A minister accused of murdering his BBC make-up artist wife told her family they did not know what she was “really like”.

Spiritualist David Chenery-Wickens, 52, said his wife Diane had planned her own disappearance and had done similar things in the past.

Chenery-Wickens appeared before Lewes Crown Court charged with the murder of the 48-year-old who was reported missing on January 24 last year.

Her decomposed body was found on a country lane near Isfield on May 15.

In court Chenery-Wickens said Diane was “picky and argumentative” after returning home from filming the second series of the hit TV show Benidorm, two months before she went missing.

He described how she then became more “subdued” when freelance opportunities fell through, including work on the Dead Ringer's Christmas special.

Chenery-Wickens said: "She had gone off before. She went off for a few days in November and a few days in August of that year. She didn't want to talk about it on her return.

"She would get quite down before she went, it was very similar to how she was in January 2008."

He added: "She'd already started talking about disappearing again in a big way – that was what was different this time – she had come up with this idea of disappearing.

"She was going to go to London for a meeting, to have her hair done and to buy me a birthday present. But she said she wasn't going to go with me she was going to come later.

"I said, well keep in contact or I will be in contact with the police very quickly."

Chenery-Wickens did report his wife missing on January 24 after she failed to attend the hair appointment.

When questioned by Simon Russell-Flint QC as to why her family said she had never disappeared before, Chenery-Wickens replied: "I'm sorry but they don't know their daughter. I've been with Diane for 10 years. I've seen the various moods and I've had to deal with them."

Earlier the jury heard Chenery-Wickens described how his wife had an affair on the set of Arabian Nights in 1998 and he had been unable to forgive her.

He said: "She didn't want the marriage to end, but unfortunately after what happened there was no way I could come back from it. She had done the one thing I really cannot forgive."

He went on to describe how he pushed for a divorce and the sale of the £600,000 country cottage they shared in Crowborough, but she refused.

He said: "From 2004 we were just co-existing but to the outside world we seemed to have the perfect relationship."

Chenery-Wickens admitted he had several affairs in that time before beginning a long term “adoring” relationship with a woman called Kerry Lippett who was in his spiritualist circle.

He described how Diane explained his absence with the 'story' that Chenery-Wickens’ son was seriously ill.

He said: "She came up with this idea of Adam to cover things up, which I wasn't very happy about."

He added: "Diane didn't want a divorce – she played this very carefully - I wanted a divorce for years but we had to play by Diane's rules."

David Chenery-Wickens denies murder, the trial continues.