Jo Whiley has revealed her husband accidentally killed their family cat. The 60-year-old radio presenter's husband, music executive Steve Morton, is in a "world of pain" after he unknowingly ran over their 14-year-old Bengal cat, Simba, with his car. An emotional Jo confessed to her BBC Radio 2 co-host Zoe Ball on their Dig It podcast: "I feel like I haven't been completely honest with what's going on in my life, but I can't - I just can't talk about it." She added: "Sorry, I thought I should do it, but I don't think I can. And God, it's really hard to talk about, but I should do it because I think it's actually relatively common."

Jo recounted the tragic incident: "But we came back from holiday, and all the kids are out doing various different things. I went to my mum and dad, and I got a call from Steve in a complete panic." She continued: "And he had come home, and he - it sounds ridiculous to say - but he'd run our cat over. And it's really sad."

Jo, who also has another cat named Gingin, a Sproodle dog called Brodie and a golden retriever named Boosh, said: "It's really awful."

She concluded: "So, whereas once we were a family with four pets, we now have three."

She fondly remembered Simba, saying: "It was Simba, our cat, who was the old lady of the family. And I think we've showed pictures of her before, and I've talked about her before. She was the Bengal.

"The animals have just been lazing around on the gravel. And she was lying there. And he literally drove in really slowly, he said.

"And he got out of the car and went to move her out of the way, moved her, physically moved her, thought that she'd gone, and then drove the car in, and she hadn't.

"We just cannot work out what on earth happened. And he's absolutely distraught."

Simba used to adore perching on Steve's lap, and he frequently joked with Jo that the cat was his "girlfriend".

The DJ revealed: "Because in those evenings when he's at home, and I'm at work, and he's always said, 'Oh, she's my girlfriend.'"

"She wouldn't sit on anyone else's lap, she'd just go to him. So he's in a world of pain."

Jo and Steve share four children together - daughters India and Coco, and sons Jude and Cassius - and she feels grateful they weren't at home when the tragic accident occurred.

The broadcaster explained: "We had to spend the whole day yesterday because none of the kids were at home - thank God when it happened.

"He had to deal with that with our lovely friend, Andrew the vet, who came along and put her out of her misery."

The pair - who wed in Northampton in 1991 - ultimately had to break the devastating news to their children, with Jo calling it the "worst thing in the world".

Jo was originally hesitant to discuss the incident on her and Zoe's podcast, but she chose to address it to show that life isn't always cheerful.

The presenter revealed: "I thought I could do it. And then I went outside, and Coco was just sobbing. And then I just thought it was important because this is all about reflecting our lives, and it's not all happy, sunny, smiley stuff. Real things happen."

Discussing how Steve is coping after the incident, Jo shared: "He's OK. I mean, testament to my kids that they were upset about Simba, but they were more worried about Dad. So, yeah, I'm giving him lots of love."