Alex Polizzi: ‘Marriage is tough’
Hotelier and TV presenter Alex Polizzi on marriage woes, indecent proposals and her secret career break...
In her role as TV’s Hotel Inspector,
Alex Polizzi rescues hapless hotel owners from ruin with her industry expertise.
Daughter of hotel designer Olga Polizzi and niece of hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, it was perhaps inevitable that Alex – who cut her teeth at Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental in her 20s, and then opened a restaurant for Marco Pierre White aged 26 - would excel in hospitality. And today, that honesty continues.
From the pressure of juggling a TV career with motherhood, to being a ‘bad’ wife to baker Marcus Miller, she divulges detail in spades. Alex, 45, who lives in south London with Marcus and their two children, Olga, eight, and Rocco, four, is a canny blend of fierce, funny and genial – a truly tough nut with a beautifully soft centre…
‘My husband is so far down the list, he barely appears on it!’
You’ve been on TV for eight years. Did you ever imagine that happening? Of course not, but I’m incredibly lucky. I don’t know how I thought I was going to combine my hospitality skills with having children – so the fact I’ve found something more conducive to that, I’m incredibly grateful for.
Are you proud to be flying the flag for female presenters in their 40s?
I always joke to the production company that I’m going to be replaced by somebody younger! Of course ageism makes me furious, but I hope that when that happens I’m not going to care, because I’ll just find something else really interesting to do.
Presumably you don’t plan too far ahead, then?
No, because you never know what’s going to happen. I’ve just taken six months off, which I’ve never done. I was away filming lots and thought, ‘My God, my children will be grown up in a minute! I’m missing so much of their time.’ Whenever I’ve tried to do it before, the production company has hinted darkly there might not be anything for me to come back to and this time I said, ‘I don’t give a f***.’ There are more important things than TV.
Were you tempted to not return to television?
I’m always tempted. I don’t feel I’m a particularly bad mother but I’m a very bad wife. My husband is so far down the list, he barely appears on it! By the time I’ve done the work as well as I possibly can, the children are obviously next – then I’m keeping the ball rolling with the house.
Is the secret to a brilliant marriage being understanding?
It’s the hardest thing ever, feeling aggrieved and reminding oneself the whole time that the other person is probably feeling just as aggrieved. It’s the most selfless act because you do it naturally for your children.
How do you keep romance alive?
Getting away from the children is key. My husband and I just spent two days in Munich and it’s romantic wherever we can actually be alone. Not having to think about cutting up someone else’s food or being constantly interrupted.
What do you and the family like to do together?
We’re quite old-fashioned in a way and love being outdoors – mucking about on the rocks, in the water, going for walks in the pouring rain. As long as I’ve got a picnic the kids will do anything!
What’s the best thing about your job?
I’m grateful for the fact that suddenly I’m a person and my opinion matters. I’m not just a provider. But I think that would be true of any job I did. I see the mothers at the school gates – obviously I don’t go out for coffee the whole time – but they support each other in the same way. Their job is childrearing – I just outsource that!
Has being straight-talking ever got you into trouble?
Loads, actually. If anything, I’m slightly less honest than I used to be. I used to be what might be called ‘ brutally honest’ and I’ve realised that isn’t a particularly clever thing.
Where do you think that comes from?
I never saw the point of trying to fool either myself or anyone else. You have to be tough to make your way in this world.
Your dad died in a car crash when you were nine. How did that affect you?
It made my mum quite fearful for us, so she was a pretty strict mother and tried to keep us very close to her. I became determined to be fearless and had to really fight to be allowed to go off backpacking to southeast Asia for the first time at 18. It was an argument that went on for months.
Have you had any crazy admirer approaches?
Less and less. That’s the thing about age! I get lots of fan mail but I used to get the naughty ones from a squaddie in the Army asking for sexy pictures. As if that’d happen now! l
The new series of The Hotel Inspector starts on Channel 5, Tuesday 27 June, 9pm