Czech her out: Meet Ester Dee, Real Housewives of Cheshire star who hid real husband from show

The Real Housewives of Cheshire returns to ITVBe on Monday (27 March) for its fifth series of big hair, big houses and extra-large egos. Dawn Ward and co will be back with a bang for the latest offering of the ostentatious show, but there has been controversy before it's even begun.

Czech Republic-born Ester Dee has caused quite the stir before the show's airing, with the star being accused of faking her Cheshire lifestyle by hiding a secret husband.

The 32-year-old blonde poses as the fiancée of millionaire property developer Rob Lloyd in the series, but the Sun on Sunday revealed that the 53-year-old is actually her lover. It has been reported that the blonde's lifestyle is in fact supported by her real life millionaire husband John Temple, who she has been married to since 2015.

Temple, 61, is said to be furious about his wife's small screen venture and was kept completely in the dark about the role. Just last week, he blew £5,000 on a ring for his wife after she called him from Dubai.

A furious Temple told The Sun over the weekend: "How could the programme makers have let her do this? The whole thing is sick.

"Ester is my wife, she doesn't live in Cheshire, and there is no Cheshire mansion. She splits her time between my apartment in Leamington Spa and one I bought for her in Wales. The Rolls-Royce she drives is mine.

"Meanwhile, the last that I heard, the man who is supposed to fund her lifestyle was living in a caravan," he continued, referring to Lloyd's reported £26 million debt.

Dee, from the Czech Republic, is a former au pair and has claimed to be engaged to Lloyd, who previously appeared on Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire in 2009. She will lead viewers to believe that she resides with him in a Georgian mansion.

Keeping up with the other Cheshire housewives' lifestyles – which include Ward, Tanya Bardsley, Leanne Brown, Lauren Simon, Stacey Forsey, Ampika Pickston and Seema Malhotra – Dee bragged about her extravagant spending habits and thinks shopping is "orgasmic." She also divulged to owning 200 handbags.

Dee moved to England in 2003 with just £40 in her pocket and dreamt of starting a new life, beginning work as an au pair in London before moving onto the elite lifestyle.

Speaking of Cheshire, she admits to loving the flashiness. She said: "I love Cheshire that way, it's the cars, it's the flash, it's the fashion, I love going out in Wilmslow in my Rolls Royce because you get noticed.

"If you make sure you look nice, people respond nice, they talk to you nicely, you get a better table. If I go to Hale Barns, if I wasn't me, I wouldn't get a nice table. People engage better with you if you have better things on you. Cheshire is quite pretentious in a way.

"It's a good honey pot place, compared to London it's got bigger money, bigger places. Cheshire is brilliant for football players, big game players, if you want to do it big, move to Cheshire."

The drama surrounding her marriage and relationship is set to unfold throughout series five of the show.

Tune into The Real Housewives of Cheshire tonight at 10pm on ITVBe.