Clare Balding and wife Alice Arnold once shared the reason why Clare’s mum wasn’t too keen about Alice at the start of their romance.
TV favourite Clare – who is currently on screens for the Olympics – and journalist Alice have been together for over two decades. After meeting for the first time in the late 1990s, the pair entered into a civil partnership in 2006, before getting married in 2015.
But it appears Clare’s mum had initial hesitations at the start of their romance.
Clare Balding on mum’s ‘suspicions’ of wife
Back in February this year, Clare and Alice sat down for a candid and rare chat about their romance. Talking on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, Alice said the pair were “destined to be together for a very long time.”
Clare also recalled how her mum wasn’t that keen on Alice at the start of their relationship.
“My mother, think, was a bit suspicious from early on as, A) Alice is from London,” Clare revealed, as Alice interjected: “And, wasn’t a country girl.”
Clare continued: “And secondly, she was an actress at that time and both of those things were a little bit, ‘ooh’.”
Clare Balding wife on ‘turning point’ with future in-law
Alice then chimed in and quipped: “I might as well have been a prostitute.” She then revealed that there was a ‘turning point’ in her relationship with Clare’s mum.
“I think she was wary of me, but then we had a sort of cottage down in the countryside that we rented from Clare’s uncle, and it was pouring with rain one day,” Alice said.
“And, I was out in the garden in, kind of, a boiler suit digging. And I think when she saw that she thought, ‘Oh you’re alright then. You can do digging in the garden,'” she added.
“I think she forgave the actress thing because was prepared to get muddy,” Clare then said.
Clare Balding and wife Alice
Clare met Alice Arnold in 1999 at work, when the latter was a BBC Radio 4 announcer and newsreader. At first, the pair were good friends, but things progressed into something more, and they got together in 2002.
Back in 2006, before gay marriage was legalised in the UK, Clare and Alice entered into a civil partnership. The happy couple celebrated with friends and family in an 18th-century Palladian villa in Chiswick.
Clare Balding’s marriage to Alice
Nine years later and in April 2015, Clare and Alice married in a private ceremony at the same venue. Speaking about her marriage Clare previously said: “It’s about equality.”
She continued on The Jonathan Ross Show: “It’s just about knowing that you can and knowing that you can say: ‘I’m married’ and nobody’s going to think that’s married in inverted commas, no that, actually married. I think it’s great.”
Clare hosts the Paris Olympics for the BBC every day.
JOIN ED!’s ANT AND DEC NEWS CHANNEL ON WHATSAPP – IN THESE 4 SIMPLE STEPS USING THE INVITE LINK HERE
Read more: Gabby Logan defends Clare Balding after her entitled statement sparks backlash
So what do you think of this story? You can leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.