In the spotlight Holly Willoughby

The star opens up about her relationship with husband Dan and explains why she sometimes ‘needs space’ after marital rows...

Three healthy children, a high-flying telly career and her enviable good looks – it’s little wonder Holly willoughby is often dubbed TV’S Golden Girl. But recently the star has offered a rare insight into her private world, by revealing it’s not always as rosy as it seems.

Opening up about her 10-year marriage to producer Dan Baldwin, Holly has told how she’ll go to sleep on an argument, rather than following the advice that it’s best to resolve a row before bedtime.

The presenter went on to reveal that they have to work at their marriage – juggling high-profile media careers with family life – but she admitted this hasn’t always been easy to do.

Speaking on This Morning during a phone-in with viewers, Holly said, ‘Sometimes I need to have a more level head the following morning. I need to just calm down a bit. I just need that bit of space. Then I wake up in the morning and things don’t seem as bad. Sometimes you rationalise it a bit better in your own head, you’re not so emotional and quick to snipe and shout,’ she confessed about her rare marital spats. She went on to say, ‘You do have to work at it.’

Holly, 36, who is known for being guarded about her personal life, met Dan when he was her boss while working on kids’ TV show Ministry Of Mayhem. They married in 2007 and have children Harry, eight, Belle, six, and Chester, two.

But children can be testing and Holly explained they found it difficult to make time for each other when the children were young. ‘We’re at the stage where the kids are getting older now. But when they were young and, with working a lot, we found it really hard.’

Holly then let slip one of the secrets to their solid 10-year union by revealing the pair would have DIY date nights once the children were in bed. She explained, ‘Instead of going out on a date night, we’d just do it at home. So it would be like, ‘Everyone’s in bed,’ we’d lay the table and sit down together, even if we just had a glass of wine, we’d make sure we had space to do it.’

Well, who doesn’t love a cosy night in? All relationships have their up and downs, but it seems Holly and Dan know how to keep the romance alive.

‘When the kids Were young, it WAS hard’