Ben and Cat host together on This Morning (Image: ITV)
‘s , usually reticent about his family life, divulged details of his personal “struggles” following a viewer’s touching story.
On the episode for Wednesday (February 5), 50 year old Ben joined forces with co-host Cat Deeley, 48, and an expert to pore over new research from University College London (UCL) which uncovered that “people are happier in the morning”, showcasing the stark difference between morning elation and evening melancholy.
Before going live, Ben and his ITV colleague called upon the audience to voice what affects their sense of happiness. Moved by a viewer’s confession of feeling “loneliness” post her children flying the coop, Ben resonated with it deeply.
He identified with the emotion, opening up: “We’re struggling with this as well in our house,” and mentioned that his son, Sam, had recently embarked on his university journey.
As Nicole reached out for advice on finding joy with her newly empty home, Ben found a connection with her situation and felt compelled to share his own story, reports .
Ben Shephard and his wife Annie have been happily married for 20 years (Image: Ben Shephard Instagram)
Away from the screen, Ben is wed to Annie; they tied the knot in 2004, having first fallen for each other in 1994, according to Wales Online.
Their union was sealed ten years later during an intimate ceremony in Devon. The Shephard family grew with the birth of their eldest child, Sam, and expanded further when Jack came into their world in 2007.
As Sam nears 20 and Jack hits 18, father Ben is navigating the ongoing parental transitions. He imparted some heartfelt advice to Nicole, who sought his counsel.
Reflecting on his journey with Annie as their son Sam ventured off to university, Ben shared his coping strategies for the quieter home: “I think one of the things we do when Sam’s gone back to university is we organise to actually do something so they’ve gone, so we’ll go out for a walk or go out for a drink or go out for dinner and we will distract from the fact the house is suddenly quiet.”
Cat resonated with the heightened awareness of silence, remarking, “It’s the quiet that makes you feel melancholic,” Ben added his thoughts on the adjustment to an emptier household: “It’s enormous I’ve got men living in my house and it’s really annoying they take up so much space and when they’re gone the sofas are empty there’s not as much mess.”
Offering a final piece of advice to Nicole, Ben suggested: “So we try and go out and do something together, reconnect and then try and come back and it doesn’t seem quite so empty I think.”