23 October 2023 , 09:00
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Six weeks into fatherhood, Jack Whitehall is already updating fans on the trials and tribulations of sleepless nights and the delights of nappy changing. The 35-year-old comedian and girlfriend Roxy Horner, 32, welcomed their little girl Elsie on September 6 and announcing the happy news on Instagram, Jack said: "So excited to have started a family of my own.
"Having vowed I’d never be that guy I am now 100% going to be the parent that shows everyone endless pictures of their kid. I also wore skechers to hospital, I think I must accept I am a full blown dad now." But his life hasn't always been so grown-up.
Before settling down with model Roxy and starting a family together after meeting in Australia, the TV star lived quite the bachelor lifestyle. The former Brit Awards host was briefly linked to English pop star Dua Lipa after the pair co-presented the show in 2018, with a source claiming to the Mail that he spent the night whispering in her ear, but it remains unknown if the two ever officially dated.
Jack was reportedly linked to Dua Lipa (Instagram)It was reported that they shared a flirtatious dance and even a kiss at the afterparty of the glitzy event, but with no further sightings confirmed, speculation over their romance quickly died down. In the same year, it was also speculated that Jack had romantic ties to Scottish TV presenter Kirsty Gallagher after the pair met while co-starring in A League of Their Own.
They were reportedly together at Groucho Club in London's West End before being seen flirting at a party, with a source telling The Sun: "They were kissing and being very touchy-feely before heading off for some privacy. Everybody there knew what was going on." Another celebrity rumoured to have caught Jack's fancy in the past is English actress Kate Beckinsale.
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The 47-year-old reportedly enjoyed the Decline and Fall's company at a Hollywood bar in 2018, and was also spotted with him at a luxury hotel. "No one would expect someone like Jack to bag one of Hollywood’s hottest actresses. You couldn't get a more unlikely romance," an insider revealed at The Sun at the time, before describing the pair as 'loved-up teenagers'.
But prior to his rumoured flings, Jack was in a long-term relationship with actress Gemma Chan. The pair met on the set of the E4 sitcom Fresh Meat in 2011, after the Crazy Rich Asians star was cast as Kingsley's (played by Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas) love interest and drama student, Ruth.
In a 2013 interview, the Kent native revealed that she and Jack had gone to Nando's, for their first date after hitting it off behind-the-scenes. "He didn’t even offer to pay it [the bill], we split it," she later told the Evening Standard.
The TV star reportedly had a fling with Kirsty Gallagher (Getty Images)
Jack and Gemma were together for six years (Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)Jack and Gemma, 40, went on to live together in Notting Hill, not too far from the comedian’s family home in Putney. They split in 2017, however, after six years. It was initially reported that the couple separated because of their hectic work schedules, but Jack later revealed that the break-up was spurred by disagreements on having children.
"I’ve had a lot of changes in my life recently," he told the audience at one of his stand-up gigs in 2018, The Express reported at the time. "I'm single now. I was in a relationship, it broke down, it was not gonna work, it was a long-distance relationship, not geographically, just in terms of our expectations."
The Bad Education star went on to claim that Gemma "wanted kids" while he "wanted to escape," before admitting to not being "good with kids." At another point in the confessional monologue, Jack joked over the frustrations of having an amicable split. "You want to hate the person, that is a healthy way to end a relationship," he said, calling post-break-up 'material' for his comedy - "the one advantage of having tragedy in your life."
"And she couldn’t even do that," he continued. "No one has ever written an album about a wonderful break up where everyone behaved impeccably." Since 2018, Gemma has been in a relationship with Marvel star, Dominic Cooper.