Charlotte Church asked Gavin for permission’ before dating

Charlotte asked her former fiance for permission before getting together with songwriter Jonathan Powell.

She said: ‘I’d been writing with Johnny for a while, but it was a good couple of months after me and Gavin split. I asked Gav’s permission in a way. I said to him, ‘I really want you to know that nothing ever went on between me and Johnny while we were still together.’

‘Johnny had a girlfriend when we were first working together, and I had Gav. And I’m not that type of person. I hadn’t really noticed any feelings towards Johnny at that point. When I’m a taken woman, I’m a taken woman – that’s the way I see things. And I’ve still got a lot of love and respect for Gav.’

Although she has a new man, Charlotte still isn’t fully over her separation from Gavin and has no intention of rushing her fledgling romance.

She said in an interview with heat magazine: ‘Johnny’s amazing and brilliant, but it’s early days and the split with Gav is still raw.

‘He’s really great, he’s lovely – but to be honest, I’m pretty self-sufficient. It’s all very early stages at the moment, but everyone is jumping the gun.’