Ben Shephard has marked his 22nd anniversary with wife Annie by sharing a rare photo of ‘the best thing to ever happen to me’.
The This Morning host, 51, reminisced about their relationship as he shared a selfie of the couple from the early days of their romance.
‘So 22 yrs ago today @mrsannieshephard said “oh go on then” and that was that!’ he gushed in the caption.
‘It might have taken me 9 yrs to realise it and to ask her to marry me but she’s still the best thing to happen to me,’ he continued before joking about his other great love – West Ham legend Mark Noble.
The sweet post was met with an outpouring of messages from Ben’s showbiz pals, with his podcast co-host Joel Dommett commenting: ‘This is THE BEST’ whilst This Morning co-star Cat Deeley quipped: ‘”Oh go on then“ The Marvelous Mrs Sheps.’
Ben and Annie married in 2004 in Salcombe, Devon after meeting as students at the University of Birmingham.
As he admitted in his Instagram post, it would take Ben nine years to propose and he popped the question in Paris a year before their wedding.
Ben recently opened up about the secret behind his marriage and life with Annie, with whom he shares sons Sam, 21, and Jack, 19.
‘Annie was with me way before I got into telly,’ he told the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine in January. ‘She has been through everything with me, the highs and lows.’
‘She’s exceptionally patient. And I’m very patient with new shoes,’ he joked. ‘What I really think is that we were great mates when we got together.’
Whilst Ben has spent 20 years presenting everything from This Morning to Tipping Point to his latest show The Summit, Annie has quietly kept out of the spotlight, concentrating on their family and her job in interior design.
‘Annie has been brilliant at allowing me the space to go off and do the job I do,’ Ben explained.
‘She’s been the most important factor in our lives as a family; this amazing influence who created the home for our boys to become who they are and certainly made me better at being a dad.’
Ben and Annie are preparing for the next stage of their marriage, become empty nesters.
Their eldest son Sam is studying maths at university, whilst his younger brother is working as a teaching assistant to save up to go travelling.
‘Having been surrounded by boys, their mates and girls for a very long time, it’s going to be quieter. It is already,’ he has admitted but he added that he relishes the ‘challenge’ of working out his new home life with just Annie.
‘Both of us feel like this next stage is really exciting… We do live quite separate lives. I’m off working, she has her job, which is garden and interior design,’ Ben said.
‘If I’ve got spare time I want to do something physical: play golf, go for a run, go to the gym, see some football or rugby.
‘She wants to go to an art gallery or see a garden. It’s about finding things that work for both of us – but as I say, that feels really exciting.’
