Away from Gogglebox, the Malone family have had a dramatic few years including a shock split and tragic death
Inside Gogglebox Malone family’s lives from sad split, tragic death to horror illness (Image: Channel 4)
The Malones have been a staple on Gogglebox for years – but the beloved family has had their fair share of heartbreak and drama.
The clan – consisting of Tom Malone Senior, wife Julie and sons Shaun and Tom Jnr – made their debut way back in 2014 on the Channel 4 show. Daughter Vanessa has also made several appearances over the years.
Since then, the family, and their gang of Rottweiler dogs, have become firm favourites with fans thanks to their hilarious quips, never failing to make viewers laugh.
And although Tom Jnr left in 2021, the rest of the family have remained on the sofa, and returned for its 26th series that premiered last year. But away from the show, what do we know about their lives?
Tom Jnr Malone’s sad split
In 2020, Tom Jnr started dating Pretty Little Thing model, Bryony Briscoe, and the couple even moved in together in Leeds.
But in 2023 they called it a day, with Bryony writing on Instagram at the time that she is “in a committed relationship with herself”, after a fan asked if she was seeing anyone. Meanwhile, Tom, wrote online: “Leaving any baggage in 2022.”
Fast forward to 2024 and Tom Jnr revealed he was dating his new girlfriend Jahmiah Simpson. The two regularly share snaps of each other on social media.
In 2025, Tom posted a photo alongside Jahmia as she wore a graduation cap and gown. He captioned it: “In the last week this girl has modelled for JD, danced for both Drake and Partynextdoor at Wireless and then graduated with a first-class degree LEVELS! Proud of you @jahmiahsimpson_.”
Shaun’s horror illness
Shaun Malone has been candid about his health struggles throughout the years, having been diagnosed with a brain condition in 2010, after initially suffering from sinusitis.
Shaun spent considerable time in and out of the hospital as a teenager, after contracting a life-threatening infection while battling sinusitis. He previously opened up about his ordeal during an appearance on the Coaching From The Sofa podcast, revealing that doctors gave him less than a 10% chance of survival.
“In 2010 I got sinusitis and in some way, the infection found its way back to my brain. My brain started swelling and my skull started crushing it so my mum took me to AandE saying, ‘Look he’s poorly!’ and they said it was sinusitis,” he said at the time.
“And then I collapsed one day at home and I ended up going into a coma and they said to my mum and dad that I had a less than 10 per cent chance of living.
“I was in a coma for a few weeks – and they said to my mum and dad, ‘Shaun’s got brain damage, we don’t know what the brain damage is or how it’ll affect him or if it’s going to be really bad.
And when I woke up my brain damage affected me in some ways, like my memory but mostly the way it affected me was with my left side. I essentially had a stroke, I couldn’t move my left arm, my left leg, even the left side of my face.”
And recently, Shaun took to Instagram, he gave fans an update on his condition, disclosing that he had gone under the knife for a further operation.
“Heatwave is a terrible time to be stuck in hospital until Friday,” he penned beside a close-up photo of his post-surgery scar, which he shared to his Instagram Story. “Brain surgery is deffo not the highlight of my year [sic].”
Death heartbreak
The Malone family are often joined by their pet Rottweilers on the sofa on Gogglebox. Over the years though, several of their pets have sadly died.
In October 2025, they took to Instagram to share a snap of four beloved dogs they have lost over the years. Sharing a photo of them with their late dogs, the Malones captioned the post: “Awww Bobby, Dave, Izzy and Lucy Gone but never forgotten.”
Son Shaun announced on Instagram in June 2025 that beloved pooch Bob had passed away. Alongside touching clips and pictures of the dog, he wrote: “Today is the day we had to say goodbye to big Bob, an absolutely great dog like a big cuddly bear.”
Bob was the fourth dog that the Malones have lost since 2018. Their beloved boxer Frank died in 2018 and four years later their other pup called Lucy died. In 2023, the family were dealt heartbreak again when Dave also died.
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