All the tea about Clare Balding’s wife Alice Arnold and their low-key wedding
Clare Balding and Alice Arnold. (Getty)
Clare Balding and Alice Arnold. (Getty)
The Celebrity Traitors is underway and several LGBTQ+ stars, including Clare Balding, are taking part in the ultimate game of betrayal and suspicion.
The broadcaster and horse racing pundit is joined in the game by Tom Daley, Alan Carr, Stephen Fry, and Cat Burns.
Joining her on The Celebrity Traitors cast are Charlotte Church, Paloma Faith, Joe Wilkinson and Lucy Beaumont. Kate Garraway, Jonathan Ross, Joe Marler, and Mark Bonnar also appear. Nick Mohammed, Ruth Codd, Tameka Empson and Celia Imrie, David Olusoga and Niko Omilana round out the cast.
With Clare Balding lighting up our screens on The Celebrity Traitors, we thought it would be good to round up everything we know about her partner, Alice Arnold:
Who is Clare Blading’s wife, Alice Arnold?
Much like Clare Balding, Alice Arnold is also a broadcaster and was a newsreader on BBC Radio 4 for 18 years between 1994 and 2012. She then moved over to Bauer Media in 2015 fronting the weekend breakfast shows on Mellow Magic and presenting the Olivier Awards.
The pair now often appear on Celebrity Gogglebox together as well sharing a love of golf and cruising (as in boats).
How did she and Clare Balding meet?
The two met while both working for the BBC in 1999 starting off their relationship as friends. Balding told the Daily Mail in 2024 that she fell in love with Arnold after avoiding a boyfriend’s proposal.
Arnold shared of her first meeting with Balding, “I thought you were great at what you did, but a relationship with her was so not on the cards for me. I just knew I liked her and she was fun.”
Balding also told the Mail Arnold is “fiercely loyal.” She added, “She would protect me and it’s an incredible quality to have. It’s like having your own little guard dog – it’s amazing.” Similarly, Arnold described her wife as, “phenomenally kind.”
When did they get married?
The pair entered into a civil partnership in 2006. Later, in 2015, they would become one of the first celebrity same-sex couples to marry after gay marriage was legalised in the UK. The pair had a private ceremony at Chiswick House close to where they live.
As reported by Hello! Balding told The Jonathan Ross Show in 2015 that, “We didn’t have a big party at all, actually. Nobody came apart from us.” The pair converted their civil partnership thereby backdating their marriage to 2006.
What has Arnold said about her partner not wearing her wedding ring at work?
During the 2024 Paris Olympics it was commented on that Balding wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Arnold explained on social media that the couple felt that it was “unwise” to wear “irreplaceable” jewellery to such a big event in case it got lost. “Don’t worry. It’s safely at home with me,” Arnold said.
Who was Arnold’s ex-partner?
Arnold once dated another lesbian broadcaster, Sandi Toksvig, as per The Times.
Do the pair have any children?
No, but they have a cat, Eric, and a kitten. They used to have a Tibetan terrier called Archie, who sadly died in 2020. To fill the void the couple are now moving out of Chiswick to find somewhere with more space and safety for a dog.
The Celebrity Traitors airs at 9pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays on BBC One and the iPlayer.
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