Ben Shephard was left opening up on his family life after a This Morning viewer contacted the show to say she was feeling ‘lonely’ since her children had left home
This Morning favourite Ben Shephard, who typically keeps his personal life away from the cameras, opened up in a rare moment about his own “struggles” after being moved by a viewer’s heartfelt message.
On the Wednesday’s episode (February 5), Ben, aged 50, sat down with co-host Cat Deeley, 48, and a specialist to examine new scientific findings from University College London (UCL) stating that “people are happier in the morning”. The study highlighted the contrast between morning cheer and evening gloom.
Prior to the discussion on air, Ben and his fellow ITV presenter invited viewers to share what was impacting their ability to feel joy. One person contacted the team to express she’d felt “loneliness” after her children had left the nest which struck a chord with Ben.
He empathised, saying: “We’re struggling with this as well in our house,” before sharing that his own son, Sam, had recently started university.
Nicole had wrote in for help querying how she could seek happiness with an empty house, Ben could personally relate and wanted to share his own experience.
Off-screen, Ben is married to wife Annie. They married in 2004 after first falling in love back in 1994, reports Wales Online.
The couple’s love story led them to exchange vows in a cosy Devon ceremony ten years later. Ben and Annie’s family became complete with the arrival of their first child, Sam, followed soon after by Jack in 2007.
As the two boys are now close to entering their 20s, with Sam nearly 20 and Jack aged 18, parental adjustments are ongoing. Ben shared some words of wisdom with Nicole, who had reached out for advice.
Recounting his own experience, Ben admitted he and Annie faced similar challenges adjusting to their son Sam heading off to university.
Seeking to lift Nicole’s spirits as her children head back to school, Ben suggested: “I think one of the things we do when Sam’s gone back to uni is we organise to actually do something so they’ve gone, so we’ll go out for a walk or go out for a drink or go out for dinner and we will distract from the fact the house is suddenly quiet.”
Cat sympathised with the sense of quietude, “It’s the quiet that makes you feel melancholic,” she observed. Jumping into the conversation, Ben voiced his perspective about the change at home without the boys: “It’s enormous I’ve got men living in my house and it’s really annoying they take up so much space and when they’re gone the sofas are empty there’s not as much mess.”
He concluded with another tip for Nicole: “So we try and go out and do something together, reconnect and then try and come back and it doesn’t seem quite so empty I think.”