Susanna Reid shared with Good Morning Britain viewers her plans for a brief break from the show on Thursday morning. The beloved presenter, who’s been a familiar face since the show’s inception in 2014, appeared alongside ex-Labour MP Ed Balls today.
As the show wrapped up, Susanna announced her short hiatus, reassuring fans she’d return soon. “See you in a couple of weeks, I’m going to go and spend some time off. I will be back, do not fear,” the broadcaster, 54, assured her audience. Away from the cameras, Susanna juggles motherhood with her media career, raising three sons: Sam, aged 22, Finn, 21, and Jack, 19. Her children’s father is journalist Dominic Cotton, whom she was with from 1998 until their separation in 2014.
Despite their split, Susanna and Dominic have remained amicable, even continuing to cohabit post-breakup. In 2018, Susanna entered a relationship with Steve Parish, chairman of Crystal Palace FC, though they parted ways in 2019.
The television favourite has consciously chosen never to wed, emphasising this decision as a personal preference. Speaking candidly on GMB in 2021, Susanna expressed her views: “It was a personal choice. It’s a bit of an old-fashioned idea that children are ‘illegitimate’ if you’re not married. Children are legitimate, whether you’re married or not,” reports the Mirror.
Furthermore, she opened up to The Sun about her stance on marriage: “I’ve never wanted [marriage]. I’ve never fantasised about the big day. It was never my ambition to be married. I’m very, very happy at the moment, but I don’t want to be married.”
Despite her serious on-screen persona, Susanna Reid has a wild side that she indulges in away from the Good Morning Britain set. Even though she’s teetotal, it doesn’t stop the TV star from hitting the clubs with her three sons in Ibiza. “I’m not really a pub-goer, but I go clubbing,” she confessed to Woman&Home.
“I went clubbing with them during the day and had the most amazing time,” she chuckled. “I stopped drinking in 2018 and I’m now predominantly teetotal. I have a Buck’s Fizz on Christmas Day, I had half a glass of champagne on my mum’s birthday and I have a drink once every couple of months – including a couple in Ibiza – but I don’t have pints at the pub like I did in my 20s. Being virtually teetotal hasn’t damaged my social life. In any case, in Ibiza, music is your drug.”
In a previous interview with the Mirror, she explained why she decided to quit drinking in 2018: “I stopped enjoying it.
“I prefer life alcohol-free – it’s tiring and the hangxiety got to me. I don’t feel like I can plough on after pints of Guinness the night before. Spending time with the kids is my release.”
Susanna also shared that she wants to spend as much time as possible with her children before they leave home. “I want to be around as much as I can because they really are about to go. I’m enjoying my diminishing time with the children.”
On the career front, Susanna became a household name after becoming a regular presenter on BBC Breakfast in 2003. She held this role until 2014, when she made the switch to ITV and Good Morning Britain.
The star also dazzled viewers when she competed in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, finishing as a runner up with her dance partner Kevin Clifton.