TV presenter Clare Balding and her wife Alice Arnold are battling it out against Charlotte Church and Carys Eleri, and Rickie Haywood-Williams and Melvin Odoom on Celebrity Lingo in a repeat from 2022.
Alice and Clare live in the leafy London suburb of Chiswick, a decision in which Balding appears to have had next to zero say.
The sports broadcasting legend went through a “dark stage” starting in 2009, when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
She and her wife met in the late 1990s but didn’t get together until the autumn of 2002. At first, Clare struggled to come to terms with her sexuality. She has since been outspoken about the public perception of homosexuality.
Clare Balding reveals strict condition wife Alice Arnold had before moving in
Clare Balding used to live in Putney. However, when she and Alice Arnold decided to move in together, Alice said she would do so on one condition.
“‘We can live anywhere you want,'” Clare recounts Alice as saying. “‘As long as it’s Chiswick.’ So that was it really,” she explained to ChiswickW4, following her move to the affluent London district.
But she’s happy where she is, as is evident when you hear her talk about life in W4.
“I love walking along the High Road and chatting with the fruit and veg stall holders,” she went on. “They always ask me for racing tips.”
“I love the variety of the shops and the fact that Chiswick is so close to everywhere I need to go – whether it’s by bus or Tube. And its convenient enough for me to be able to get out to see my parents who live near Newbury.”
Speaking on a different occasion, at the 2021 Spring Lectures for The Upper Room, Clare mused on how much she loves living there, and being at home.
“I make sure I walk every day, so the tow path between Chiswick Bridge and Kew Bridge is very well trodden for me,” Hello! Magazine quotes her as saying. “I try and do five miles a day minimum… I understand much more now what I need to keep me on track.”
Clare and Alice became civilly partnered at Chiswick House in 2015.
Chiswick House is an 18th-century villa set among 65 acres of gardens. It also advertises as a “perfect location” to propose.
All about Clare and Alice’s home life in Chiswick
In 2012, Clare Balding answered quick-fire questions from the Standard magazine about her life in Chiswick.
There’s a third resident of their suburban home, she explains: Tibetan terrier Archie.
Chiswick, she says, “has that perfect feel of living in London but not living in London. All the stallholders at Chiswick farmers’ market know me and know their racing so we’re always chatting.”
Her ideal first date spot is by the waterfall in Chiswick Park, with a picnic and mini bottles of champagne.
She also recounted her favourite places to go shopping in the Hounslow district: Waitrose for food; Chiswick Pets on Devonshire Road for animal supplies; and Marmalade Jewellery on Turnham Green Terrace for presents.
“If I’m in central London, I go to Lillywhites and I love visiting the big Waterstones or Hatchards on Piccadilly for books,” she said.
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