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Martin Kemp has opened up on his long-standing marriage to wife Shirlie Holliman and revealed how the couple’s attempts to get pregnant finally succeeded on their wedding night.
The Spandau Ballet star, 64, let slip several details about his low-key nuptials to the Pepsi & Shirlie singer, 63, in 1988, on Sunday night during I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
The latest episode saw conversation in camp turning to marriage, with Vogue Williams telling Lisa Riley, Martin and Tom Read Wilson how she’d been married to Spencer Matthews for eight years.
But Martin had her beat, as he revealed he and Shirlie been married for coming up to four decades.
Describing their wedding day to his campmates, he said: ‘I got married in St Lucia on a clifftop overlooking the Caribbean with just three people’.
He joked the ceremony was so basic ‘if you looked into it more you’d find we’re not married!’
Giving the secrets to his long-standing marriage in the Bush Telegraph, Martin said that the bedrock of their relationship was friendship, gushing: ‘Shirlie is everything for me, everything I do in my life, I do it for her.’
He also told the camp before they got married the couple were trying to get pregnant, but were unsuccessful because Shirlie had endometriosis.
He went on to reveal: ‘Then on the night we got married – kaboom!’ causing the camp to laugh, as Lisa declared: ‘Meant to be!’
Martin also went on to regale them with a story about Shirlie’s mother asking them a very X-rated question.
He recalled they had been sat in Shirlie’s parent’s living room one day, when and out of the blue Shirlie’s mum asked them: ‘Now have you tried the wheelbarrow?’
As the camp laughed, Ruby Wax took it upon herself to demonstrate the position much to the amusement of her fellow celebrities.
A year after Martin and Shirlie tied the knot in St Lucia, they welcomed their daughter Harley Moon, 35, into the world in 1989, followed by the birth of son, Roman, in 1993.
The couple met back in the 80s after Martin laid eyes on Shirlie while she was performing as half of Wham!’s backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie, on Top of the Pops in 1982.
They previously revealed that it had been George Michael who got them together, after he played cupid for them.
Recalling the start of their love story to Daily Mail in 2019, Martin said: ‘I’d seen Wham! on Top Of The Pops singing Young Guns, and I couldn’t take my eyes off Shirlie. I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d seen.
‘Two weeks later we were at some VIP screening and there she was. I gave her my number, but she didn’t call me for three weeks.’
Shirlie defended herself, saying: ‘It wasn’t because I didn’t want to call. He was this big pop star and I was scared he would be a proper pop star. He was so good-looking.’
She revealed that it was George who finally took the number from her and rang, saying ‘I was at his house and he kept saying, “Are you going to call him?” He was a big Spandau fan. He called the number and gave me the phone.
‘Martin’s mum answered and I said, “Is Martin there, please?” She asked who it was and I was so embarrassed, she probably had girls phoning all the time for him.
‘Then he came on and said, “I’m so pleased you called.” He sounded really happy I’d phoned. So that was it.’
And on their first date, Shirlie brought along George to be her chaperone, with Martin explaining: ‘As I was walking down Camden High Street I saw Shirlie standing on the corner and my heart sank because she had brought her mate, and her mate was George Michael. We spent the evening trying to lose him.’
While Shirlie revealed that even George wasn’t thrilled about being their third wheel, recalling: ‘He said, “I didn’t know you’d be snogging all night”.’
It comes after Martin left his I’m A Celebrity campmates and viewers speechless on Monday after revealing he’d lost out on the role of James Bond to Pierce Brosnan.
He opened up about auctioning for the iconic role with fans at home declaring he would have made the ‘sexiest ever’ 007.
Martin, who is no strange to the silver screen and starred in 1990 film The Krays with brother Gary, as well as playing Steve Owen in EastEnders, said: ‘I was up for James Bond, I met Barbara Broccoli. Did that in my youth’.
With Kelly Brook later declaring in the Bush Telegraph: ‘He would have made a great Bond, he has got those beautiful blue eyes, he’s very tall, he’s got the charisma!’.
Taking to X stunned fans gushed: ‘Martin Kemp would have been the sexiest James Bond. I might have finally watched my first James Bond if so,’;
‘Martin Kemp would have been a good Bond. I’ll fight to the death to make that point’; ‘Martin Kemp would have been a top class Bond.’
Pierce was cast as 007 in 1995’s Goldeneye and went on to appear in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002) before being replaced by Daniel Craig.
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! airs nightly at 9pm on ITV1, STV, ITVX & STV Player
I’M A CELEBRITY 2025: MEET THE ALL STAR LINE UP
KELLY BROOK
AGE: 45
OCCUPATION: Model and TV star
FAMOUS FOR: Kelly is best known for being a model, who has posed for Page Three. She is also an actress and a panelist on ITV’s Loose Women.
MARTIN KEMP
AGE: 64
OCCUPATION: Musican/actor
FAMOUS FOR: Martin is arguably best known for being part of 70s band Spandau Ballet, as well as playing Steve Owen in EastEnders. His son is Roman Kemp and is married to Shirlie Holliman.
LISA RILEY
AGE: 49
OCCUPATION: Actress
FAMOUS FOR: Lisa has played a number of roles over the years, but is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale. She took on the role in 1995.
JACK OSBOURNE
AGE: 40
OCCUPATION: Media personality
FAMOUS FOR: Jack is best known for being part of the famous Osbourne family alongside mum Sharon, dad Ozzy and sister Kelly. They starred in their own MTV show The Osbournes.
AITCH
AGE: 25
OCCUPATION: Rapper
FAMOUS FOR: Aitch’s real name is Harrison James Armstrong. He shot to fame in 2018 with his song Straight Rhymez. 11 of his songs have reached the top 10 singles chart, including Taste (Make It Shake).
SHONA MCGARTY
AGE: 32
OCCUPATION: Soap star/actress
FAMOUS FOR: The British public know Shona for portraying Whitney Dean in EastEnders for 16 years. She quit the role last year to pursue other things.
RUBY WAX
AGE: 72
OCCUPATION: Actress/comedian and mental health campaigner
FAMOUS FOR: Ruby has made a name for herself by interviewing people on her TV shows, but now focuses on mental health.
EDDIE KADI
AGE: 42
OCCUPATION: Comedian/ presenter
FAMOUS FOR: The star gets up on stage to show off how funny he is, but he also presents BBC Radio 1Xtra. He has also taken part in Strictly Come Dancing.
ALEX SCOTT
AGE: 41
OCCUPATION: Sports presenter pundit
FAMOUS FOR: Alex is a former football player who has payed for Arsenal, England and GB. She is a respected sports presenter now.
ANGRYGINGE
AGE: 23
OCCUPATION: Social media star
FAMOUS FOR: Angryginge is best known for his Twitch and YouTube content that is focused on football. His real name Morgan Burtwistle.
