The Apprentice's Alan Sugar's real age, wife of 55 years and famous niece
Lord Alan Sugar might not strike you as a hopeless romantic, and you'd probably be right.
His proposal to wife Ann Simons wasn't exactly a grand gesture - in fact, they were in the minivan over the Stratford flyover. "It was more along the lines of, 'I suppose we should get married then?" The Apprentice host recalled. "There was certainly no going down on one knee, with a rose, in a restaurant."
But luckily, Ann said yes and the couple tied the knot in 1968 in Great Portland Street Synagogue before honeymooning in Majorca for two weeks. They had met as teenagers two years prior - he was 18 and she was 16.
Ann worked as a hairdresser while Alan was three years away from setting up his first business, selling electricals from the back of a van - a far cry from his £1.25billion net worth today.
Lord Sugar and his wife of 54 years have got the key to a lasting marriage (PA)
Alan and Ann tied the knot in 1968"In her parents' mind I wasn't 'catch of the month'. It's the old thing of they'd rather have an accountant, a lawyer or a doctor," Alan has previously said. While Ann revealed in BBC documentary The Real Alan Sugar that her husband is "definitely not the romantic type".
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"He wasn't the normal run of boys of that age, he was always a bit different," she explained. "He was very straight-talking, I wasn't used to that type of thing but that's what I liked about him. Don't know why but I did!"
But Lord Sugar is not Ann's only celebrity connection.
Alan says Ann wears the trousers in their relationship (Press Association)
Ann's niece is EastEnders star Rita Simons (Getty Images)She is the aunt of EastEnders actress Rita Simons, who played Roxy Mitchell until 2017.
Alan and Ann live in Chigwell, Essex, and have three children together - Simon, 52, Daniel, 50, and 47-year-old daughter Louise.
They are also now doting grandparents to seven grandchildren.
When the couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, Alan hosted a party attended by celebrity guests including Piers Morgan, and even had a performance from Sir Elton John.
Alan credits his success to Ann and their three children (PA)He made an unusually heartfelt speech in front of family and friends, telling guests: "A real successful man puts the love of his wife and children first, a real successful man's greatest position in life is to have a great family.
"I am lucky enough to have had a wife for 40 years, who gave me three great children, who in turn have given us seven wonderful grandchildren. You see, everything I have today is because of the love of that lady and the respect my three children have for the both of us."
Discussing the bash with the Mail on Sunday, Piers said Alan continued: "I can honestly say I have never ever heard anyone say a bad word about Ann. As you know, you can’t say the same about me. Talk about chalk and cheese.
"She always says the day she met me she knew she had met Mr Right; what she didn’t know was that my first name was Always."
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On their 50th anniversary, Alan took to Instagram to post a photo recreating a snap taken from their wedding day, both beaming into the camera and raising a glass of wine. "I have been married to this wonderful lady (Ann) for 50 years today," he wrote.
He also gifted his love with a diamond ring, reported the Express, while two years later he marked the special date by sending Ann a bouquet of roses in the midst of lockdown. Asked what the secret is to his long and happy marriage, the Amstrad mogul says it's their dedication to their home life.
"We’re family people," he told MSN. "You’ve got to look back to our mothers and fathers. We’re family people like them."
But despite Alan's brutality in business, it's Ann who wears the trousers in their relationship. "She’s a very nice, polite, kind, soft lady. Apart from when it comes to me," he joked.
In March this year, Lord Sugar will celebrate his milestone 76th birthday. He can also count himself as holding a fortune of £1.21billion - making him the 138th richest person in the UK.
When he's not filming The Apprentice, running his multiple business projects or jet-setting around the globe, Lord Sugar puts time and effort into his charity work.
He donates his fee for The Apprentice to Great Ormond Street Hospital. He also donated to GOSH his fee from his National Savings & Investment TV adverts and his winnings from the Christmas special of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
Revealing he prefers to keep his charitable work under wraps, he said: "I want to avoid people saying 'What's he doing that for? Hasn't he got enough money?' "I really hate that feeling."
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