Jesse Wood Faces Hardship Despite Rock Royalty Ties

Jesse Wood, son of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, has found himself in a strikingly different position from his rock royalty father. On January 15, 2026, Jesse, aged 49, appeared at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, where he candidly revealed the extent of his financial struggles since his split from TV presenter Fearne Cotton in December 2024. While his father’s fortune is estimated at a staggering £100 million and includes a £3 million townhouse in Richmond, Jesse told the court he is currently unemployed, living off savings, and scraping by on barely £1,000 a month.

Jesse’s court appearance stemmed from a speeding offence committed on April 7, 2025, when he was caught driving at 27mph in a 20mph zone in Earls Court, west London. This was not his first run-in with traffic law: he already had three speeding endorsements from June 2024, September 2024, and August 2025. His latest offence, adding three more penalty points, triggered a six-month driving ban, and he was ordered to pay £255 in fines and costs—though his guilty plea earned him a one-third reduction on the fine.

Representing himself in court, Jesse offered a rare glimpse into his recent hardships. “I was due to be employed in 2024 but it got delayed. At the moment I'm living off my savings and I am looking to get employment,” he told the magistrates, according to the Daily Mail. When asked about his income as per last year’s tax returns, Jesse replied, “Yes. It was very low at around £14,000.” He apologized for the speeding incident, saying, “I would like to say I accept responsibility for what I have done.”

Despite the proximity of great wealth in his family, Jesse’s own career has been a patchwork of artistic pursuits, none of which have brought him close to his father’s financial heights. As a musician, he has played with bands such as The Ronnie Wood Band and Reef since 2014, but these gigs have not proven lucrative. He also dabbled in modeling, including a 2013 campaign for Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green label, but such work was sporadic. The contrast between Jesse’s modest means and Ronnie’s multimillion-pound fortune has not gone unnoticed, raising questions about the challenges of financial independence under the shadow of a famous name.

Jesse’s personal life has been equally eventful. He shares two children with Fearne Cotton, his wife of ten years, and two more from a previous marriage to actress Tilly Wood. Their split in December 2024 was described by Fearne as amicable: “It’s all very amicable and the kids are doing great. I am in a very good place,” she said during an appearance on Lorraine Kelly’s ITV show. However, the breakup was difficult for Jesse, with his stepmother Jo Wood telling the Daily Mail, “I didn’t see it coming. You don’t know what their life is like behind closed doors.”

Fearne Cotton has since moved on, reportedly dating Emmy Award-winning director Elliot Hegarty. In her book Likeable, she reflected on the pressures of seeking approval and the strain her marriage faced. “This year, Jesse and I hit a rough patch – he was away, touring relentlessly, I was trying to keep my own career going while looking after our kids and we were both desperately clinging on to our marriage,” she wrote in Red magazine in 2019. She recounted a particularly painful episode: “In the midst of this gargantuan row, I think we both wondered where the love had gone and worried it might not come back.”

Jesse, too, has sought new beginnings. He is currently dating Gemma Gregory, a reality TV personality from Made in Chelsea. Their relationship, officially announced in 2025, has been marked by public displays of affection and mutual support. Gemma, who has a child from a previous relationship and a history of high-profile romances—including with Nicholas Knatchbull and England polo captain Henry Brett—has embraced sobriety after a period of hard partying. She celebrated one year of love and sobriety with Jesse in a heartfelt Instagram post, writing, “Celebrating one year of love, a year of sobriety and a year of growth.”

Gemma’s journey mirrors some of Jesse’s own struggles. He, too, had a reputation for wild living in his younger days and became sober in 2011 at age 35, a process he shared with his father Ronnie, who overcame alcoholism after eight stints in rehab and has been sober since 2010. Jesse’s earlier relationships included actress Kate Hudson and models Kate Moss and Jasmine Guinness, and he met Fearne Cotton in Ibiza in 2011—arriving for their first date, as Fearne recalled on the Table Manners podcast, “with a bottle of vodka.”

Jesse’s family history is as storied as it is tumultuous. He is the eldest biological son of Ronnie Wood and his first wife, Krissy Findlay, a figure in the rock scene of the 1970s who struggled with substance abuse and died in 2005. Ronnie’s own career is legendary: after playing with Rod Stewart in Faces, he joined the Rolling Stones in the 1970s, amassing both fame and fortune. Yet, for Jesse, the legacy has been a double-edged sword, providing opportunities but also underscoring his own financial and career challenges.

Through it all, Jesse has tried to maintain a sense of responsibility and humility. In court, he accepted his punishment without protest, and friends say he has been buoyed by his relationship with Gemma Gregory, even if his financial woes persist. An insider told the Daily Mail last year, “He’s been through a rough patch emotionally,” but added that his new romance has helped lift his spirits.

The story of Jesse Wood is a reminder that even those born into privilege are not immune to life’s setbacks. The gap between his circumstances and his father’s wealth is as wide as ever, but Jesse’s openness about his struggles—and his efforts to move forward—offer a different kind of lesson about resilience and self-reliance in the shadow of fame.