This Morning star reveals moment he thought marriage 'was going to end'
This Morning star Gyles Brandreth has opened up about a time he thought his marriage would end due to his 'colossal mistake.' The broadcaster has been married to writer and former television presenter Michèle Brown since 1973, but he admitted there was a time when something he did left her 'angry.'
Opening up on a segment about the secret to a happy marriage, Gyles recalled a time he had left Michèle feeling overwhelmed by his elaborate party plans. The doting husband, 75, had decided to throw her a surprise party, quickly finding out she wasn't a fan of surprises.
He said: "I arranged a party for actually 60 or 70 friends." Foreshadowing the disaster to come, Cat interrupted, saying: "Oh, I wouldn't like that," to which Gyles responded: "Well, exactly." He added: "It was a total surprise - all the friends, all the family, people she hadn't seen. There were girls she was at school with. A lot of work had gone into this."
He continued: "But I made a colossal mistake. I told her we were going out for dinner. I said dress up a bit and told her where we were going.
"When we arrived and she saw someone she recognised on the stairs, I thought she was going to go home. I thought she was going to turn around and go home. And there was a real moment of anger."
Gyles admitted that his wife was so furious he feared it would end the marriage. He explained: "I thought, oh my gosh, this special thing is going to actually end the marriage. Thankfully, once we got through the pain and her saying 'how could you,' it worked. Surprises can be risky."
Hosts Cat and Ben then joked that they wouldn't be taking the same risk in their own households, with Cat reiterating that she was 'not a big fan' of surprises.
Ben then joked: "Romance in our house is me taking the bins out," revealing that he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty around the house to show his affection for his wife, Annie. Referring to a story Ben had told her, Cat said: "I remember with the bin juice," to which Ben said: "Yeah, I'll take all that on."
Speaking affectionately about her own husband, Patrick, who she nicknamed 'Paddy,' Cat recalled: "I remember once Paddy watered some tomatoes when I'd left, and I remember thinking 'that's very thoughtful.'"
