Jessica Marais and James Stewart feud over Scout

Rumours of ongoing tension between exes Jessica Marais and James Stewart just won't die down.

According to Woman's Day magazine, the actress is feuding with the Home and Away star over custody of their five-year-old daughter, Scout.

"She's tortured by the situation, and feels she's powerless to fight James because some of her darkest secrets will be revealed," a source told the publication.

The source also claims she refuses to date anyone for fear of ruffling James' feathers.

"She won't even entertaint the thought of starting a new relationship because she knows it would upset James - even though he has been dating."

The insider added that James, 40, is purposely trying to make the actress look bad by constantly posting photos of himself with Scout.

"He's trying to make out he's an angel dad and that she's an absent mum," they explained.

"Jess has never once criticised him publicly and she has always acknowledged he's a great dad, so why can't James give Jess that same respect?"

Just weeks ago, James claimed his ex was "too busy" to parent.

“I am the full-time carer for Scout as Jess is busy working and travelling a lot,” he said to Sunday Life Magazine. “When Jess is back, Scout is shared 50/50.”

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However, a close friend of Marais has told Woman’s Day that the actress was “completely blindsided and hurt” by her ex's comments.

“Jess was shocked when the story came out. She was more than surprised that James put her down in such a public way,” says the insider.

“Jess doesn’t do the whole social media thing. She is a very private person when it comes to her personal life and doesn’t like the fact James shares photos of their daughter with the world.”

Earlier this month, Marais told Be her relationship with Stewart was good for the sake of their child together.

“I don’t know if I could give anyone advice,” she said. “I think I would just say that it takes time and it gets better with time.

"My plan is to be as flexible as possible with my plans and to make it work, but definitely to keep co-parenting and keep working at that with our daughter Scout, that’s probably the most important thing.”

The couple split in May last year.

“Our relationship didn’t work out because I think hears go in different directions eventually,” Stewart later revealed.

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