Brian Cox and wife Nicole Ansari-Cox praise benefits of couple’s therapy
Brian Cox and his wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox, have opened up about how couples therapy has helped their marriage thrive.
The couple appeared on ITV’s Loose Women on Monday 17 February to talk about working together as a couple. Brian, 78, and Nicole, 56, first met in 1991, but only became a couple eight years later.
While recounting how they came to be together, the pair were asked if Brian’s tendency to be "step back" while Nicole was speaking was a "result of couples counselling".
"Yes, I have to be careful about expressing myself for this person," he joked, referring to Nicole. "It could go wrong, very wrong."
Turning serious, Brian said: "I think we’re very lucky. When you find a partner who is the partner, it’s a great gift. And you have to work to make it happen, you’ve got to put effort in.
"The great thing about couples therapy is that it helps with that effort. There are always problems that are difficult - we’ve been married, what, [24 years]."
Nicole added: "Next year is our silver [wedding anniversary]. But together, 27 years."
The couple then responded to a comment about how it was "interesting" that they spoke so openly about couples therapy, as for many others, it could be seen as their marriage having a "problem".
"You see, it’s not a problem - the problems clarify where you are," Brian explained. "That’s when you clarify what the other person feels, what the other person needs. And that’s where I found it incredibly helpful."
The couple have previously been open about going for couple’s therapy to work through their issues with one another.
In a 2024 interview with The Times, Nicole said that they had "four years that were pure hell".
"We went to couples therapy and it helped a lot. He was always willing to work at it. Because after that first burst of falling in love, inevitably every relationship has moments where you have to decide: is this worth my time?"
Watch: Brian Cox thinks having 'separate bedrooms' are the key to a successful marriage
Aside from couples therapy, Brian has said that his "secret" to a successful marriage is separate bedrooms.
He told the newspaper that he had learned this from his previous marriages. Brian’s first wife was Lillian Monroe Carr, to whom he was married from 1966 to 1967. He later married Caroline Burt in 1968, but they divorced in 1986.
Brian and Nicole married in 2002. In total, the classically trained Shakespearean actor has four children, two with Burt and two with Nicole, all of whom are now adults.
"Separate bedrooms" are his secret to a good marriage with Nicole, he said, adding: "You visit one another. Your partner must feel free.
"My first marriage broke down because I was in my most ambitious period and I was ignoring a lot of stuff that was going on. My wife was very smart financially and she did really well - she kept me afloat. But it was a strain on the pair of us and it broke us up."
Read more about sex and relationships:
The 5 signs you should try couple's therapy, as Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy reveal they'd 'love to do it' (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
Couples argue this many times a year about money (SWNS, 2-min read)
Married Couples Who Have A LOT Of Sex Are Sharing All Their Secrets, And I'm Taking Notes (BuzzFeed, 5-min read)
