The Britain’s Got Talent host has been happily married to wife Ali since 2015 and they share two children
Declan Donnelly and wife Ali Astall
Britain’s Got Talent host Declan Donnelly is happily married to talent manager Ali Astall.
The couple share two children daughter Isla, six, and two year old son Jack.
She had been managing his career for over a decade before they became a couple.
“We always hung out,” Dec revealed to the Daily Express in 2014, discussing how their professional relationship blossomed into romance.
The 49-year-old BGT star continued: “When she was single and I was single we’d go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day together.
“Last year we went out as a couple. It was a little strange because we’ve had a working relationship for so long.”
But before settling down with Ali and marrying in 2015, Dec had a relationship with a famous TV star.
Declan Donnelly’s famous ex that he left heartbroken
Prior to his relationship with Ali, the Saturday Night Takeaway star was involved with a well-known actress for over a decade.
Dec’s first high-profile romance was with Clare Buckfield, an actress known for her roles in children’s show Grange Hill and sitcom Two Point Four Children.
The pair began dating as teenagers in 1993 and were together for ten years, sharing Dec’s lavish home in south west London.
However, in 2002, Dec made headlines when he was accused of cheating on Clare with lap dancer Tina Benson, then 23, whom he met in a club.
Clare was devastated to learn about her partner’s alleged affair through a newspaper.
“Nobody can be prepared for something like that,” she later said. “It was horrible, painful and unbelievably difficult.
“It was as bad as anyone would think it could be. We were together a very long time. I did think it would end up in marriage.”
Clare, who has also starred in Doctors, Holby City and Steel River Blues, now has a son called Johnny, born in 2013.
Declan Donnell’s ‘strange’ start to relationship with wife
Dec previously admitted his romance with Ali had a ‘strange’ start because of their working relationship.
He said: “It was a little strange because we’ve had a working relationship for so long.
“But because it just happened there was no big ta-da. Things couldn’t be better for me at the minute.”
The pair started dating in 2014 before announcing their engagement in December of that same year.
“We went round to one side of the island, the only place on the island where you can see the sun set, and we just went round and we watched the sunset go down and we did it there, it was lovely,” Dec said at the time.
The couple tied the knot at St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church in Elswick in a ceremony officiated by the star’s brother Father Dermott Donnelly who sadly passed away in 2022.
His long term TV partner Ant McPartlin performed best man duties on the day.
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