KIRSTIE Allsopp has secretly married a property tycoon after 20 years of dating.
The Location Location Location presenter tied the knot to her lover in an “elegant and lowkey” ceremony in Mayfair, London.
Kirstie has been in a relationship with the self-made property tycoon Ben Andersen – who is now her husband – for the past 20 years.
The Mail on Sunday reports that Kirstie and Ben kept their wedding a secret right up until the last minute.
Most of their guests didn’t even know until it happened, with Kirstie keen to keep the ceremony as private as she could.
The location in which she and Ben tied the knot was where a memorial service for her late father, Charles Henry Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip, was held.
The pair, who have homes in both Devon and London, first met in 2004 while attending a party for a prospective Conservative MP.
At the time, Ben and his ex-wife Theresa had only been separated for five months, with Kirstie forced to shut down rumours that she had “stolen” Ben from his ex.
“I did not [steal him]. I met Ben at a party for a prospective Tory MP friend of mine, Orlando Fraser.
“Ben’s wife, whom I knew at school and whom he was already separated from, introduced us,” she told the Evening Standard in 2012.
Kirstie and Ben have two sons, Bay, who was born in 2006, and Oscar, who was born in 2008.
HAPPY BEING UNMARRIED
Speaking in an interview previously, Kirstie seemingly revealed that she never had plans to marry Ben, saying how their children were their commitment to one another.
“Ben has been married before and so I don’t think he’s in a hurry to do it again,” she previously spilled.
“Our child [children] is our commitment to each other.'”
The TV star is also stepmother to her partner’s two sons from his previous marriage, Hal and Orion.
Kirstie spoke about being a stepmother in 2021, with her revealing how she had put a lot of effort into her relationship with her stepsons.
Writing for the Daily Mail, she penned: “I can honestly say I have put more thought and effort into my relationship with my stepsons than anything else in my life.”
‘NOT GIRLFRIEND MATERIAL’
Before Kirstie met Ben, she had been described as “not girlfriend material” by someone she had dated.
She previously told Stylist magazine: “No one was interested in me in my twenties.
“I had ‘please marry me’ tattooed on my forehead. It was so vital to me to get married and have children.”
She then, at a later date, told The Mirror: “One chap said, ‘Kirstie, you will make someone a fantastic wife but you are not girlfriend material’.”
