Mark Labbett, best known as the Beast on ITV's The Chase, has admitted he feels like a "very, very lucky man" to be dating his girlfriend, Hayley Palmer.
The 58 year old quizzer and GB News presenter started dating after meeting at the National Television Awards 2022. Their first date was a trip to see Dirty Dancing: The Musical in London's West End, and they're still together as they near their first anniversary.
He confessed to The Sun that he often pinches himself, saying: "I mean, look at her," and "I keep finding myself going, 'Hang on, we're actually going out?'"
Despite their 16-year age gap, Mark is over the moon with his love life and his career change from maths teacher to TV star.
He said: "15 years ago I was a maths teacher, I was 29st."
Mark proudly showed off his amazing 10 stone weight loss at the Southampton International Boat Show in September, where he and Hayley enjoyed a day of marine spectacles.
Mark, originally from Tiverton, spends most of his time in Moorgate, Rotherham, where his five year old son Laurence lives with his ex-wife.
He married ex-wife Katie at the Hilton Avisford Park in West Sussex in 2013, when Mark was 48 and the nurse was just 22 but their marriage ended in divorce.
He currently has no immediate plans to move to London, where Hayley is based, but insists that any relocation to the UK capital would involve the 42 year old.
"I would unashamedly say that if I was to move to London it would be with a strong view to Hayley moving in with me," he revealed. "There's no way I would check out a flat without her being there with me."
Hayley appeared open to the idea, too, on the condition that they could have separation washing facilities. "If we did move in together, there would be two bathrooms!," she insisted.
Mark and Hayley were guests on Loose Women in August, where Mark dismissed rumours that he had undergone gastric band surgery.
"I think one of the plus points of having what may or may not have been Covid a few times is that I just lost my appetite," he told the panel. "My appetite is nothing like it once was. Get one of your doctors to check me for a gastric band scar. They won't find it!"
Mark also shared that his weight loss has given him a massive energy boost, so much so, that he's even considering taking part in Strictly Come Dancing in the future.
"Now I'm a lot lighter and fitter I'd love to do it, but obviously, that's up to the powers that be," he said, with Hayley quickly jumping in to back the idea.
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