Spencer Matthews says he wasn't invited to Jamie Laing's Ultra Marathon Challenge as childhood friends reveal truth about their fallout

Spencer Matthews says he was not invited to Jamie Laing's Ultra Marathon Challenge, a point the former best friends used to address years of tension as they spoke publicly about their fallout. Laing, 36, completed a 150-mile run over five days in March that raised more than £2 million for Comic Relief. The charity event took him from London to Salford, where his finish line was celebrated by a small group of friends and family. The lineup included Made In Chelsea co-star Oliver Proudlock, The Traitors winner Leanne Quigley, and BBC Radio 1 host Greg James, but Matthews was conspicuously absent. The absence added fuel to long-standing speculation that the two had grown apart after years of close collaboration on screen and off.

Matthews, 37, who last year completed 30 marathons in 30 days across the Jordanian desert, addressed the headlines on his Untapped podcast, saying he hadn’t received an invitation to the Ultra Marathon Challenge. “Your challenge, for the record, was a really beautiful thing to watch. I didn’t snub your challenge at all,” he said, framing his account as a clarification rather than a confrontation. He added that he’d congratulated Laing at the finish line but stressed that he hadn’t been included in the event’s arrangements. “It kind of was like almost not enough where I wasn’t there, and I didn’t come to support you. There’s a reason I wasn’t there, I wasn’t invited.”

Laing, for his part, pushed back on Matthews’ version of events, insisting that the people who turned up to congratulate him at the finish line were not invited either. “If you look at the flip side of it, right, everyone who came weren’t invited,” Laing said, prompting Matthews to respond that, “Of course they were.” Laing pressed on, saying, “No, no, they weren’t, people just turn up at the finish line. I didn’t invite them.” Matthews suggested that the BBC might have coordinated some of the finish-line surprises, a claim Laing disputed, saying he was focused solely on completing the challenge and had no knowledge of additional guests.

The exchange comes against a backdrop of reports dating back to 2023 that tensions had been brewing between the pair after Matthews said he was “p****d off” when Jamie snubbed him from his wedding to Made In Chelsea co-star Sophie Habboo, 30. Matthews had attended the couple’s June wedding celebration in Spain but was not present at the legal ceremony in London two months earlier. He later told Vogue that he hadn’t actually been invited to the courthouse ceremony and that the absence had been hard to swallow, even as he chose to respect the couple’s plans.

The public disagreement continued into discussions on Jamie and Sophie’s NearlyWeds podcast, where the parties discussed what had happened and what had gone wrong. Jamie acknowledged the misstep and took responsibility, saying, “I f****d up.” Vogue recalled seeing Matthews unusually upset over the situation, noting it was an emotional moment in the couple’s honest conversation. Jamie explained that, amid the wedding’s hectic schedule, he believed Spencer and Vogue were away on a family trip to Portugal and thus not included in the guest list for the legal ceremony. He added that he could have handled the invite differently and that he owed Matthews and Vogue an apology for the misunderstanding.

Vogue, for her part, described Matthews as visibly upset for much of the period surrounding the snub, and stressed that the damage was felt not only by the groom but by close friends whose presence mattered to both couples. The two couples later discussed the miscommunication on their NearlyWeds program, with Vogue recounting the emotional toll and Jamie taking responsibility for the oversight. In recounting the timeline, friends familiar with the matter say the friction predated the 2023 wedding moment and has persisted through a complex mix of personal and professional ties, misunderstandings about invitations, and differing expectations about visibility and support.

Analysts note that the Ultra Marathon event itself is a high-profile charity feat, designed to showcase teamwork and resilience while spotlighting the causes supported by the participants. While Laing’s finish was celebrated by a network of collaborators, Matthews’ absence from the event has become a focal point for fans trying to understand the state of the two men’s friendship. The back-and-forth—between a public acknowledgment of the rift, competing narratives about who was invited, and a series of apologies and explanations—highlights how personal disputes can intersect with celebrity projects and charity campaigns.

In recent years, the two former reality stars have leveraged their platforms to discuss their lives, friendships, and the pressures of fame in Britain’s entertainment ecosystem. The new airing of grievances follows years in which the pair collaborated on projects and supported each other’s ventures, including business dealings and media appearances tied to their shared past. For fans, the current chapter offers a window into how easily personal tensions can spill into public conversations, even when both sides appear determined to frame events in a constructive light.

Whether Matthews and Laing will reconcile their differences remains unresolved. What is clear is that the Ultra Marathon Challenge, which raised substantial funds for Comic Relief, has become an accelerant for a broader dialogue about friendship, loyalty, and the boundaries of public personas. As the two men continue to navigate their relationship in the press and on their respective platforms, both sides have signaled an interest in moving forward, while acknowledging that misunderstandings from the past linger. In the meantime, supporters of their charitable efforts can still celebrate the miles logged and the millions raised, even as the behind-the-scenes story of their friendship continues to unfold.