Vernon Kay has opened up about his “roller coaster” marriage to Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly, advising others to just “bite your lip and say it” when facing issues as a couple.
The BBC Radio 2 DJ has been married to Tess for nearly 21 years after tying the knot in Bolton in 2003. Although he admitted that their relationship has seen its fair share of highs and lows.
The couple welcomed their first child, Phoebe, in 2004, and their second daughter, Amber, in 2009. Vernon, now 50, reflected on his two-decade-long marriage to 55-year-old Tess during an appearance on the Changes with Annie Macmanus podcast.
He shared: “I think marriage is a rollercoaster, you have peaks and troughs. What I’ve learnt from the whole of that is it’s really difficult to talk, but it’s really easy to talk.”
“You’ve got to bite your lip, and just go ‘I’m going to say this’ because there’s always a swell of something that either you’re feeling in your relationship, or I’m feeling in my relationship. Instead of letting it boil over, what we’ve learnt is ‘bite your lip, say it, put the kettle on, say it’.
“‘I don’t think we should be doing this, maybe we should be doing that, I’m feeling this’. Communication is the most important thing in anything and in particular a relationship, you’ve just got to say it. Don’t bite your lip and go to the pub, just say it.”
Vernon said “being able to talk” is the secret to a happy relationship, when quizzed on the subject by former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie.
He continued: “And then understanding that you still, even as you’re going through the years or decades, you’re still changing, still evolving as a person. So you might not necessarily be the person that the other person married.”
Vernon found fame on Channel 4’s T4 in the 2000s and has since become a familiar face on our screens. He currently hosts his own mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2. He will be joining Emma Willis to host a special broadcast celebrating the Olympics 2024 Team GB Homecoming on BBC One tonight.
The show will feature performances from Rag’n’Bone Man, Clean Bandit, Jess Glynne, and Pete Tong and airs between 8.30pm and 10pm.
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