Kirstie Allsopp and Ben Andersen have tied the knot after more than two decades together (Picture: Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)
Kirstie Allsopp has married her new husband and father of her children Ben Andersen in a ‘lowkey’ ceremony.
The couple held their wedding at Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair on Thursday, where Keira Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s characters famously said ‘I do’ in Love Actually.
The Location Location Location presenter revealed their ceremony was so secretive their guests were unaware they were tying the knot until just three days before and believed they were celebrating Ben’s 64th birthday.
Around 70 people watched Kirstie, 53, walk up the aisle in a gold Oscar De La Rentra dress but her Channel 4 co-star Phil Spencer, 55, was unable to attend due to the last-minute invite.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘We had with us a small group of close friends and family who only heard about the wedding on Monday.
‘We already had a big party planned to mark Ben’s birthday, so most of our guests thought that’s what they were coming to celebrate, and we did just that, with lots of food, drink, and dancing and all my nephews and nieces running around, having a ball.’
The couple married in a ‘low key and elegant’ ceremony in central London (Picture: Jabpromotions/REX/Shutterstock)
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The 40-minute service included The Beatles’ hit All You Need Is Love in another nod to the Richard Curtis film and the hymn I Vow To Thee, My Country.
The venue also held a special significance to Kirstie’s family as it was where her father former Christie’s chairman Charles Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip’s funeral was held last year.
Kirstie appears to have had a U-turn on the idea of marriage as in 2020 she said she enjoys being a ‘middle-aged girlfriend’ and had no desire to become a wife.
The TV presenter explained at the time that she wanted to avoid the costs and struggles of planning the perfect wedding to property tycoon Ben.
Guests had believed they were attending Ben’s birthday until days before the wedding (Picture: Alan Davidson/Silverhub/REX/Shutterstock)
Kirstie and Ben married at a venture used in a Richard Curtis film (Picture: Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)
Writing for Daily Mail, Kirstie said ‘I am at a loss when people question not being married, as if by not getting married you are somehow dismissing the choice they have made.
‘Each to their own is my feeling. I’ve been with my partner for 16 years and have two children and two stepchildren and, like many of my friends, we are very happily unmarried.’
She continued: ‘I have no problem being a middle-aged girlfriend with an even older middle-aged boyfriend. And I have learnt from the very best, as we live next door to the most famous happily unmarried couple — Richard Curtis and Emma Freud.’
Kirstie and Ben first met at a party in 2004 before welcoming two sons together; with Bay, 18, and Oscar, 16.
Kirstie is also stepmother to Ben’s sons from his previous marriage
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