Gavin Rossdale’s ‘heartbreaking split from boyfriend’ before Gwen Stefani

Five years ago today a furious Gwen Stefani was firing off documents that would end her 13 year marriage to Gavin Rossdale.

The proverbial hit the fan amid claims Gavin, 54, had a three-year affair with the couple's nanny, Mindy Mann, some of which was alleged to have taken place while Gwen, 50, was pregnant with their youngest son Apollo, six.

Suspicions were first raised when Gavin was pictured with his hand on Mindy's behind on a hike in 2012.

And according to Us Weekly, Gwen's suspicions were confirmed in February 2015 when she found explosive evidence on a family iPad that had been linked to her husband's phone.

Nude photos and explicit messages - where the couple allegedly arranged to meet up for sex - were said to have been stumbled across by another nanny, who later alerted Gwen.

But it wasn't the first storm the Bush frontman and No Doubt frontwoman had been faced since meeting on tour in 1995 and tying the knot at St Paul's Cathedral in London in 2002.

Their relationship was shaken in 2004 when a DNA test proved Gavin was the father of model Daisy Lowe - the result of a fling with her married mother Pearl in the late eighties.

Meanwhile, pop star Marilyn - real name Peter Robinson - claimed to have had a five-year relationship with Gavin before he met Gwen, telling the Mirror the rocker was the love of his life.

What's more, Marilyn said their 1986 split left him so heartbroken that he was unable to kiss another person for almost two decades.

Recalling how they met, the 57-year-old singer shared: “He was a fan of mine. He’d follow me around the clubs everywhere and I was vile to him so he would stop. But he never did.

“One day I saw him in a club and told him it had to stop. He had his car outside and asked to speak to me somewhere quiet.

“He told me he loved me, which I said was ridiculous because he didn’t know me. But after about an hour-and-a-half we were both crying and ended up in each other’s arms. And that was it. We were a couple.”

Boy George first revealed the affair in his 1995 autobiography, but Gavin vehemently denied it - only to back down in 2014 but brush it off as a 'one-time experimentation'.

For Marilyn though, it was much more.

“I cried every day for 10 years,” he continued. “I’ve not even kissed anyone else since.”

In a 2010 interview with Details magazine, Gavin explained why he'd initially denied Marilyn's claims and lambasted Boy George.

"I think at the outset there was a sort of fear - that was right at the beginning of Bush, and I didn’t want it to be part of it. It felt like a cheap shot, so I was like: ‘I’m not getting involved,'" he said.

"I’ve never wanted to appear closed about it, it’s not something I’ve talked about really because it’s always been in the glare of a tabloid world, it’s just one of those things - move on.

"When you’re 17, Jesus Christ, I don’t think there’s anything strange about any form of anything - you’re learning about life. It’s a part of growing up - that’s it, no more, no less."

According to Marilyn, Gavin had denied the affair to Gwen and tried to 'edit his past'.

Gavin nd Gwen went on to have children Kingston, 14, Zuma, 11 and Apollo before their split.

And while he has never confirmed or denied the nanny affair claims, he did admit that the separation was not his choice.

“[Divorce] was completely opposite to what I wanted. Really not …” he told The Sun.

“But here we are.

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Gavin RossdaleGwen Stefani