A builder accused of becoming besotted with Cherie Blair's style guru is sleeping on a friend's sofa after the breakdown of his nine-month marriage.

Both Rod Wood and his estranged wife Rachel have denied suggestions Carole Caplin is to blame for their split.

Mr Wood, who has left the five-bedroom home in Worthing he helped build, dismissed claims of an affair as "laughable".

The claims have left Mrs Wood in the doghouse with her four children who have been off school since the news broke.

And the story has brought fresh pain for Mr Wood, who is struggling to cope with the split while preparing for a double hip replacement operation.

Mrs Caplin, the ex-model who became lifestyle guru to 10 Downing Street struck up a friendship with Mr Wood as he renovated her £700,000 penthouse in Holloway, north London. Mrs Wood became suspicious of the pair, especially after tearing open her husband's mobile phone bill which showed repeated calls and texts to Ms Caplin's number.

She went on the attack in the pages of Sunday's News Of The World, which quoted her as saying: "That cow has ruined all our lives. Because of Caplin I'm getting divorced just nine months after our wedding."

Mr and Mrs Wood, of Terringes Avenue, Worthing, had been together 11 years before deciding to marry in Worthing last September.

Mr Wood, a popular striker in Sussex amateur football leagues, had credited his wife with rescuing him from his younger "wild days" when he worked as a male stripper and enjoyed frequent nights on the town. He insists he walked out of his home three months ago after becoming sick of the couple's rows and was adamant there was no affair with 42-year-old Miss Caplin, a claim his estranged wife now seems prepared to accept.

Mr and Mrs Blair have come under pressure to cut their ties with Miss Caplin, especially after the so-called "Cheriegate" scandal.

Miss Caplin's Australian ex-boyfriend Peter Foster, a convicted fraudster, helped Mrs Blair buy two discounted flats in Bristol but was deported in January last year.

Cherie has also been ridiculed for relying on Miss Caplin for advice on what to wear and how to look after herself - tips included therapeutic showers together and drinking gallons of goat's milk.

Last year Mr Foster was derided by Number 10 when he claimed Miss Caplin controlled Tony Blair and the pair shared an "intimate" relationship.

Mrs Wood had appeared to harbour the same suspicions about her husband after Miss Caplin hired him in March.

In her News Of The World interview, she claimed she became suspicious when the pair went for an introductory meal together, then began bombarding each other with calls and texts. The paper also quoted Mrs Wood as saying her husband broke the news he was leaving "a few weeks ago".

But when interviewed by The Argus, both agreed the split came months earlier and had nothing to do with Ms Caplin.

Mr Wood, 42, said: "I got on with her because I was working with her - that was it. She was rarely there and I had a lot of things to ask her about the work. That's why I had to ring or text her a lot.

"Everything that's been said is unfounded. It's an absolute nightmare - laughable, really. My wife has done this for money and I don't deserve any of this."

Mrs Wood, 34, a part-time estate agency sales negotiator, said: "I feel bad, especially because Rod is so upset by it all. Although the marriage has broken down, he is a good bloke.

"We were still together when he first started working for her, but that doesn't mean she caused the breakdown. I just became aware of the fact he was calling her a lot.

"Whether he is or isn't involved with Carole Caplin is none of my business. She didn't steal my husband - if she had, I would have really had something to say about it."

She denied approaching The News Of The World, who seem to have been tipped off by a friend of Mr Wood's. She was paid for her side of the story.

She claimed the newspaper twisted her words.