Vernon Kay opened up about his relationship with wife Tess Daly on Thursday’s Loose Women, revealing when he first told his partner, who he married in 2003, he first loved her

Vernon Kay made a surprise admission about the start of his relationship with Tess Daly on Thursday’s Loose Women.

During the latest instalment, Vernon, 50, sat on the panel with Martin Kemp, Judi Love and Denise Welch in a Loose Women vs Loose Men crossover.

One of the topics on Thursday was “when did you tell your partner ‘I love you'” to which Vernon, who married Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly in 2003, said: “I’ll be honest with you, it was early on!”

Vernon added he was around 25 and trying to be a model, recalling: “We met at a BBC Christmas party!”, adding: “We hit it off straight away. I had a bit of an issue, financially, at the start of our relationship.

“I had, remember switch cards? Well, the one below that, was the solo card. I had a solo card that kept getting rejected as I was skint, I was absolutely skint as London’s expensive.

Vernon Kay made a surprise admission about the start of his relationship with Tess Daly on Thursday’s Loose Women ( 
Image:
ITV)
“I was a bit younger and I think we were on our sixth or seventh date, she had decided: ‘Right, if this one, if I’m paying for the sixth or seventh again then I think it’s time to kind of have a word…’

“Thankfully, I had a bit of cash and I managed to pay for dinner. It was only a few weeks later, I was like: ‘Oh my God, she’s amazing this woman’ and that’s when I said I love you. I knew straight away.”

Taking to Twitter, now X, viewers were quick to praise the panel shake-up on Thursday with Vernon and Martin. One person said: “LOVE this line up today #Loosewomen” while a different viewer said: “#LooseWomen love vernon and martin.”

It comes after Tess gave a rare insight into their home life earlier this year. The TV stars share daughters Phoebe, 19, and Amber, 14, and as you would expect, a house with teenagers is never easy all the time.

Tess spoke to OK! Magazine about what goes on in their Buckinghamshire mansion and praised Vernon as a brilliant dad, saying he’s the strict one when it comes to their kids.

Vernon married Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly in 2003“As a mum, I just want to be as present as I can be. I pride myself on that,” Tess told OK! “Teenagers don’t always want to talk to you, but even if you’re just physically there in the room with them… I’ll plonk myself there quietly in the corner. You’ve got two little people who have become young adults. It’s amazing and constantly rewarding. I love being a mum – it’s my most important job.”

She went on: “Vernon is a great dad – he loves them to bits. I don’t know if there’s a good cop, bad cop, but maybe he’s a little stricter sometimes. But it’s for the greater good and we’re a good team. I’m proud of how down to earth they are. That’s what you want – kids who are kind and who have a good work ethic and respect people. You just try to mould good humans.”