has spent over a decade at the helm of ‘s flagship weekend show . Outside of the show he has a very busy life.
His wife Ali is also a chef and very private. They met when they were both waiting tables, have been married since 1996 and have two children, Flo and Hamish. Simon has admitted in the past that “like most people we have our ups and we have our downs” and cites “communication” as key to their longevity.
“Communication is so important – to be open and honest with someone about your feelings is just so important. And we have managed to stay strong and committed throughout all of the things we have been through,” he has said in an interview with Mind Map in 2018. He continued: “On a personal level, I am very happy and fortunate to have the family I do. My wife is my rock and my partner in life and we have marvellous children who I am so proud of.”
Both Flo and Hamish have inherited their parents’ love of food and the 61-year-old , speaking to in 2023.
“We do kind of fight for the kitchen,” he revealed. “We’re in that ridiculous situation where I have to have four barbecues in my house. I’ve got one that smokes, I’ve got a gas one, I’ve got a traditional little kettle one, and then I’ve also got a small plug-in one that heats up really, really quickly.
:
Ali and Simon Rimmer first met when they were both waiting tables. (Image: Instagram)
“But we all cook and we’re a competitive family when it comes to the barbecue as well as things like who can make the best salads and who can do the best burger. Bearing in mind what I do for a living and I know that I’m actually the best out of all of them, but they all like to think that they know better than me.”
Flo’s love of cooking has gone so far that she and Simon teamed up for their own social media series, Flo and Simon Taste The World. The father-daughter duo test out culinary delights and whip up some recipes of their own in videos shared to and .
“We do a lot of cooking together and I quite like it because she comes up with things that I wouldn’t necessarily do,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of stuff that she has adapted from when she was a student and had no money, or claimed she had no money,” he quipped. She sort of adapts things and does these fakeaways which I really, really like. She’s good Flo, I think she’s got a good way with her, I really enjoyed working with her.”
In 2017 Ali and Simon celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary with a trip to Dublin. That same year Simon appeared on partnered with Karen Clifton. Ali supported him on the show and seemingly was not in the least worried about the “Strictly curse”.
At the time Simon told Huffington Post: “One of our friends said to her the other week, ‘Are you not worried about the Strictly curse?’ And she said, ‘Hold on. Let me get this straight. So you’re saying a really, really attractive, young, professional dancer is going to be attracted to my lumbering 54-year-old husband who can’t dance? No, I’m not worried. She said it without even a beat, not even a second, where there was that trepidation in her voice.”
Don’t miss… [WATCH] [EXCLUSIVE]
Flo and Simon Rimmer have presented online cookery shows together (Image: Instagram)
dancing a waltz to the iconic tune of You’ll Never Walk Alone in an emotionally charged performance. Simon witnessed the 1989 disaster when 96 lives were lost first hand, and still feels fortunate to have escaped with his life.
“It’s not only Liverpool’s theme tune before every game, but it’s got that association with Hillsborough. I was at Hillsborough that day and so it has an even more poignant meaning to me,” the reported. , which reduced judge Shirley Ballas to tears, saying “it wasn’t for votes”.
First and foremost Simon is a chef but last year he was sadly forced to shit the doors of his restaurant chain. In Janaury last year after 33 years. He founded the Greater Manchester eatery in partnership with Simon Connolly in the 90s. This was followed by the closure the Sale branch, which had only been operational since 2022, in September that year.
He told the : “It was heartbreaking. Just heartbreaking. [It was] my very first restaurant. I’ve grown up there. I’ve had kids there. I’ve grown from being a boy to a man, started a television career, bought my house off the back of it. Greens was the cornerstone of my life. To close it was definitely the hardest decision of all of my business life. And then, finding that we couldn’t sustain Sale and having to close the doors there, shutting both of them in the space of 12 months, has been heart-breaking.”
Despite the closure Simon still has a number of restaurants across the UK, including branches of Rudys in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, Liberty Tavern in Woolton Village Liverpool and Alberts Schloss in Manchester. Overall he has an estimated net worth of £1.2 million earned from his eateries, books and TV work.