TV investigator Donal MacIntyre 'is branded a lying cheating scumbag' by his wife as she asks 'How could you ruin this beautiful family?'

TV investigator Donal MacIntyre's marriage appeared to be in crisis last night after his wife apparently branded him 'a lying, cheating scumbag' on Facebook.

Ameera MacIntyre, who has been married to the award-winning journalist for nine 

years, reportedly made the comments on social media below a picture of the couple with their three children.

The 39-year-old reportedly continued her rant with the question: 'How could you ruin this beautiful family?'

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TV investigator Donal MacIntyre's marriage appeared to be in crisis last night after his wife Ameera (with whom he is pictured left in 2012 and right in 2005) apparently branded him 'a lying, cheating scumbag'

The 39-year-old reportedly continued her rant with the question: 'How could you ruin this beautiful family?'

The Sun reported that dozens of her friends then comforted the mother-of-three, with one asking: 'How could someone do this? Is there no hope?' 

His Twitter account appeared to have now been deleted.

A spokesman for the journalist said: 'We won't be making any further comment. It is of course a difficult time for the family and everyone close is giving the best support to both Donal and Ameera.'

The couple's two oldest children are Allegra, 12, and Tiger-Willow, eight. Ms MacIntyre gave birth to their youngest, Hunter, three, despite suffering a brain tumour supposed to make women infertile.

In a photoshoot unveiling Hunter, Mr MacIntyre, who was a runner-up in ITV's Dancing on Ice, told Hello! magazine: 'It's a bit of a miracle. I feel so lucky for everything I have.'

The Dublin-born journalist has reported for BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel Five from war zones and has also gone undercover infiltrating criminal gangs and sex-slave traffickers. 

The Twitter page of Mr MacIntyre, who was in ITV's Dancing on Ice (pictured), has since been taken down 

Mr MacIntyre has previously acknowledges the personal price that he and his have paid for his award-winning activities.

He's moved home 50 times in the last decade - at least seven times since he married - to avoid reprisals from those he has exposed.

In 2010, a man was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for ABH on the couple in a revenge attack for his investigation into the Chelsea Headhunters football hooligans.

The attack took place outside a bar in East Molesey. Mr MacIntyre suffered a black eye and a cut to his face, while Mrs MacIntyre, who has a brain tumour at the time and was due to have a scan the next day, also suffered bruising to her face, arms and legs. 

The reporter posed as a drug-dealing Ulster loyalist to infiltrate the gang. His exposé on the BBC's MacIntyre Undercover programme led to the convictions of five men. 

Mrs MacIntyre, who used to be a dolphin trainer, was previously diagnosed with pituitary tumour, a non-malignant and dormant tumour, which can be stabilised with medication but has to be monitored regularly.

The pituitary gland sits in the centre of the brain and is vital for producing hormones. If tumours occur there they are mostly benign but can grow and exert pressure on the brain and the optic nerves.