In the mid-1970s, Tony Blackburn was at the peak of his fame — a Radio 1 superstar married to rising television actress Tessa Wyatt, living a seemingly idyllic life in leafy Berkshire.
Just next door lived another glamorous showbiz couple: actress Margot Webb and her husband Roger, a highly respected musician and songwriter whose work would later soundtrack some of Britain’s best-loved television shows.
The two couples became inseparable neighbours. They played croquet on manicured lawns, hosted swimming pool parties, and shared long summer afternoons surrounded by pets — including three donkeys grazing in the garden.
But behind the relaxed Home Counties façade, a far more complicated story was unfolding.
A ‘Love Square’ — Or Something Else Entirely?
In recent weeks, Blackburn reignited headlines after boasting on a podcast that the four neighbours had become entangled in what he described as a “wife swap” — claiming he slept with Margot while her husband was simultaneously having an affair with Tessa.
He even likened it to a “Celebrity Wife Swap” decades before the show existed.
But now, Margot Webb, the only other surviving member of that alleged love square, has decided to tell her side of the story — and it sharply contradicts Blackburn’s version.
Speaking exclusively, Margot admits she did have an affair with the DJ. But she dismisses his dramatic retellings as exaggerated, self-serving — and deeply hurtful.
‘He Was the Worst Lover I Ever Had’
Margot, now 77, says she is exhausted by what she calls Blackburn’s “endless bragging” about a relationship that lasted less than a year.
“I haven’t had many lovers,” she says plainly. “But Tony was the worst one I ever had. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. He didn’t have a clue.”
She adds: “He keeps talking about something that happened 50 years ago. Why? Everyone already knows what he got up to.”
From Convent Girl to Cautionary Tale
At the time, Margot describes herself as shy and naïve — a former convent girl who felt flattered by the attention of a famous man.
“Sleeping with him was always the part of the date I looked forward to least,” she admits.
She insists there was no wife swapping, no orgies, no naked pool parties — despite Blackburn’s colourful claims.
“We had fun, yes. But people wore swimsuits. Children were around. There were donkeys in the garden, not debauchery.”
The Man Behind the Mirror
Margot paints a far less glamorous picture of Blackburn than the one he has spent decades projecting.
She describes him as vain, insecure and obsessive about his appearance — recalling how he would spend up to an hour in front of the mirror each morning applying mascara to disguise a bald patch.
“He wouldn’t go out in the rain,” she says. “He could be pleasant — but his insecurities made him exhausting.”
While Blackburn nicknamed her “Magnificent Margot,” she privately called him “Noddy,” joking that he resembled a puppet.
“I don’t hate Tony,” she says. “But I am really annoyed with him.”
What Hurts the Most
What angers Margot most is Blackburn’s repeated implication that her husband Roger had an affair with Tessa — a claim both she and Tessa strongly deny.
“Roger was gentle and shy,” she says. “He would hate to be remembered like that.”
Roger died of a brain tumour in 2002. Their daughter Julia was killed in a car accident in 2005, aged just 34.
“All I have left are memories,” Margot says quietly. “I don’t want them tarnished by nonsense designed to make someone else look exciting.”
The End of an Illusion
Margot briefly left her marriage during the affair, believing Roger no longer wanted her — but they ultimately stayed together.
Blackburn’s marriage, however, did not survive the decade. He and Tessa divorced in 1977. Tessa later found happiness elsewhere and has long dismissed his claims as untrue.
Now, as rumours swirl that Blackburn may be writing yet another memoir, Margot says she felt compelled to speak.
“I don’t want sympathy,” she insists. “I just want the record set straight.”
