Alex Reid blames Katie Price's 'gay mafia' for split

Alex Reid has claimed that his marriage to Katie Price struggled due to her close friendships with Gary Cockerill and Phil Turner.

The former cage fighter dubbed the pair as Price's 'gay mafia', and said that they rarely allowed him to spend time with the model alone.

Reid and Price separated in January, after marrying in Las Vegas in February 2010.

"I could never be alone with her. We never had any real intimacy," he told Reveal. "We did have romantic moments but, even then, there was always someone downstairs.

"Phil and Gary, I called them the gay mafia. They were always there advising Katie."

The Celebrity Big Brother winner added that some of Price's closest friends had warned him against the marriage, declaring that he didn't enjoy the wedding itself.

"Everyone - I mean everyone - warned me against marrying her. Even Katie's closest friends told me not to do it. I didn't see it at the time, but I do now," he lamented.

"Put it this way, it wasn't happy. I haven't seen any photos of that day. That's the worst thing. My mum doesn't have any photos and that doesn't make sense."

Cockerill appeared with Price for Sky Living's Promzillas series, a show that examined the American prom craze.

Reid recently said that he was "deeply sad" that his marriage to Price failed.

Price has claimed that she was never in love with Reid during their 11-month marriage.