BBC star Clive Myrie addresses ‘spending time alone’ in rare marriage insight

Mastermind host Clive Myrie has opened up about the secret of his successful marriage to his wife Catherine.

The BBC star rarely speaks about his upholsterer spouse of 25 years and it is unknown if the couple have any children.

However, he recently revealed his secrets for a successful union citing “separate bathrooms” and “time alone” as key.

“In the words of Michael Caine, separate bathrooms make a marriage,” he said.

“Figuratively speaking, at least. Having a space that’s your own; spending time alone, to bond when reunited.

“My wife, Catherine, has her own interests. I do, too. We celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, and each still have our own identities,” he intimated in an interview with The Guardian.

The Lancashire-born presenter, who will host the opening night of the Proms tonight, credited Catherine with giving him the “courage and space to pursue his dreams”.

“I met Catherine, who then worked in publishing, at the 1992 London launch of a book about Swiss cheeses.

“Even though I don’t much like cheese! It was love at first sight for me,” he said.

They married at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Covent Garden right after he was promoted at work.

“I’d just been made the BBC’s LA correspondent, so after returning to the UK for our big day, we flew back to the States before honeymooning on Venezuela’s Maracaibo coast,” he recalled.

Earlier this year he told Express.co.uk that Catherine was originally due to join him on his travel show, Clive Myrie’s Italian Road Trip, but had to pull out as the couple had builders in at home.

“That was part of the plan, possibly to be on camera but possibly not. She’s actually quite a reserved, shy person, unlike her husband,” he admitted.

“But…we have been waiting for these builders for a long time, and my wife is quite particular, so not this time.

“It’s a special place for us as a couple, we go every year with a bunch of friends and have fun and I went there for my 40th birthday, which was absolutely wonderful, we were on the Amalfi Coast.

“It’s a place that’s special to both of us.” Throughout the trip, he would get locals to take photos and videos of him to send to his wife back home.

On why he thought of the sweet gesture, he said: “I was trying to build her into it a little bit by sending pictures as it’s a place we both know so well.”