Clare Balding's love life - from hiding her sexuality to 'easy' marriage

16 July 2023 , 12:00

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Clare's wife Alice has supported her through her thyroid cancer diagnosis (Image: PA)

Presenting everything from Wimbledon to the Olympics and Crufts, Clare Balding is one of the most respected presenters on TV and a well-known household name.

The 52-year-old has become a resident feature on our screens this year heading up the coverage at SW19, after taking over the main tennis hosting duties from Sue Barker.

Outside of the sports world, Clare's personal life is a wholesome one, with a happy marriage to her partner, Alice Arnold, 61, who she has been with for nearly two decades.

Though it wasn't always rosy for Clare, who admitted that she was once scared to come out as gay due to the potentially negative impact it could have on her career.

The loved-up pair had a private wedding ceremony with no guests in 2015 (clarebalding/Instagram)

The broadcaster and journalist met her other half in 1999 at work, when Alice was a BBC Radio 4 announcer and newsreader. The pair were good friends at first before their relationship progressed into something more.

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Speaking to The Times in 2018, Alice admitted: "There was very little about Clare that I found attractive at first. To be honest, everything about her was wrong! She ticked all the boxes of things I tend to avoid and didn't have any of the qualities I thought I needed in a partner."

But this soon changed, as in 2006, before gay marriage was legalised in the UK, Clare and Alice entered into a civil partnership, celebrating with friends and family in an 18th-century Palladian villa in Chiswick. Then nine years later in April 2015, the couple married in a private ceremony at the same venue.

Though the event was very intimate without any guests present. "We didn't have a big party at all actually. Nobody came apart from us," Clare explained. Clare and Alice have now been officially married since 2006 as they just backdate it to their civil partnership.

Talking about her marriage on The Jonathan Ross Show, Clare said: "It's about equality. It's just about knowing that you can and knowing that you can say: 'I'm married' and nobody's going to think that's married in inverted commas, no that, actually married. I think it's great."

But Clare wasn't always so open about her sexuality, only coming out as a lesbian in 2003 after hiding her sexuality for close to a decade. After starting at The BBC as a trainee journalist in 1994, Clare explained: "I was worried that if people discovered I was in a relationship with a woman I might be discriminated against when it came to choosing presenters on TV."

Clare said their 13-year relationship is 'easy' and they don't row at all at home (clarebalding/Instagram)

She added that she wasn't fearful of the public reaction but that it might have a negative impact on her work. "As it happens, that wasn't the outcome, but at the time I didn't know," she said. Clare also revealed how her grandmother told her that her sexuality was "disgusting" and that she didn't speak to her for six months after she came out as gay.

She revealed that she was brought up to think the only acceptable relationship meant being married to a man. "A lot has changed in the world since then, thankfully," she told The Sun.

And Clare refuses to change her look when appearing on TV. "I wear a lot of trousers - I don't tend to wear dresses or skirts. I'll probably do the same at Wimbledon", she said. And indeed Clare has done the same at Wimbledon, sporting colourful suits and funky shirts.

Whilst the couple have been happily married since 2006, living in the leafy and affluent area of Chiswick, West London, fans became worried about their relationship when Clare was spotted without her wedding ring whilst presenting the Rio De Janeiro Olympics in Brazil in 2016.

But wife Alice quickly cleared things up and reassured fans that Clare was advised not to travel with her wedding ring in case it got lost abroad. She tweeted: "I'm amazed how many have noticed @clarebalding is not wearing her wedding ring... don't worry... it's safely at home with me."

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Sharing their secret to a happy marriage with The Mirror, Clare said: "We are very easy together. We don't row. I don't know how we achieve that but I don't think there is a secret. You're on this wonderful adventure together." The pair don't have any children together, and as keen animal lovers, they share ownership of two adorable cats Eric and Button.

The couple have always been there for each other through the tough times too, including Clare's battle with thyroid cancer. In 2009, Clare announced that she had been diagnosed with the disease, after spotting a lump on her throat while watching herself on TV. She had two throat operations to remove a cyst and her thyroid gland and underwent radioactive iodine treatment.

At the time, she released a statement about how she felt, stating that her "main worry" was her voice, as it's so important for her work. She said: "I've been wheezing slightly but other than that I feel fine. My main worry is my voice because that is what I do." Thankfully in 2011, Clare received the all-clear from the doctors and her career has only grown since.

Emily Smith