Clare Balding and her wife smiling

The pair met in the late 1990s

Clare Balding previously opened up about the struggles she’s faced with her wife Alex Arnold.

TV favourite Clare – who hosts Trooping the Colour this weekend (June 14) – and journalist Alice have been together for more than two decades.

However, it hasn’t always been easy for the showbiz couple – as at the very start of their romance, Clare “struggled”.

Clare Balding and wife Alice
The pair have been married for decades (Credit: SplashNews.com)

Clare Balding and wife Alice

Speaking in 2018, Clare opened up about her relationship with Alice – and the early days of their romance.

Clare met Alice Arnold in 1999 at work, when the latter was a BBC Radio 4 announcer and newsreader. At first, the pair were good friends, but things progressed into something more, and they got together in 2002.

“We were very much friends at first and didn’t get together until the autumn of 2002. Alice had always been ‘out’ but I wasn’t and really struggled with it,” Clare told Country Town & House.

Clare Balding and wife Alice
The TV star previously opened up about her ‘struggle’ (Credit: SplashNews.com)

‘It’s still difficult’

Clare went on to explain: “The environment was very different back then – I felt ashamed because I was hiding something from my family and colleagues at work. When I finally decided to tell people about my sexuality it was a huge relief. I was happy, comfortable and not constantly worried about being found out.”

However, many years on and Clare recognised that things are still tough for young people who are gay. She said: “It’s still difficult for young people today because you rarely get that ‘how wonderful’ response from your family.”

Clare Balding’s marriage to Alice

Back in 2006, before gay marriage was legalised in the UK, Clare and Alice entered into a civil partnership. The happy couple celebrated with friends and family in an 18th-century Palladian villa in Chiswick.

Nine years later and in April 2015, Clare and Alice married in a private ceremony at the same venue. Speaking about her marriage Clare told previously said: “It’s about equality.”

She continued on The Jonathan Ross Show: “It’s just about knowing that you can and knowing that you can say: ‘I’m married’ and nobody’s going to think that’s married in inverted commas, no that, actually married. I think it’s great.”