When Mike Hollingsworth first met Kimberley Stewart-Mole the pair were sharing the stage in an amateur production of Dr Faustus, which tells the story of how a man sells his soul to the devil in return for earthly pleasures and riches.

Of course, further down the line there’s a terrible price to pay for the elderly doctor, and Hollingsworth now laughs wryly at the delicious irony.

At the age of 53, he was cast in the title role, while opposite him was the gorgeous blonde 20-year-old student. She was playing the part of Lechery – and Hollingsworth fell hopelessly in love.

Hopelessly in love: Mike Hollingsworth, 53, with the 20-year-old student Kimberly Stewart-Mole, pictured in 2001 shortly after they got together. But a bitter divorce has left Mike with almost nothing, forced to sell his London home and not even allowed to keep his pet dog, Dashwood

That was 15 years ago but now, we can reveal, Hollingsworth has been left counting the cost after his 12-week long marriage to Kimberley left him with a £100,500 bill.

He also lost his Oxfordshire cottage, much of his furniture and even his cherished Jack Russell, Dashwood, which she kept.

‘As I said to the judge in the divorce court, there’s no fool like an old fool,’ Hollingsworth, now 69, said in an exclusive interview. ‘And she agreed.

‘I am a bit of a sucker for a pretty woman – but what man isn’t?’

To be fair, the unlikely couple were actually together for some ten years, but father-of-six Hollingsworth, former husband of TV presenter Anne Diamond, believes that the sound of wedding bells actually signalled the death knell for their relationship.

They separated back in 2010, but it’s taken an astonishing five-year legal battle to come to a financial settlement – and Hollingsworth is far from happy about it.

He said: ‘She started out asking for half of everything I owned, but that got reduced,’ he said. ‘I brought all the money into the marriage and I am still flabbergasted that I was ordered to pay out so much. She had two barristers from a London chambers and I was representing myself.

Second wife: Mike pictured with TV presenter and journalist Anne Diamond with their two sons. The couple divorced in 1999. After his previous experience with divorce lawyers, Mike said he hoped he and Kimberley would be able to settle between them

‘It was my third divorce and, as it cost Anne and I about £200,000 in legal fees between us when we divorced in 1999, I was determined to avoid lawyers, but that didn’t work.

‘That money should have been going to go to my children. Now I will have to sell my one-bedroom flat in London to fund this settlement and I’ll be paying for it out of my pension for the rest of my life.’

That will technically render retired TV producer-turned-agent Hollingsworth homeless, though he’s at pains to point out he’s not destitute.

He just doesn’t think it’s fair – especially since Kimberley, 35, is in a relationship with an Old Etonian ex-banker called Anthony Swift, who was named as co-respondent in the divorce – which was granted on the grounds of her adultery.

It cannot have been a scenario the couple envisaged when they married in a sunset ceremony in Barbados in March 2009.

Parenthood: Mike and Anne Diamond pictured with their newborn baby in July 1987. Mike says he wishes the money he lost in the divorce could instead be passed on to his children

New mum: TV presenter and journalist Anne Diamond pictured with her newborn in July 1987. Mike has admitted that he was foolish to begin the relationship with a woman who was younger than his own daughter

The handful of guests included Wendy Kidd, the mother of model Jodie. Hollingsworth says he proposed marriage because his health was not good and he wanted to make sure Kimberley – and his children – were provided for, should the worst happen.

‘In 2008 I had a brain haemorrhage, closely followed by prostate cancer, and I though the best thing to do was offer Kimberley some sort of security,’ he said. ‘More than anything I wanted to make sure that somebody would be concerned about my children if I were to die.

‘Her mother said at the time that I was ready for my slippers and pipe,’ he added. ‘We were very happy but it just suddenly went pear-shaped.’

Hollingsworth declined an operation on the prostate because he was worried about the effect on his sex drive, and he found the after-effects of radiotherapy draining, but he believes that it was actually being married that changed Kimberley’s attitude towards their relationship.

Three-time divorcee: Mike pictured in 1997, thinks that divorce law should be changed so people like him do not lose out so significantly in future, but was vague when challenged how it should be changed

During his third divorce, Hollingsworth lost his Oxfordshire cottage, much of his furniture - and even his cherished Jack Russell, Dashwood (pictured), which she kept

The first signs of a problem came in July 2009 after Kimberley took a job as a barmaid in a pub near where they lived in Marylebone. Accounts differ as to what happened next.

Hollingsworth says his wife left him for a lesbian French chef at the pub and went to live with her. Kimberley has said it was a platonic friendship and she ‘needed space’.

In any event, it appears their relationship was heading for the rocks.

She returned to Hollingsworth a few weeks later but then got a job in another pub, where she met younger rival Mr Swift, a fellow Oxford graduate and retired city banker with dashing good looks – who is a mere 20 years older than Kimberley.

Hollingsworth insisted: ‘He made a play for her and it wasn’t long before she moved out. She seems to like older men. She shocked me one day by asking for a divorce.

Sharp dressers: Mike and Anne Diamond arrived together in Hyde Park for a Luciano Pavarotti concert in July 1991. Mike was shocked by the ruling, and surprised that he had to hand so much money over to Kimberley bearing in mind that she is at the beginning of her career while his is coming to an end

‘I was the first serious boyfriend she’d had, and she spent all of her 20s with me, and because of that she hadn’t really had any flings.’

He tries to be philosophical about their parting, saying: ‘She and I had discussed the possibility that we would separate. I wasn’t daft, there was a 33-year age gap between us and I realised that at some stage we would probably part. We had a good time together.

It's not fair, I brought all the money into this Mike Hollingsworth

‘When I asked friends about it, they said she’d come back, but she never did. If someone leaves you after 12 weeks of marriage, it’s something of a shock. The judge did say that she knew of many situations where people had a perfectly good relationship and then ruined it by getting married. I think it changes the mentality. For a young woman it closes off all her other options.’

Though he sees the settlement as unfair, he at least knew that he would lose his cottage. ‘There had always been an understanding that she would get the cottage in Oxfordshire – it was in her name.’

Though tanned from spending time at a friend’s property on the Costa del Sol, Hollingsworth says his health is still frail and he tires easily. He admits the strain of the legal wrangle has taken its toll.

‘If you have a good colour, everyone thinks you’re doing all right, but it has hit me hard. However, at least I’m in remission from the cancer and I’m still here.’

Glamorous: Mike and Anne arrive together for a Cartier Polo match in July 1987. The couple married in 1989 and had five sons together. Mike also has a daughter from his first marriage to Tricia Jefferson-Winn

Tragic loss: Mike and Anne photographed together in December 1991, at the Department of Health press conference on reducing the risk of cot death. Anne courageously gave advice to other parents following the death of the couple's four-month-old son Sebastian

Hollingsworth says he believes the divorce laws should be changed, but is vague when challenged on exactly how, other than to make sure men like him have to cough up less.

He said: ‘I still believe we could have sat down and come to an amicable agreement between us, without the use of solicitors or barristers. But when the question of divorce came up, a great iron curtain came down and I was only speaking to lawyers. They were after nearly half a million. The cottage was worth at least £250,000.

‘I suspected someone else was paying her legal bills.

‘I don’t think that couples separating should necessary be a matter for the law. Clearly children have to be protected and, if there’s violence or hostility, there may be a role for the law then. But otherwise, if people want to separate, it should be kept out of the hands of lawyers and judges. There must be a better way. Mediation has a bad press, but I think that’s partly because lawyers think they might lose work.’

Smiles all round: Three well-known women and their husbands, photographed together in August 1992. (left to right) Timothy West and Prunella Scales, Len Wady and Faith Brown, and Mike Hollingsworth and Anne Diamond

He was very taken with the words of High Court Judge Mr Justice Mostyn during a divorce hearing last year, who warned wives that having a relationship ‘on the rebound’ while still fighting their husbands over money could affect their share of the marital spoils because judges might assume they were setting up home with their new partners. ‘I wish he could have been the judge in my case,’ observed Hollingsworth.

However, he admits that deputy district judge Sarah Gibbons was ‘absolutely fair’ in his case. He said the judge did not accept Kimberley’s evidence that she had not been co-habiting with Mr Swift, nor her explanation that she ‘misunderstood’ the term.

I won't marry again... that's for sure Mike Hollingsworth

Nevertheless, Hollingsworth said the judge’s ‘hands were tied’ and he has been left ‘very put out’ about the final settlement.

‘I was quite shocked that after just 12 weeks I ended up having to give her a house and £100,000 when she’s with a very wealthy guy, and already has a fair amount of money of her own. She’s at the start of her career and I’m at the end of mine.

‘Kimberley had a very high- powered female barrister, and the judge said she had to consider the nine years before we wed as part of the marriage. If I had known Kimberley was going to do what she did, I would never have got married at all and she wouldn’t have been entitled to anything – though she would still have got the house, there was never any debate about that.’

Hollingsworth said that, though it was bad enough being on his own romantically as he approached 70, financial solitude was worse.

Happier times: Mike and Anne pictured together on a beach in August 1989. But despite everything Mike says that he has enjoyed his life and wouldn't want to do away with all the fun he's had. But he won't get married again

‘Getting a mortgage at my age – to pay the £100,000 – was very, very difficult and I still have to repay it in five years, so I’ll have to sell my flat. I’m homeless and she has the cottage and she’s not even living in it, she’s renting it out, as she has accommodation with her job. Once I’ve sold the flat, I’ll have to rent.’

Does he accept the verdict that many men – and women – of his generation might deliver: that it was foolish of him to consort with such a young woman – younger even than his own daughter?

Not at all, it seems. He said: ‘I’ve enjoyed my life. I might very well change some things, but I wouldn’t want to do away with all the fun I’ve had. I was very lucky to meet Kim, but I won’t get married again, that’s for sure.’

So how had he envisaged his life after retirement?

‘I suppose I saw myself continuing to do up the cottage in Oxfordshire, which is more than 200 years old in parts, but I can’t do that now. It’s not even as if she needs it. That’s what’s really galling.’

Approached by The Mail on Sunday for a response, Miss Stewart-Mole said: ‘It is impossible for me to comment because although the court order was issued more than a year ago, my ex-husband is yet to comply with it.

‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s sub-judice. I have nothing to add.’