TV favourite Ben Shephard became emotional live on Mondayâs edition of This Morning as he reflected on his son Jackâs 19th birthday with rare comments about family life

Ben Shephard became emotional live on Mondayâs edition of This Morning(Image: ITV)
Ben Shephard became emotional on This Morning as he made rare comments about his wife and son. The TV star, 51, has been married to Annie Shephard since 2004 and the pair are parents to Sam, 21, as well as 19-year-old Jack.
Back in his usual slot as host of ITVâs flagship magazine show on Monday alongside co-host Cat Deeley, he was on the verge of tears as he opened up about Jackâs birthday over the weekend.
He said: âIt was Jackâs 19th birthday on Saturday. I know I donât look old enough!â When Cat asked how his wife was, Ben explained: âWell, I was thrilled to bits because he was down in Bristol with his brother so he wasnât anywhere near us.

Ben couldnât believe 19 years had passed since his youngest was born(Image: ITV)
âThey had a big party, but itâs that moment whereâŠa friend of ours messaged us saying that 19 years ago, Annie held Jack in her arms for the first time.
âIt was quite a moment, likeâŠâWow, heâs got so big so fast!ââ The Tipping Point host then quipped: âBut they werenât home, so it was brilliant, and the house was tidy! We had a very nice weekend.â
Towards the end of last week, Ben shocked his co-stars on This Morning by revealing that his family would often be naked around one another when his kids were growing up.He made the admission after Britainâs Got Talent judge Amanda Holden said that she once cooked a Sunday roast dinner while nude in front of her husband and teenage daughters.
Discussing Amandaâs confession on the ITV show, Ben said that he would do the same. When asked by Gyles Brandreth whether they would cook naked in the kitchen with their kids, co-host Cat said: âMy kitchen lighting isnât suitable for that. I need a much more low-level, maybe a candle on,â she said, laughing. Meanwhile, 51-year-old Ben said, âYeah â why not? Come on. Weâd have a laugh,â leaving Gyles open-mouthed.

Ben has occasionally shared family updates on social media
He added: We go cliff jumping together, itâs never been an issue. The boys are 20 and 18 now so weâre probably all a little bit more discreet but growing up, if people werenât naked over the weekend, we hadnât had a normal weekend!â Ben doesnât tend to say much about his family life but did reveal last year during an item about children flying the nest that he and his wife had found it hard when his eldest had moved to university.
He said: âWeâre struggling with this as well in our house. I think one of the things we do when Samâs gone back to uni is we organise to actually do something so theyâve gone, so weâll 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.â
Cat was on the same page, commenting on how the silence can stir up a sense of sadness, to which Ben replied, highlighting the stark contrast in the household: âItâs enormous Iâve got men living in my house and itâs really annoying they take up so much space and when theyâre gone the sofas are empty thereâs not as much mess.â
He went on to say: âSo we try and go out and do something together, reconnect and then try and come back and it doesnât seem quite so empty I think.â


