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Vernon Kay admits wife Tess Daly had to pay for 'first six or seven' dates

The Strictly Come Dancing presenter had to foot the bill when dating 'absolutely skint' Vernon Kay in the early days of his modelling career.

Katie ArcherEntertainment Reporter
Updated
4 min read

Watch: Vernon Kay admits wife Tess Daly had to pay for 'first six or seven' dates

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Vernon Kay has revealed his wife Tess Daly had to pay for their first six or seven dates because he was "absolutely skint" when they met.

The TV star couple have been married for 21 years and have two daughters but Kay admitted to ITV's Loose Women that he nearly messed things up early on because of a cash flow problem.

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Kay and Martin Kemp joined Denise Welch and Judi Love for Thursday's special episode Loose Women and Men, where they also shared their parenting stories.

What, how and why?

London, UK. 11 September 2024. Vernon Kay and Tess Daly attending the National Television Awards at the O2 Arena, London. Photo credit should read: Matt Crossick/Empics/Alamy Live News
Vernon Kay shared a story from when he first met wife of 21 years, Tess Daly. (Empics/Alamy Live News)

Vernon Kay and Tess Daly are one of the most enduring couples in showbiz but the BBC Radio 2 host told Loose Women things could have been very different if Strictly host Daly hadn't reacted so well to his financial troubles when they started dating.

The TV and radio star appeared on special episode Loose Women and Men, where he shared the story of how they had fallen in love despite Daly having to foot the bill for their first "six or seven" dinners together.

Kay, who married Daly in 2003, was asked when he had first told his wife he loved her and recalled: "It was early on. I was 25. We met at a BBC Christmas party. We hit it off straight away."

Read more: Vernon Kay

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Love asked whether he was working as a model at the time and he replied: "Well, trying to."

He added: "I had a bit of an issue financially at the start of our relationship. Remember Switch cards? Well, the one below that was a Solo card."

Wedding of Tess Daly Vernon Kay September 2003 Both Television Presenters St Mary s Church Horwich Bolton Lancashire They left in a white VW Camper van with Just Married and balloons attached
The couple married in 2003. (PA/Alamy)

Solo cards were a type of debit card often used by teenagers that required the bank to authorise all payments to make sure funds were available, as well as in some cases stopping payments for age-restricted items like alcohol and razors.

Kay continued: "I had a Solo card that kept getting rejected because I was absolutely skint. We were in our sixth or seventh date and she decided that if I'm paying for the sixth or seventh again, then it's time to have a word.

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"Thankfully, I had a bit of cash and I managed to pay for dinner. It was only a few weeks later that I was like, oh my gosh, she's amazing this woman. That's when I said I love you. I knew straight away."

What else happened on Loose Women and Men?

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 23: (L-R) Martin Kemp and Roman Kemp attend ITV Palooza! at The Royal Festival Hall on November 23, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Martin Kemp said he worried more about son Roman as a teen than his daughter. (Getty Images)

Kay and Martin Kemp also spoke about their parenting techniques, with the Spandau Ballet star sharing the lengths he went to in ensuring his son, radio and TV presenter Roman Kemp, didn't get into trouble as a teen.

Talking about Roman and his daughter Harley, Martin Kemp said: "I used to worry far more about Roman because boys have that thing of getting into fights. It made me worry a lot more, to the point where when he started going to house parties at about 16, 17, (wife) Shirley and I would drive them to the house party and instead of going back home we would wait there for four hours in the car with sandwiches."

Kay opened up on parenting his two daughters Amber and Phoebe, and how he had embraced living in a house full of women.

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He said: "When we had two daughters, my mind immediately went to my GCSE Spanish class. I was the only lad in a class of 26. I learned a lot as a young teenage boy from that group of girls.

"So when it came to me being a dad to my daughters, I thought you've got to be really open and brutally honest. So when it came to those tricky moments of periods and turning into a woman, they're actually joyful moments which you should celebrate."

Loose Women airs on ITV1 at 12.30pm on weekdays.

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