Victoria Coren 'didn't want kids' before welcoming 2nd baby with comedian at 51

02 November 2023 , 10:12

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Victoria Coren Mitchell and David Mitchell have welcomed their second child into the world at 51 and 49 (Image: Getty Images for BFI)

Victoria Coren Mitchell has welcomed her second child into the world with comedian David Mitchell, sharing the happy news in a typically humorous fashion on social media by remarking that her Halloween costume is the only thing that fits her after giving birth.

The 51-year-old BBC star took to Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) to explain the very logical reason behind her loose-fitting cape: "Many people are assuming this was a Halloween costume. Not at all; last week I had a baby and nothing currently fits me except cloaks!" It has since been announced they've named their newest addition to the family June Violet.

The television couple first became parents to daughter Barbara Elizabeth in 2015, though motherhood wasn't always in Victoria's future, as she candidly opened up about not having the desire or lifestyle for babies over a decade ago. In 2012, the professonal poker player admitted in an interview she 'never had that point' in her early to mid-twenties when her friends yearned for kids.

Victoria said she hadn't yearned for kids like her friends in her early to mid-twenties (BBC/RDF Television/Rory Lindsay)

Victoria said she was 'slightly obsessed with children' and didn't shut down the idea of parenthood, but confessed her lifestyle just hadn't 'been right' for it. "I never had that point that a lot of my friends went through in their early to mid-twenties when they decided that they absolutely wanted children. But I am slightly obsessed with children," she told the Standard in 2012, adding: "I absolutely still might."

The then-40-year-old spoke about how she would consider adopting when the time felt right. Though, she said that her busy job involved "running around the world playing poker and staying out until five in the morning", and in all honesty, she couldn't even 'get a cat' - let alone find the time to look after a baby. Victoria added that she didn't mind being asked about reproducing, because "most women do want to be mothers, in a way that it isn't the same with men".

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Victoria and David first met in 2007 at a film premiere, after their mutual friend and fellow comedian David Baddiel introduced them. "He specifically said to me, 'There's David Mitchell over there, I think you should probably marry him, I'll get the ball rolling by introducing you'. I thought that was ridiculous but, a couple of hours later, I thought I would probably marry him," Victoria admitted years later. The pair immediately clicked and connected with one another, but the timing wasn't right.

With Victoria having just lost her father, they didn't go on their first date until three years later in 2010. Speaking to The Guardian, David said: "I waited three years. Isn't that weird? Aren't I odd? I can't explain it other than to say I couldn't do anything else. If only I'd known I just had to wait three years… I would gladly have suffered 10 times as much." Two years after that first date, the couple tied the knot, with David admitting he would have proposed even sooner if it hadn't seemed “mad” to do so quite so quickly.

She admitted she was 'obsessed with children' and didn't shut down the possibility of parenthood (Getty Images Europe)

The couple became parents in 2015 to their first daughter Barbara Elizabeth June Mitchell (Getty Images)

A few years after their wedding, they welcomed their first daughter, Barbara Elizabeth June Mitchell. Speaking about her on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2018, David comically said: "Unfortunately, there is nothing like having a tiny child whose safety you are responsible for to make you worry. You really don't want the world to spin into the sun and explode. You thought you didn't want it before but you really don't want it [after having a child.]

"That is the real downside of parenthood, and I suppose any form of love, is it makes you fear more… I would say love is not a stress reduction exercise, is it? What you want is a long period of bland contentment… I'm a family man. I've made bad choices and I am constantly worried."

Jesting aside, David hasn't shied away from how "hopelessly in love" he is with Victoria. In his book, he gushed: "She's not only too wonderful, she's too right for me. She's funny, bright, sexy, nervous, and confident in ways that could have been meant for me. I feel very lucky." He added: "I am just incredibly proud that someone like Victoria wants to be with me. She has these amazing qualities, but fundamentally, we clicked. I fell in love with her."

The feelings between the two are clearly mutual, with Victoria telling The Telegraph in a previous interview: "I mean, he's a hugely successful television comedian, he could have had a gorgeous 24-year-old skinny wife with a tiny nose and a string bikini, but he chose me! Me! I am filled with this bizarre mix of thinking David could have done a lot better than me and feeling we're so alike and complement each other so wonderfully that we are the ideal match and couldn't possibly be with anyone else."

As a committed dad and husband, Would I Lie to You star David says his priorities are totally different, though he still loves his work. "There's always something on your mind which is a different priority, a home you have to keep safe and supplied, and to make sure that our daughter is happy and seeing us a lot," he explained.

While the couple keep their life very private generally, they did make an appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox in 2020 with fans calling for them to become 'regulars'. Their commentary on shows such as the dating programme Five Guys a Week had viewers in stitches.

Nia Dalton