Alex yelled during one: “Damn, Katie, I can only take so much. Unless things change, this will end up like you and Peter Andre.”

Katie was spotted without her wedding ring as she set off for a holiday in Portugal without Alex. It comes after he accused glamour model Katie of constantly undermining him repeatedly branding him “stupid” and “thick” as well as attempting to control every aspect of his career.

Meanwhile, Alex says he “feels ­cheated” by their marriage and fears she has just used him to get publicity for her books and singing career.

Tensions between them have got so bad that he has threatened to call it off unless she can learn to respect him. In public, the couple have been ­attempting to maintain a brave face as their relationship crumbles, but today a loyal confidante of Alex’s reveals the REAL story in exclusive detail and how the model formerly known as Jordan cannot let go her obsession with her ex, singer Peter.

“Their rows start off as petty ­arguments. Often this will be her ­refusing to listen to him or caring at all about his opinion. But then they escalate into full-blown rows which more than often stray onto the subject of Pete,” the source told the Sunday Mirror.

“Alex says she just can’t seem to let go. She’s infatuated by every tiny ­precise detail about him in every newspaper and magazine. What’s he doing? Where’s he staying? Who’s he with? He just wants her to accept it’s over and realise she has to move on. Let it go.”

The friend added: “Alex isn’t a sulker, he doesn’t like arguing. He just says his piece and moves on. But Katie won’t stop and just snipes at him.” It all came to a head after a row two weeks ago at their new marital home in West ­Sussex.

Alex packed his bags and moved in with his parents telling Katie that he had finally reached the end of his tether. “He decided that he’d had enough and went to stay with his mum for the ­weekend, but they managed to talk things through on the phone and he moved back in. Then they decided to take a trip to Paris for a night in an effort to patch things up. But the bickering has just continued.”

A spokesman for Katie said yesterday: “They are getting on well at the moment. Alex is very focused on his fight on September 25 and has not moved out.

“The fact that Katie was seen without her wedding ring was because she was in a rush to leave the house. Katie and Alex are fine and there are no problems.”

Editor: Oh dear......