MARTIN Lewis is Britain’s most recognisable finance expert – but fans might know less about his rarely-seen wife.
Lara Lewington, 44, who’s been married to the MoneySavingExpert for 14 years, is a technology journalist and leading commentator on artificial intelligence.
Little is known about the famously private couple, who are believed to have started dating around 2005, apart from social media posts professing their love.
Last week, Martin shared a rare snap of them from 2009 and quipped: “How kind I’ve been to age 28 years during that time so that my wife can look exactly the same.”
The Instagram post was filled with comments labelling Lara as “stunning” and left many eager to find out more about his famous other half, who presents on the BBC.
Here we reveal how she went from humble beginnings working in a Bognor Regis sweetshop to having a brief stint as a lingerie model stint before bagging big TV jobs.
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'Fell in love with making TV'
Lara, who was born in Chichester, West Sussex, had aspirations to become a TV presenter and journalist from a young age.
But her first paid job was at 14 working at her father’s sweetshop, the Olde Bognor Rock Shoppe, on the Bognor Regis pier.
Health fanatic Lara, who calls herself a "gym junkie", revealed in an Instagram post that the gig “conveniently or inevitably” meant that she “never liked sweets”.
Later, after her family’s move to Surrey, she attended independent Surbiton High School and was noted as being a talented musician who could read music.
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9Aged 19, while studying at St Mary’s University in Twickenham, South London, Lara bagged her first job as a TV runner for Channel 5 show It’s A Knockout.
In a throwback Instagram post, she revealed she “looked after the lovely later Cheggers”, real name Keith Chegwin, who she described as having “the world’s biggest laugh”.
Lara, who also took care of boxing legend Frank Bruno and was tasked with “running around dressed as chicken”, described the job as “the moment I fell in love with making TV”.
In 2003, she joined Five News as a weather presenter and went on to become a showbiz correspondent during her six years on the show, before moving to Sky News.
Modelling gigs
Away from TV, the fledgling star was proving herself to be the full package after posing for lingerie shoots in her early 20s, back in 2004.
Lara modelled the racy gear several times for snaps including one where she stood tall and tanned in barely-there knickers and another in red matching underwear.
It seemed a surprising move for the star, who away from her TV career typically shunned the spotlight and favoured clean living over all-night benders.
Lara’s humble nature was revealed in her response to a 2008 Q&A with the Independent, when she was asked to describe “the most surprising thing that happened to me”.
To which, Lara responded: “That would probably be if someone turns out to be genuinely interested in what I have to say in this interview!”
In the chat, she said people mistakenly assumed she was “constantly out, living a wild lifestyle” due to her job interviewing celebrities.
Instead, she preferred being at “home cooking dinner and not being very sociable” and admitted she was “really very boring” because she loved an early night.
Much akin to her future husband, Lara believed that children should be taught “useful” things at school like “how to fill in a tax return" and other practical skills including "how to cook [and] how to write a plug”.
Moped dates
It’s believed that Lara and Martin met around 2005 – before his website MoneySavingExpert soared in popularity.
The couple have kept much of their romantic lives private but in a 2020 episode of Desert Island Discs, Martin revealed details about their early dates.
He explained that they would hire a motorbike while on holidays and croon along to Franki Valli and The Four Seasons’ hit Can’t Take Me Eyes Off You.
Martin told the podcast: “We'd sit there and we'd sing this song in the sun, on the back of a moped.”
The track was used for their first dance when they tied the knot in 2009, which they kept as a private affair instead of capitalising on with a magazine photoshoot.
Lucrative deals
Lara, who’s nicknamed ‘Mrs MSE (Money Saving Expert)’, was reportedly pivotal in helping Martin land his eponymous TV show where he shares finance tips.
For Martin, his website MoneySavingExpert.com became hugely successful at around the same time that Lara landed a number of TV appearances.
They included going on the ITV sketch show The Impressionable Jon Culshaw, the game show Win, Lose Or Draw and current affairs programme Newsnight.
Lara later appeared on Big Brother’s Big Mouth, The Weakest Link and Let’s Dance For Sports Relief.
She also made a surprising cameo in 2006 film Superman Returns, starring as a weather presenter, who is seen in the background of the Daily Planet newsroom.
In 2011, Lara landed her career-defining gig on the BBC tech show Click.
She initially started as a reporter before becoming a presenter seven years later – a role she continues to this day alongside Spencer Kelly.
Meanwhile, Martin continued to land TV gigs including stints his own show and Good Morning Britain.
He also landed book deals as part of his MoneySavingExpert website, which he sold for a whopping £87million in 2012 but remained editor-in-chief.
Later that year, Lara gave birth to their daughter Sapphire Susan, now 10 years old, who is their only child.
'Gold digger' snub
Amusingly, Martin revealed it’s actually his wife who is the most frugal of them both and often she has to stop him from overspending.
He told The Sunday Times that he was determined to buy his daughter “everything she needs, but not everything she wants” when she was first born but soon he crumbled.
Martin, who dubbed Sapphie ‘mini MSE’, said: “Unfortunately, I didn't factor in her special power – those eyes.”
He admitted being “helpless” to her charms and would “usually resort” to saying “Ask mummy” because he believed she was “stronger” than him and more likely to say no.
Martin added: “We don't splurge on her, but one of my greatest joys is making her happy.”
In recent months, Lara’s tech knowledge has led to her becoming a leading voice on AI.
In February, after she shared news about her Radio 4 documentary about AI, Martin made a cheeky joke at her expense.
He tweeted: "Ooh. Get you doing a Radio 4 documentary. It's almost like that ethics of AI course you did two years ago is paying off. PS. Very proud of you."
Online, Lara has 38,000 Instagram followers and 4,800 on TikTok. She seldomly posts about her husband, instead sharing stories that she's working on about emerging tech.
Lara’s career stands for itself, yet she hasn’t been immune to criticism from Martin’s fans, including once after she appeared on his show in April 2020.
After it aired, one fan tweeted: “#MartinLewis What first attracted you to the millionaire Martin Lewis… comes to mind…”
They referred to the TV star’s net worth – reported at £123million in the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List – after making a fortune from his MoneySavingExpert website.
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But Martin was quick to respond: “I know you think it's a joke, but actually it's offensive both to me and my wife – you're accusing her of being a gold digger.
“We've been together for 15 [years], since way before MSE was out big (sic). And the mutual support and love we give each other is part of where we both are now.”
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