Angela Rippon's 'painful' end to marriage after heartbreak

Trailblazing journalist and former national newsreader Angela Rippon, at the age of 80, is proving to be unstoppable after she became the oldest contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2023.

Despite a life that exudes glamour, Angela has faced her share of sorrow, including her "painful" split from first love and husband.

In 1967, Angela, hailing from Plymouth, Devon, tied the knot with her teenage sweetheart, engineer Christopher Dare, after reportedly meeting him at a YMCA dance. Despite their idyllic life in a charming 17th-century Dartmoor cottage, the couple, who remained childless, saw their marriage dissolve in 1989 when Angela was 45.

Initially, Angela maintained a stoic facade, not disclosing their separation until over a year later, by which time Christopher had moved on with Judy, another divorcee.

At 60, Angela reflected on the "stressful" time during an interview with Modern and Mature, sharing: "I don't think it did because it wasn't an acrimonious split. It was a stress, of course it was. It was a very stressful period for all sorts of reasons.

My immediate feeling was, 'Oh God, I've failed at this'. But in fact, he and I are still good friends. I talk to him on the phone a couple of times a month.

We email each other. He lives in Spain now with his partner, with Judy. We exchange cards at birthdays and Christmas. Judy kind of updates me on what they're doing with their home down in Spain. It's a good relationship for all of us."

In a candid interview with Prima in March, cover star Angela opened up about her private life post-divorce, revealing she's had significant relationships but chose to keep them under wraps.

She shared: "I was married for 25 years and when we were parting, Christopher told me, 'I got fed up of people coming to our house all the time'. It made me realise that when you do a job that's public-facing, you have to respect the privacy of your partner. Hardly anybody beyond my very close circle of friends would know who my partners have been over the past several years."

Despite finding love again, Angela hasn't felt compelled to remarry, preferring to shield herself from potential heartache.

In a heartfelt admission to Mail Online in 2015, she confessed: "I've discovered I'm very happy being single. I suppose, if I'm honest, when your heart is broken it's painful and I don't want to go there again."

While Angela had initially wanted to adopt during her marriage, a desire not shared by Christopher, she is now content with how life has unfolded.

She has previously expressed feeling "blessed" with three godchildren, who she considers as her "surrogate family".

In a conversation with Modern and Mature, Angela revealed: "I've had young people around me. I was there when they were babies and I've seen them grow up so I feel as if I've got a kind of surrogate family.

So much so that we were talking, a couple of years ago, about growing old. I said, 'Don't worry, darlings, when I grow old I shall look after myself'. And my godchildren who were there said: 'That's all right, Auntie Ang, we've already decided, we'll take care of you'."