Ricky Hatton was never married. The Manchester boxing champion who died on September 14, 2025 at the age of 46 left behind three children, a granddaughter, and a decade-long relationship that came as close to marriage as he ever got.
That relationship was with Jennifer Dooley. A college lecturer from England, she was his partner from 2005, his fiancée from 2009, and the mother of two of his three children. They separated for good in 2016. A decade later, she gave testimony at the inquest into his death.
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Who Was Jennifer Dooley?
Jennifer Dooley is not a public figure by any conventional measure. She gave no interviews during the relationship, made no public statements after it ended, and spent more than two decades connected to a nationally famous boxer without once speaking to the press.
She was a college lecturer. She started dating Hatton in 2005, and when he stepped out to face Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in May 2009, she was sitting ringside as his fiancée. A Getty Images wire photograph from that night formally identifies her as such in its caption.
They lived together in Hyde at a house Hatton called the “Heartbreak Hotel”, named after his idol Elvis Presley. She was with him when he received his MBE in 2007 and attended the major fights of his career on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ricky Hatton’s Depression and the Role Jennifer Dooley Played
The Pacquiao knockout in May 2009 ended Hatton’s career and brought on what he would later describe as the worst years of his life. The depression was severe. He was drinking heavily, and over the three years that followed he made multiple attempts on his own life.
He described it on BBC Radio Five Live in 2012:
“Most mornings my girlfriend would have to come downstairs and take a knife out of my hand. I had a knife at my wrists, I was in a really bad way, just hysterically crying for no reason.”
That was Jennifer Dooley. She stayed with him through those years, from the Pacquiao defeat in 2009 to his brief boxing comeback in 2012. Their first daughter, Millie, was born in September 2011 during this period.
September 2010: The Emma Bowe Scandal and What Happened to Hatton’s Relationship
Hatton had been involved with Emma Bowe, an Irish amateur boxing champion, since October 2009. By Bowe’s own account, later given to the Sunday Mirror, the affair had run for eleven months.
On September 12, 2010, the News of the World published video footage of Hatton inside a Manchester hotel room. Bowe, who had flown from Dublin to attend a cage fighting event with him, secretly filmed him that night for the tabloid. He had drunk 11 pints of Guinness, four vodkas, two glasses of wine and several sambucas over the course of the evening, and snorted seven lines of cocaine across three separate sessions.
When Jennifer rang his phone the following morning at 8:30am, Hatton told Bowe to leave it.
He admitted himself to a rehabilitation clinic the same day the story was published. At a British Boxing Board of Control hearing that September, his boxing licence was stripped and he was fined £20,000.
Three weeks later, Bowe sold a second story to the Sunday Mirror, this time revealing the affair. She told the paper:
“I knew about Jennifer and how she was his fiancée, but I was just so flattered Ricky was interested in me.”
Despite both stories becoming public within the space of a month, Hatton and Dooley did not split immediately. Their second daughter, Fearne Grace, was born in 2013. A reported separation that year was followed by a period of reconciliation, before the relationship ended for good in 2016.
Ricky Hatton’s Other Relationships
Before Jennifer Dooley, Hatton had a short relationship around the turn of the century with a woman named Claire, whose surname has never been made public. She is the mother of his son Campbell, born January 9, 2001. Both parents stayed involved in Campbell’s upbringing in Manchester.
After the final split from Jennifer Dooley in 2016, Hatton had several further relationships:
| Period | Partner | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 to 2017 | Marie Pollard | Brief; reportedly reconnected for a time in 2021 |
| 2022 to 2023 | Angela Blemmings | Beauty therapist; Hatton tagged her publicly on Instagram |
| 2024 | Claire Sweeney | Actress; met on the 2024 Dancing on Ice series |
His last known relationship was with Claire Sweeney, a Coronation Street actress he had known for around 25 years before they started dating after appearing together on Dancing on Ice in 2024. They parted ways in December 2024. Sweeney described it to MailOnline:
“We were friends, we dated and now we’re friends again.”
After Hatton’s death in September 2025, she wrote on Instagram:
“Ricky, you were the people’s champ. We adored and cherished you. Love you always.”
Ricky Hatton’s Children: Campbell, Millie, Fearne and Granddaughter Lyla
Hatton had three children:
- Campbell Hatton (born January 9, 2001, mother: Claire) — professional boxer who retired in July 2025 aged 24; father of Ricky’s only granddaughter, Lyla
- Millie Hatton (born September 2011, mother: Jennifer Dooley)
- Fearne Grace Hatton (born 2013, mother: Jennifer Dooley) — aged 12 at the time of her father’s death
On the evening of September 12, 2025, Hatton took Millie, Fearne and Lyla to a pub for a meal. By accounts given to the inquest, he was relaxed and talking about what was ahead. He told the children he would see them when he got back from Dubai.
Two days later, his manager Paul Speak arrived at the house and found him unresponsive.
Ricky Hatton’s Death and What the 2026 Inquest Found
Speak had arrived to take Hatton to Manchester Airport for a flight to Dubai, where a comeback fight against Eisa Al Dah was due in December. He found him in the upstairs games room of the Hyde home.
The full inquest concluded on March 20, 2026, at Stockport Coroner’s Court. Jennifer Dooley, Campbell Hatton and Ricky’s father Ray all attended.
Key findings from the hearing:
- Hatton was more than twice over the UK drink-drive limit at the time of his death
- A neuropathological post mortem found evidence of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a brain condition linked to repeated head trauma, described by the pathologist as mild but unusual for someone of Hatton’s age
- No note was found and police uncovered no evidence of premeditation
Jennifer told the court his daughters were “heartbroken” and “struggling with the finality of the situation.” She described him in his later years as “forgetful and disorganised” and someone who needed guidance making plans, observations the coroner tied directly to the CTE finding.
Campbell told the court: “He had made plans for the future which leads us to believe this wasn’t premeditated.”
Senior coroner Alison Mutch returned a narrative verdict:
“I cannot be satisfied that he intended to take his own life. Intent remains unclear.”
Jennifer Dooley sat in that Stockport courtroom in March 2026 and spoke about two daughters who had lost their father and were struggling with the finality of it. She had not been Hatton’s partner for a decade and was never his wife. She gave evidence anyway.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health difficulties, contact the Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7, UK and Ireland) or visit samaritans.org.
