Two decades of friendship, a wedding snub, a 150-mile ultramarathon, and two years of silence—Spencer Matthews and Jamie Laing finally spoke. Not on a red carpet. Not in a tabloid headline. But in quiet, tearful podcast conversations recorded on September 24, 2025, London, marking the first time in years they’d had real, unfiltered talks about what went wrong. The reconciliation came after Matthews invited Laing onto his podcast Untapped, and Laing returned the gesture with a feature on The Great Company. What followed wasn’t a PR stunt. It was a reckoning.
How a Stag Do Became a Breaking Point
The rift didn’t start with the wedding. It started with a text message. In 2022, Jamie Laing invited Spencer Matthews to his bachelor party in Ibiza. Matthews, sober since 2018, declined. "I thought it was no big deal," he admitted. But Laing didn’t see it that way. "I took it as an insult," he said. "We’d been friends since we were 15. You didn’t even try." Matthews, now 36, says he didn’t realize how deeply it cut. "I was protecting myself. I didn’t want to be around alcohol. But I should’ve gone for a couple of nights anyway. I should’ve made the effort." The real fracture came when Matthews learned—through The Daily Mail—that he hadn’t been invited to Laing’s 2023 wedding to Sophie Habboo. "I was pretty hurt," Matthews confessed. "I thought we were best friends. I tried to brush it off. But I kept thinking, why?" Laing, 35, didn’t even notice the absence. "I assumed he was busy. Or maybe he didn’t want to come. I didn’t ask. That was my mistake."The Ultramarathon That Didn’t End With a Hug
The tension deepened in March 2025, when Laing ran 150 miles across Manchester to raise exactly £2,053,835 for Comic Relief. Matthews didn’t show up at the finish line. He didn’t post a single photo. He didn’t comment. "I was planning on posting once he’d finished," Matthews explained. "I didn’t even realize I made a mistake. I was watching you. When you crossed the line, I posted what I thought was a good message." But Laing waited. "I kept checking my phone," he said. "I thought you’d call. I thought you’d be there. When you weren’t… I just assumed you didn’t care." Laing’s silence wasn’t just about the race. It was the culmination of months of drifting. "We weren’t talking much," he said. "If we weren’t friends anymore, why would you show up?" Matthews, who’s been sober for seven years, admitted he’d pulled away—not out of anger, but out of quiet grief. "I didn’t know how to fix it. So I didn’t try."
"We Fell Out Because of the Press"
What made the rift unbearable wasn’t just the silence—it was the noise. British tabloids spun their quiet distance into a full-blown feud. Headlines screamed: "Made in Chelsea Friends at War." "Laing Snubs Matthews at Wedding." "Ultramarathon Betrayal." "They’re Done." "We fell out because of the press," Matthews said bluntly. "Not because of what we did. Because of what everyone thought we did." Laing nodded. "I was at a selfish point. I didn’t want to be around people who made me feel uncomfortable. And you were trying to protect yourself. We were both just… lost." They didn’t reconcile with a hug on Instagram. No staged photos. No press release. Just two men in their mid-thirties, sitting in a London studio, finally saying the things they’d been too proud or too scared to say aloud. "I know I’m not a great friend to Jamie," Matthews admitted. Laing responded: "And I’m too sensitive. I internalize everything. I let it fester."What Comes After the Apology
They didn’t promise to be best friends again. They didn’t say they’d be inseparable. "We’ve been drifting," Matthews said. "And the media made it worse. But now? We’re talking. That’s something." It’s a small victory, but in a world where friendships are often performed for likes and comments, this quiet honesty feels radical. These aren’t celebrities fixing a PR problem. They’re men who grew up together, lost their way, and chose to find each other again—not with fanfare, but with vulnerability. The reconciliation came without fanfare, but the impact lingers. For fans who watched them navigate breakups, rehab, and career highs on Made in Chelsea, this feels like closure. Not the end of a story, but the beginning of something more real.
Why This Matters Beyond Reality TV
Their story isn’t just about two reality stars. It’s about how easily modern friendships fracture in the age of social media. We assume silence means indifference. We interpret absence as rejection. We let headlines define our relationships instead of asking the person directly. Matthews and Laing didn’t need a public apology. They needed a conversation. And they finally had it.Frequently Asked Questions
What caused the feud between Spencer Matthews and Jamie Laing?
The feud began when Spencer Matthews declined Jamie Laing’s invitation to his Ibiza stag do due to his sobriety, which Laing interpreted as a personal slight. The rift widened when Matthews learned via tabloids he wasn’t invited to Laing’s 2023 wedding, and later, didn’t appear at Laing’s 150-mile Comic Relief ultramarathon in March 2025—despite raising over £2 million. Both men later admitted they assumed the other had moved on, without ever asking.
Did Spencer Matthews attend Jamie Laing’s wedding?
No, Spencer Matthews did not attend Jamie Laing’s 2023 wedding to Sophie Habboo. He only found out he wasn’t invited through a Daily Mail article. Matthews said he was hurt and confused, believing they were still close friends. Laing, unaware of Matthews’ feelings, assumed he was busy or uninterested—never realizing his silence had been interpreted as rejection.
How much money did Jamie Laing raise with his ultramarathon?
Jamie Laing raised exactly £2,053,835 during his 150-mile Comic Relief ultramarathon in Manchester in March 2025. The event drew widespread public attention, and his absence of support from Spencer Matthews—despite Matthews’ known history with sobriety and charity work—became a focal point in media narratives about their fractured friendship.
Were Spencer Matthews and Jamie Laing ever close before the feud?
Yes. The two have known each other since they were teenagers, bonding over their shared time on Made in Chelsea since the show’s early seasons. They were often portrayed as inseparable, attending each other’s events and appearing in multiple episodes together. Their friendship spanned nearly 20 years before the rift, making the public silence even more jarring for fans.
Why did the media play such a big role in the feud?
British tabloids amplified every silence and absence into dramatic headlines, turning private misunderstandings into public scandals. Matthews and Laing both admitted the press created a narrative they couldn’t escape—making them feel judged by strangers, not just each other. The constant speculation made it harder to reach out, fearing any attempt at reconciliation would be seen as performative.
Are Spencer Matthews and Jamie Laing back to being best friends?
Not exactly. Both men emphasized they haven’t magically returned to how things were. But they’ve stopped pretending the rift doesn’t exist. Matthews said, "We’re talking. That’s something." For two men who spent years silently drifting apart, simply choosing to communicate again is a meaningful step forward—not a full reunion, but a genuine start.
