When Nick Knowles revealed he will not be present when his wife Jessica gives birth to their son next month, he was astonished by the backlash.
“To suggest you can’t have a bonding relationship with your children is silly,” says the DIY SOS star, 51.
“But what’s interesting is how many emails we got from people saying they didn’t want their other half in the room, but didn’t have the heart to tell them.”
Nick and Jessica began dating in 2009 and married three years later in Rome.
“She makes me a nicer person, slows me down a bit and makes me more considerate,” the presenter says of his 26-year-old wife.
He also thinks you have a responsibilty to your partner to keep looking healthy.
“One morning I looked at myself and went, ‘God, when did that happen? You have to sort it out!”’ Nick says.
He basically cut out bread and dairy and hopped on the cross-trainer for an hour four times a week. He wants to keep himself “looking decent” and that’s nothing to do with the 25-year age difference, he insists.
“Nobody who knows us ever brings it up. I’m still young and doing 30 hours of TV for the BBC every year.”
That includes the quiz show Who Dares Wins, DIY SOS and The National Lottery: Break The Safe, which has just returned for another series.
He explained: “The thing about quiz shows is it’s actually about the people, not the quiz, so I spend a lot of time making sure the personalities come out.
“That way, people engage with them and care whether they win or lose the money.”
The National Lottery: Break The Safe, BBC1, Saturday.
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