BBC star Gary Lineker went from being a professional footballer to one of the most popular pundits on telly, but what is life like for the star when the cameras aren’t rolling?
The Match of the Day host has been married twice, sharing four children with his wife from his first marriage of 20 years.
It seems this marriage didn’t come without his problems, as his wife Michelle Cockayne described how it had negatively affected her mental state at the time.
The former professional football player then went on to get married for a second time to an actress and model 20 years his junior, with whom he still appears to have a surprisingly close relationship.
As Gary turns 63 years old today, Express.co.uk takes a closer look at the star’s interesting love life.
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Gary and his first wife Michelle Cockayne reportedly met as teenagers, going on to marry when the young footballer was 26 years old in 1986.
The pair share four grown-up sons together: George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus.
While their marriage appeared rock solid from the outside, the pair ended up divorcing 20 years later in 2006.
At the time, it was announced that Michelle was divorcing Gary on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour”.
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She went on to claim that Gary’s actions during their time together had caused her “stress and anxiety.”
One year after his divorce, in 2007 Gary began dating Danielle Bux – a model and actress 20 years his junior.
The pair hit it off after being set up on a blind date and went on to tie the knot two years later in a lavish Italian ceremony.
However, the relationship wasn’t to last, as they announced their divorce in 2016 and parted ways amicably.
The pair were granted a decree nisi at the end of their seven-year marriage and appear to have remained good friends.
Gary told the Mirror in 2019: “Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time.
“When she comes to London she stays with me, and when I go to LA I see her.”
In an interview with The Times, he also hinted that their different preferences when it came to having children had been a factor in their split.
He told the paper at the time: “Obviously I would have done, but she said, ‘It’s not fair on you.’ Then I said, ‘Well, I’d feel terrible if I stop you doing it.'”
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