For a television presenter who spends much of his working life in the public eye, Ben Shephard has remained remarkably private about his family life. But the This Morning star recently offered fans an unusually personal glimpse of his marriage to Annie and their two sons during a family trip to Cornwall.
The couple, who first met as university students in 1995 and married in 2004, have built a life largely away from the spotlight. Their recent holiday offered a rare look at that quieter side of their relationship — coming just months after Shephard openly described himself and Annie as living “quite separate lives.”
Inside Ben Shephard’s private life with wife Annie as he shares a very rare glimpse into their family holiday in Cornwall
Earlier this week, Ben gave a very rare glimpse into his family as they enjoyed a trip down to the British coastline
A rare family glimpse in Cornwall
Shephard, 51, shared a collection of photographs from a week spent in Cornwall celebrating the retirement of his Auntie Jan from her musical career at the age of 85.
Among the images was a beaming selfie featuring Shephard, Annie and their son Sam, alongside photographs capturing the family’s time on the Cornish coast.
The family also enjoyed lunch at Paul Ainsworth’s restaurant at St Enodoc, took walks around Port Isaac and Port Gaverne, and found time for Shephard to play golf with friends.
Writing alongside the photographs, Shephard described it simply as “One week like this! Family, sunshine + Cornwall❤️”.
He praised the setting at St Enodoc and said the family had enjoyed a “wonderful celebration” for his aunt’s retirement.
For the presenter, it was a relatively unusual public window into a family that he and Annie have generally kept out of the limelight.
Taking to Instagram, the This Morning presenter shared a series of photos of his family celebrating his Auntie Jan’s retirement
Alongside the snaps, Ben wrote: ‘One week like this! Family, sunshine + Cornwall❤️’
Ben and Annie met as students at the University of Birmingham (pictured during their younger days)
Shephard and Annie have been together for more than three decades
The couple first met while studying at the University of Birmingham.
Shephard studied dance, drama and theatre arts, while Annie studied philosophy and became head of the Philosophy & Epistemology Society.
Their relationship began in 1995, and they eventually married in 2004 in Salcombe, Devon.
Over the following years, they welcomed two sons, Jack and Sam, while building their family life away from the cameras.
The couple initially made Richmond, London, their home before selling their property last year. Their family home was reportedly sold for £5.3 million, after they had purchased it for a reported £2.95 million, before moving into a Grade II-listed property bought for £3.5 million.
Ben and Annie married in 2004 in Salcombe, Devon
They went on to welcome two sons, Sam and Jack
Ben said of his sons: ‘Jack’s working as a teaching assistant before travelling. Sam’s studying maths at university and having a ball’
What Ben really meant by ‘separate lives’
The latest family photographs come after Shephard spoke candidly about the unusual dynamic within his marriage.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, he explained that he and Annie have different personalities and interests, meaning they do not necessarily spend all their free time together.
“Annie is much more solitary than me,” he said.
According to Shephard, his wife is comfortable spending time by herself, while he tends to seek out activities and company when he has time away from work.
“She’s much happier in her own company,” he explained.
“We do live quite separate lives.”
Rather than describing this as a problem in their marriage, Shephard presented it as a reflection of their different lifestyles.
He works in television, while Annie has developed her own career around interiors and garden design. Shephard also prefers to spend his free time doing physical activities.
“I’m off working, she has her job, which is garden and interior design. If I’ve got spare time I want to do something physical,” he said.
Ben gushed over Annie earlier this year: ‘This amazing influence who created the home for our boys to become who they are and certainly made me better at being a dad’
Annie has built a career of her own
Although Annie rarely seeks the spotlight, she has established an impressive professional career.
She runs the interiors website The House Edit and has also qualified as a garden designer.
Before becoming a mother, Annie worked as a writer for a number of fashion and interiors publications, including House & Garden, Glamour, Elle Deco, Elle and Red.
She later spent years raising the couple’s sons while renovating homes and developing gardens.
On her website, Annie describes her experience of combining motherhood with design projects, explaining that she has learned both the theory behind design and the practical lessons that come from building and renovating spaces herself.
Her work now focuses on helping clients create interiors and gardens that are both stylish and meaningful.
The couple are entering the ‘empty-nester’ years
With both of their sons becoming increasingly independent, Shephard and Annie are now approaching a major new stage of family life.
Jack is working as a teaching assistant before travelling, while Sam is studying mathematics at university.
Shephard has previously spoken with pride about Jack’s preparation for travelling, explaining that his son worked hard to earn money for the trip and learned to manage his own finances and everyday responsibilities.
“He worked really hard for his A-Levels, then worked really hard as a teaching assistant, got some money together to be able to fund his trip,” Shephard said on the White Wine Question Time podcast.
He admitted that he and Annie miss Jack, particularly Annie, but said he was excited for the opportunities ahead of his son.
“I’m jealous they’ve got so much ahead,” he added.
Ben has focused heavily on fitness
With the demands of parenting young children behind them, Shephard has also had more opportunity to concentrate on his own health and fitness.
His physical transformation coincided with turning 50 last year, a milestone that motivated him to become fitter than he had ever been.
The presenter regularly shares glimpses of his workouts on social media and has even trained alongside his sons.
He has admitted that he becomes particularly competitive when exercising with Sam and Jack, wanting to demonstrate that he can still keep up with them.
His approach to fitness has even influenced the family’s eating habits.
Shephard previously revealed that Annie does most of the cooking, while he pays close attention to getting enough protein.
The couple have developed their own compromise: Shephard makes sure he gets what he needs nutritionally during the day so that they can still sit down and enjoy dinner together.
As he explained, certain ingredients can simply be left out or adjusted without sacrificing the shared evening meal.
Shephard insists Annie remains central to the family
Despite describing their lifestyles as separate, Shephard has been clear that Annie remains hugely important to him and their family.
Earlier this year, he praised his wife for the role she played in raising their children and creating their family home.
He described her as an “amazing influence” who helped create the environment in which their sons could grow into the people they are today.
He also credited her with making him a better father.
Now that their children are becoming adults, Shephard said the couple are looking for activities and experiences they can enjoy together.
“It’s about finding things that work for both of us – but as I say, that feels really exciting,” he said.
A marriage that has lasted more than 20 years
Shephard has also occasionally allowed followers to see the more romantic side of his relationship with Annie.
In March, he marked their 22nd anniversary with a rare photograph from the early days of their relationship.
He joked that Annie had agreed to go out with him 22 years earlier, writing: “So 22 yrs ago today @mrsannieshephard said ‘oh go on then’ and that was that!”
He then revealed that it took him nine years to realise he wanted to marry her before proposing.
“She’s still the best thing to happen to me,” he wrote, before adding a humorous reference to his other great love — West Ham legend Mark Noble.
After more than three decades since they first met, Shephard and Annie may have very different interests and plenty of time apart. But his comments, together with the rare family photographs from Cornwall, suggest that their relationship has found its own rhythm — one built around independence, family and a long history together.