Clare Balding previously opened up about the struggles she’s faced with her wife Alex Arnold.
TV favourite Clare – who is on screens for the Paralympics for the next two weeks – and journalist Alice have been together for over two decades.
However, it hasn’t always been easy for the showbiz couple – as at the very start of their romance, Clare “struggled”.
Clare Balding and wife Alice
Speaking in 2018, Clare opened up about her relationship with Alice – and the early days of their romance.
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.
“We were very much friends at first and didn’t get together until the autumn of 2002. Alice had always been ‘out’ but I wasn’t and really struggled with it,” Clare told Country Town & House.
‘It’s still difficult’
Clare went on to explain: “The environment was very different back then – I felt ashamed because I was hiding something from my family and colleagues at work. When I finally decided to tell people about my sexuality it was a huge relief. I was happy, comfortable and not constantly worried about being found out.”
However, many years on and Clare recognised that things are still tough for young people who are gay. She said: “It’s still difficult for young people today because you rarely get that ‘how wonderful’ response from your family.”
Clare Balding’s marriage to Alice
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.
Nine years later and in April 2015, Clare and Alice married in a private ceremony at the same venue. Speaking about her marriage Clare told 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.”
The Paralympics are on Channel 4 every day till September 8.
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Read more: Clare Balding’s mum had ‘suspicions’ about wife Alice early in their romance due to her background
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