Olly Murs’ mother was left on the verge of a breakdown after her son Ben disowned their family.
The 32-year-old singer’s twin brother cut ties with his entire family after Olly chose to compete in ‘The X Factor’ semi-final rather than go to Ben’s wedding and Vickylynn Murs, 55, has admitted that the feud left her physically ill.
She told the Sunday Times: "The difficulties we’ve had with Ben are complex, but it had nothing to do with ‘X Factor’. Deep down, I think Ben knows that. I never expected anything like this to happen to us because we’re such a tight-knit family.
"It was such a shock it made me ill. I even thought I had MS – I had to use a walking stick because my legs were so weak. I also couldn’t work. I was on the verge of a breakdown.
"I’m much better now, but my heart is broken … Ben’s broken my heart, and his dad’s, but I will not hear anything against him; I don’t think he understands what he’s done. I’ll go on loving him and sticking up for him until I die."
And despite Ben calling him a "self-absorbed sell-out", Olly has insisted that he would welcome Ben back with open arms if he decided he wanted to return to the family fold.
He said: "We don’t speak to my twin brother and that’s been extremely difficult. Long before X Factor, there were problems between Ben and his girlfriend and our family. He made the decision not to speak to the family… but the door’s always open for him to come back.
"My sister Fay and I can’t even begin to comprehend how tough it’s been for Mum or what she’s been through. She doesn’t like to talk about it because it’s so painful, but I think she has come to terms with the fact that there’s nothing she can do about it. She always says: ‘He just doesn’t understand certain things, Olly, that’s all it is.’ But he’s an adult and whatever problems he has with me, the love you have for your mum should be the same.
"The key thing for us is we know that what’s happened isn’t our fault. But whenever we get together, there’s always the feeling someone’s missing. We just hope that one day Ben will come back."
Olly Murs’ family feud
