25 May 2023 , 18:50
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Many people will know Gregg Wallace from his presenting jobs on iconic shows such as MasterChef, Inside the Factory, and Saturday Kitchen.
The 58-year-old from London is often mistaken for a chef, due to his work with food, but he actually started out as a greengrocer.
His early days saw him selling vegetables at a stand in Covent Garden, before going on to start his own business, George Allan Greengrocers in 1989. He later went on to open several restaurants in London Wallace & Co and Gregg's Bar & Grill.
Since then he's had numerous jobs in radio and television revolving around food, and it's because of this that he met his wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini - who he calls Anna.
The pair met in 2013 when Anne-Marie, 36, tweeted the famous foodie to ask a cooking question.
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Gregg is known for his TV work on MasterChef and Inside The Factory (BBC/Shine TV)Anne-Marie, who would have been 26 at the time, asked Gregg if rhubarb really went with duck, after seeing him trying a recipe on a cooking TV show.
Gregg told HELLO! Magazine: "I just looked at Anna's photo and thought, 'Wow, she's pretty'. So yes, rhubarb, which was considered an aphrodisiac in medieval times, brought us together."
He later shared more about their love story while appearing on ITV's Lorraine, revealing he sent her a message on Twitter and they began sending them back and forward.
"Then I sent her my phone number, this was five years ago," he confessed at the time.
However, Anna wasn't 100 percent certain that he was the real deal until they met up for the first time in person.
"She came down to London to have dinner with me, and she said it wasn't until we got to the restaurant, that she was comfortable it was really me and not an impostor," he continued.
Gregg met Anne-Marie on Twitter in 2013 (UK Press via Getty Images)
They tied the knot in 2016 (Getty Images)The pair were married at Hever Castle in August 2016 after three years of dating, saying 'I do' in front of guests including John Torode, who was Gregg's best man, Lisa Faulkner, Marcus Wareing, and Monica Galetti.
This was Gregg's fourth marriage and he previously told Lorraine that he thinks it was all to do with luck.
"I think it's just luck, and I got very lucky this time. Very lucky," he said.
He's also described his relationship with Anne-Marie as like 'winning the lottery', while speaking to Kate Thornton on the White Wine Question Time podcast.
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"What has love taught me? That it is an absolute game of chance and that is it. It is a complete and utter lottery. I am very fortunate I got the winning ticket. I won the Euro Millions the day that young lady walked into my life. She popped up my timeline on Twitter."
During the episode, Gregg also opened up about his three previous marriages, sharing how he also met another of his wives on Twitter.
He explained that meeting people in real life at a bar was difficult given his fame.
The TV presenter has joked about his age-gap with Anne-Marie (@greggawallace/Instagram)
The 58-year-old says his younger wife has 'revolutionised' his life (Mike Lawn/REX/Shutterstock)"It is because I am on television. I can't walk into bars. You can't chat anyone up at work because the HR department would sack you. What I like about Twitter is that it is not a dating site. You can just have friendly chats with people," he told the host.
"Did I have lessons from each one (of my marriages)? The first one lasted six weeks. I would say don't marry anyone because you are worried about losing your house.
"So there is the first one. We bought a small house together in Bermondsey and then we broke up and I thought 'Well this is terrible. What is going to happen to the house?'
"I have worked so hard all my life, what is now going to happen? The second one we were together 14 years and the third one was a huge mistake.
"Probably the unhappiest I have ever been in my life but she was a teacher and was really good with the kids."
Gregg met his third wife Heidi on Twitter as well (UK Press via Getty Images)
Gregg has two children from his second marriage to Denise (@libbylilywallace/Instagram)Despite this being his fourth time down the aisle, Gregg was keen for everyone to know he was serious about his relationship and wasn't rushing into another marriage.
He told HELLO!: "Meeting Anna has brought me what I think I've always been searching for – that big, warm family dynamic and there's real strength in that.
"I'm very conscious of people thinking I just do this willy-nilly. But we haven't rushed into this – we've been together for three years and I truly have never met anyone like Anna."
The presenter went on to share how she was his 'dream girl' and is 'beautiful inside and out'.
Since getting married the couple have also spoken about their 22-year age-gap, with Gregg making jokes about it from time to time - especially after the birth of their son, Sid, in May 2019.
Speaking on Loose Women, panelist Judi Love asked him what it was like to be an older dad and Gregg replied that he was happy that Anne-Marie has someone close to her age to keep her company.
He joked: "Baby Sid. You haven't met Mrs Wallace but I was really pleased she had a baby because it's someone at home more her own age to talk to."
Sid is Gregg's third child, as the dad already had two children, Libby and Tom, from his second marriage to Denise in 1999, a former pastry chef. The pair were married for five years.
His other wives included Christine, his first wife who he married in 1991 and who left him six weeks later, as well as Heidi Brown to whom he was married from 2011 to 2012 after meeting on Twitter.
Gregg with his son Sid (@greggawallace/Instagram)Since getting married a fourth time and welcoming his third child, Gregg claims Anne-Marie has 'revolutionised' his life, as he's made some big lifestyle changes in order to support his family.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain in January this year, he explained: "That young woman has revolutionised my life, there's a 22-year age gap, we have been together ten years and have a son, Sid, and I want to be there for them."
He went on to reveal his fitness journey and how he'd lost five stone.
His top weight loss tip was not to try some fad diet, but instead to think more carefully about what you're eating and exercise.
"Don't go on a diet, don't do something that's hard. Eat three healthy meals per day, reduce the takeaways, reduce the snacking."
Speaking to The Sun about his weight loss, he added: "My motivation at the start was, 'I just want to look better on the telly' but now it's 'how fit can I actually get?'
"I feel more attractive, I'm nicer to be around, and, let's be honest, my wife Anna is 22 years younger than me and while I can't change my age, at least I can change what I look like."
More recently Gregg has been sharing insight into his life as a parent and made a decision to step back from some of his TV work to spend more time with Sid, who is autistic.
The presenter stepped back from Inside The Factory after seven years in order to give more support to his young son. However, he will still continue with MasterChef.
Speaking on Gaby Roslin's show on BBC Radio London, Gregg said Sid, who is non-verbal, needs additional support with education.
He described his son as a "lovely, lovely little boy" with a "wonderful mother" but admitted, "it’s not easy".
"So I've made a decision that I’m actually not going to do Inside The Factory anymore.
"It's a good time to stop doing it because there’s actually 12 episodes in the can… so I wouldn’t have been filming for a while anyway so it just seemed like a good idea to stop it."
He added: "Imagine a child that you can't threaten or bribe and that's basically what you've got.
"You've got a little boy who’s cuddly and happy and naughty, like any little boy would be, but he can't speak, he can't talk to you, so he gets frustrated because he finds it difficult to tell you what exactly it is he needs.
"Right now, we need to find education for him and I can’t just leave that to Anna – that's a big, big decision.
"I mean, all parents worry about the schools that children will go to. Ours is even more highlighted because of poor little Sid's issues."
The BBC confirmed a new presenter for the show will be announced in due course.