Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant and sad reason he keeps love life private
Patrick Grant is a judge on The Great British Sewing Bee (BBC/Love Productions/Neil Sherwood)
Patrick Grant, a judge on The Great British Sewing Bee, confessed that he doesn’t talk much about his romantic partners because one ex-girlfriend ended up being stalked.
The designer and business owner has been a judge on the BBC series since 2013, and dated fellow British fashion designer Katie Hillier from 2007 until 2015, having met at a party in New York. “When we got back to London, we hooked up pretty much straight away,” Grant told The Independent in 2012. “We just seemed to have a tremendous amount in common.”
Admiring Hillier’s strong work ethic and enthusiasm, he added: “She works constantly. I try to help her step out a bit and relax, she is the best person to share a country walk and a spot of bird-watching with.”
For her part, Hillier has described Grant as feisty, adding: “He is super switched-on and knows a lot of stuff I don’t know about. We talk incessantly and argue a lot as well. He’s also one of those people who can make fun happen out of nothing.”
‘My last girlfriend was so badly stalked online while we were together’
In 2016, after Grant had moved out of the homes they shared and into a house in Gipsy Hill, South London, he was in something of a “dating haze”, according to The Times. He wasn’t on Tinder because “it’s not very BBC Two”, he said. And, unlike The Great British Bake Off‘s Paul Hollywood, who “gets bags full of pants in the post, I don’t get anything”, he added.
However, he revealed that had started dating someone new but would only say that she wasn’t anyone famous.
In another interview with The Times, years later, Grant said the fame afforded to him by The Great British Sewing Bee had made life difficult when it came to relationships.
“My last girlfriend [Hillier] was so badly stalked online while we were together, I’m loath to put someone else through that,” he said before sharing that he had begun to date a dentist.
It’s reported that Grant has been dating dentist Rachael Hampton since 2022, having met at a friend’s dinner party.
While he keeps his love life off social media, the duo have been photographed together at fancy events, including at the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2025.
The Great British Sewing Bee airs on BBC One on Tuesdays at 8pm.
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