Inside George Clarke's failed marriages, painful divorce and new love with widow
George Clarke has become hugely successful with property programmes on TV, but away from the cameras, his personal life has been very up and down.
The 48-year-old, from Sunderland, has said in a new interview that he's the 'happiest man in the world' as he gets to do what he loves for a living, but when it comes to the key to relationships, admits 'he's not the best person to talk to'. The popular presenter, who is a regular on screens for shows including Amazing Spaces and Ugly House to Lovely House, has this year launched a new Channel 4 series, George Clarke's Adventures in Americana.
It sees George travel 650 miles from New Orleans in Louisiana to Bandera, Texas, and then on to Florida, to see how this cultural melting pot is represented in its buildings. But despite his high profile, little is known about the TV star's life away from the camera.
In a chat with the Big Issue, the proud dad-of-three agreed that 'love is the biggest thing in the world'. But said: "On relationships, I'm probably not the best person to talk to because I've been divorced twice. So it's not easy."
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George Clarke pictured with his first wife Catriona Clarke (Matt Gillis)He met his first wife, Australian female animator and art director Catriona Drummond, in the early 2000s after working for her brother, former Armani model Swiggy Drummond. The pair tied the knot in 2009, and when Swiggy sadly died from brain cancer aged just 39 before having the chance to carry the Olympic torch in 2012, George did it for him.
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He said: "I was proud to carry the Olympic torch on behalf of my brother-in-law, Swiggy Drummond, who died recently from cancer." Asked what the most romantic thing he had ever done, George revealed that he once took Catriona to Rome and lavished her with designer diamonds.
"I pretended I needed to go off alone to buy some new sunglasses, and instead, on a whim, I went into the Cartier shop," he explained. "I remember saying to the shop assistant, 'I need to buy some diamonds.'
"And wow, do they give you the royal treatment. I was slightly scared. They're all in these white gloves and they take you upstairs to a private area. I bought her a necklace and some earrings. All the blokes in the couples we'd made friends with at the hotel were really annoyed. They were like, 'Thanks. We're going to have to do that now!'"
George with his eldest son in 2003 when he was just 28 years old (mrgeorgeclarke / Instagram)
George Clarke and Katie Morgan Jones pictured on holiday in New Zealand in 2017 (Stephen d'Antal / MEGA)The couple lived together in a house in Notting Hill, West London, which George renovated, with their three children, Georgie, 19, Emilio, 17, and Iona, 15. When asked in one interview what his favourite thing to do was, George said: "Going home to see my wife and our children."
But George's 'hectic' work-life reportedly got in the way of the marriage, and the couple announced their split in 2013, divorcing the following year. In a statement at the time, George said: "We have been married quite a long time and decided to part.
"We have separate custody of the kids and are going through an amicable separation and divorce." False rumours George had a new lover then began to swirl when he was spotted with a mystery woman at St Davids Hotel in Cardiff on Boxing Day 2013, and he was also pictured leaving the next day.
But he rubbished the claims to The Mirror, stating: "The person who I was with doesn't have anything to do with any of it. She wasn't my wife and she isn't my partner. I don't have a girlfriend now."
George married his next wife, American fashion marketing and communications consultant Katie Morgan Jones, in September 2018 in a romantic ceremony in Ibiza. Katie and George initially lived in the London property with the children, but then moved to another home in the Cotswolds.
George wrote in The Times: "I'm in Gloucestershire with my wife and three kids. The house, which we bought last year, sits on a steep hill so you enter it at the upper level. We have the kitchen and living room on the first floor, while the bedrooms, bathrooms and storage rooms are on the ground floor.
George was married to Katie for four years"I also have a place in London, but home is in the Cotswolds now. I have quite a nomadic life - I travel a lot and spend on average three nights a week in hotels - so I take every opportunity I can to get home."
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But at the end of 2021, Katie posted several cryptic posts on Instagram. "It's time for change," the PR executive wrote, while telling her followers in another post that she had been through "the most bizarre and traumatic situation".
Talking about lockdown, she said she had been "isolated on [her] own" and suffered through "many, many other trials and tribulations, tears and revelations". George confirmed their split in February 2022, and in July, he went public with opera singer Florence Hvorostovsky, 53, who was previously married to husband Dmitri, an opera baritone. He tragically died in 2017 after a long battle with brain cancer.
Florence has two children, a 20-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter, who, alongside their extended family, have given the couple their seal of approval. Speaking to MailOnline, Dmitri's cousin Alexey Zarkhin, explained that the family were happy for the pair and glad she had found someone.
He said: "We must understand that if a woman doesn't support her femininity, she would quite quickly turn into an old lady. Nobody would be interested in her then - neither her children, nor anyone else.
"So however great was her late husband, and however much she loved him, we all - us all, her children, and the public - need a vibrant, lively, beautiful Florence." While George keeps his family life out of the spotlight, he gave a rare insight into how they share his passion for architecture and building.
George is now in a relationship with widow Florence Hvorostovsky (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Jag)
George Clarke enjoys dad and daughter time with Iona (mrgeorgeclarke / Instagram)He told Andi Peters on Lorraine: "I've almost thrown them in at the deep end to be honest with you. I think the sooner you get your kids building and doing stuff, the better."
He added: "I think the sooner you teach them the safer it is, getting them to learn how use tools in a really safe way and hammers and power tools and stuff like that, the earlier they start the better. So they got to work on the garden shed which was fantastic."
And George's other family member is a gorgeous Siberian husky named Loki, who has become his co-star on the telly. Loki made an appearance on George Clarke's National Trust Unlocked, as George took him on a walk during the show.
George told Andi: "I felt a bit sorry for him because the weather was amazing, it was like 30-odd degrees every day, but he just loves walking and it was a joy."
*George Clarke's Adventures in Americana airs tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm.
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