages and sponsorship deals, after giving up his job with West Midlands police in 2022.
Meanwhile Denise, who previously worked in human resources, handles the brothers’ financial affairs. Both parents act as joint directors in a series of companies they set up and it is not clear whether this will change as a result of the separation.
Throughout the years they had proved to be an unbeatable team and went to great lengths to treat the talented footballers equally.
Mark (right) was reportedly banned from Borussia Dortmund’s dressing room back in August after he held an emotional discussion with club chiefs over their treatment of Jobe
The split comes during an unsettled period for Jude (seen with Denise) after he endured a difficult time with England manager Thomas Tuchel and was left out of the latest squad
Jude (seen with father Mark) has also had a slow start to the season for Madrid as he recovers after having shoulder surgery over the summer
Jude has spoken warmly of both of them. In one interview, he said: ‘Before being great parents they’re great people.
‘I’ve grown up around them and seen the way they interact with other people, seen the way they treat people.
‘When you have people like that, you don’t have to be told how to behave, you pick that up from them … working hard and if you want something, putting in the graft to go and get it.’
None of the Bellingham family can be accused of not putting in the graft. When Jude quit his boyhood club, Birmingham City, aged 17 to sign for Borussia Dortmund in 2020, Denise moved with him and they shared an apartment together in the city, while Mark remained at home with Jobe.
In 2023, Jude was unveiled as Real Madrid’s £113million star signing on the same day it was announced Jobe was joining Sunderland. While Mark followed Jobe to the North East, Denise – who the boys refer to as their ‘Queen’ – moved to Spain with Jude.
The pair moved into a £5.5million modern mansion with swimming pool, gym and home theatre in the exclusive La Finca neighbourhood of west Madrid.
Mark regularly kept in touch with the pair via video calls and would fly over to attend award ceremonies and events.
He would also attend big matches, often with Jobe, when there were no clashing fixtures.
After helping guide Sunderland to promotion to the Premier League last season, Jobe followed in his brother’s footsteps when he signed for Dortmund for a reported £27.8million.
Jude has been hailed one of the most talented footballers of his generation, and his family have charted his success in a series of slickly-produced films posted on YouTube.
Jude (pictured as a baby with father) had scouts marvelling at his ball-carrying technique
Concern is increasing within Dortmund at the impact the domestic troubles in the Bellingham family is having on Jobe, who is said to be particularly close to Denise (above)
Denise (pictured with Jobe) handles the brothers’ financial affairs with both parents acting as joint directors in a series of companies they set up
There has been increasing speculation within the Bellingham camp that all has not been well for some time
The films give an insight into the family’s long-distance lifestyle from Jude’s final days at Dortmund through his first season in Madrid, which ended in a Champions League triumph.
In one clip, Jude says: ‘It’s difficult not being together all the time now that dad lives with Jobe and mum lives with me.’
He added of Denise: ‘My mum is the kind of backbone. She’s the one who kind of gives me the support that I need as a son – obviously emotionally and mentally.
‘My dad was kind of the exact same when I lived with him and still is – but from afar, and he does that job now but for Jobe.’
And on one occasion when the family were together, Jobe said: ‘It’s just tough isn’t it. You can’t put your finger on one emotion. It’s just a range isn’t it – you just miss your mum.’
He then added jokingly: ‘Maybe if Jude learned how to cook and drive, mum could come back and live with me but, no, he’s useless so I’ll have to make do won’t I?’
Mark, who is of Irish descent, grew up in Essex while Denise, whose heritage is West Indian, was born in the Midlands.
The brothers were privately-educated and Jude has told how he didn’t take to football in the early days when his father – a prolific amateur league goalscorer – took him to his matches and coaching sessions.
Instead of watching with other kids, he would ‘make daisy chains’ for his mother, he said.
But aged seven, the thrill of scoring goals had him hooked and then ‘it became everything’.
Divorced mother of two Ms Punshon (left) has grown close to Mr Bellingham in recent times
Mr Bellingham (right) is a former police sergeant but now acts as his son’s agent, negotiating transfers, salary packages and sponsorship deals
Ms Punshon has shared a series of snaps which show her seemingly globetrotting or basking in the sun in bikinis
Ms Punshon appears to be well-travelled, often sharing images of her holidaying by the pool
And he acknowledged that it was his father – who scored more than 700 career goals across more than 20 different clubs between 1994 and the late 2010s – influenced him.
He once said: ‘When you go and watch him play every week in non-league, you know it’s not the Premier League or anything, but seeing the way that he played and the atmosphere, it made me fall in love with football so he was probably my first hero.
‘Growing up, he’d always give me tips on what I could do and now it gets to a certain age and it sort of flips and that’s brilliant because we have that sort of relationship like father and son and then as I got older, like coach and player.’
Jude has also had a slow start to the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery over the summer.
The Mail on Sunday has approached Mark and Denise Bellingham for comment.
