The most inspiring celebrity quotes about marriage

Marriage is a pretty special thing. It can bring joy and comfort - but it's also not always easy. Forever is a long time, after all. Whether you've been together five years or fifty, every couple will face challenges. And if you're a celebrity? It's no different.

From Dame Julie Andrews who enjoyed a long marriage to director Blake Edwards up until his death in 2010, to Ben Fogle who credits seeing a marriage MOT counsellor to helping maintain a happy relationship with wife Marina, some of our favourite famous faces share their secrets to making marriage work...

Holly Willoughby

"Support is everything in mine and Dan’s relationship. He’s very solid ground; he is where I fall. And he knows when something is wrong – it makes me feel emotional even thinking about it. But of course he has weaknesses; we both do. The key is holding up each other’s strengths and not poking at each other’s weaknesses."

Fiona Shaw

"I’m married to a very unusual person, but maybe it took a very unusual person to be willing to marry me. Sonali’s children, parents and husband were all killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and I’m very cognisant of that. Its sorrow doesn’t dominate our life, but it definitely defines it."

Monica Galetti

"The secret to a happy marriage is patience... and honesty. My mum told me that if something’s bugging you, say it – don’t let it fester or it becomes a bigger problem. David often has no idea he’s wound me up, so that advice has served us well."

Hermione Norris

"There are people you have mad passionate affairs with and people who you marry. Marriage is finding somebody who you can raise a family with, grow old with and who you want to come home to. It sounds a bit of a passion killer, but it’s true! It’s hard raising a family so you need someone who you can trust to do it with."

Adrian Lester

"[Lolita and I] have been together for about 30 years. What’s the secret? There is no secret. We just get on, we always have done. We talk a lot and help each other out. We are each other’s sounding board for projects."

Kirsty Wark

"We have a diary or we would never see one another. We often see each other two nights a week, which is good because I think, ‘Oh, I’m going to see Alan tonight.’ You have to keep going out and doing things together."

Dame Julie Andrews

"Marriage is like a graph – it has its ups and downs and as long as things bounce back up again, you’ve got a good marriage. If it heads straight down, then you’ve got some problems!"

Emily Watson

"It’s been tough, but I think you have to evolve and change with the other person and, if you’re lucky, you both evolve and change in the same direction."

Prue Leith

"It’s a declaration to the world that you’ll hold each other’s hands for ever. I’m still amazed John was happy to marry me because he’s seven years younger than me, so he’ll likely be pushing me in my wheelchair one day!"

Emma Willis

"I still fancy [Matt] to bits and he makes me laugh. I suppose the best way I can describe it is that he is home to me. When I’m with him I feel like I’m home, wherever we are."

Gary Barlow

"When you work, you design a life that keeps you apart. So if you don’t share what you’ve been doing with the other person, and they don’t know what’s gone on with you, you become detached, like two separate entities. Dawn and I go out to dinner religiously every week and use it specifically as a way to go, 'What’s happening?' We call it 'downloading' the week."

Brenda Blethyn

"Being married does make a difference. It’s a comfort, almost like someone holding your hand. Everything’s exactly the same, we row the same as before and get on each other’s nerves, but there’s something very nice about it."

Dame Emma Thompson

"You’ve got to hold on through the bad bits, and if you get through to the other side it’s always better. I think people in long, happy marriages tell a lot of fibs, like, ‘Yes, it’s been marvellous,’ whereas I say, ‘No, sometimes it’s been awful.’ I hope it carries on, but we don’t know."

Ben Fogle

"The key is talking. For a while, Marina and I saw a marriage MOT counsellor to chat through any bubbling tensions we hadn’t felt comfortable talking to each other about. So many people let the animosity or annoyance build up, but we’ve always felt that if we can stop things before they become an issue, we might as well do it."

Jenny Agutter

"Marriage is constantly surprising to me. I have absolutely no idea why any two people should ever remain together for any length of time, because what you discover is your differences. Almost 30 years on, I’m no closer to understanding how Johan thinks, but that’s actually been our saviour in many ways."

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

"Something I’ve always put a lot of value on, and I think Richard does too, is to focus on everyday kindness. The big sweeping romantic gestures are lovely, but that’s not really how you live your lives most of the time."

Gabby Logan

"The secret is having fun and enjoying each other’s company, but there also has to be a mutual respect for what the other person is doing. You have to both feel like you’re growing at the same rate."

Phyllis Logan

"I think the secret to making it work is making sure you go away from each other every now and again. Kevin’s an actor, too, and people say, ‘How can you bear it that he’s away for a month for work?’ Well, I think there’s actually a lot to be said for not being in each other’s pockets the whole time. It keeps the spark alive because you’re so looking forward to having that grand reunion. And I have to be honest, it’s lovely having the bed to myself for a bit!"

Alex Jones

"Charlie and I still try to have date nights. Sometimes you need those couple of hours to reset. When you’ve had a week of little sleep, you can get into a rut, so having one night where you can chat again means you’re a bit fresher."

Jayne Torvill

"I’m not sure what the secret is, but I know that understanding each other – and helping each other – is very important. When you’re juggling the day-to-day stuff, things like romance sort of go out of the window, don’t they? And you start to realise that they’re not so important after all."

Nadiya Hussain

"It wasn’t about an emotional bond, my marriage, when it happened, but was very much about looking for and wanting a husband. We did not have an immediate connection. And it wasn’t luck that made it work; we worked at it and made sure it happened."

Lisa Faulkner

"John [Torode, who Lisa married in 2019] and I have always looked after each other, but it does feel different now; it feels like security. It makes me feel really warm inside."

Nicola Walker

"Marriage didn’t give me what it gives a lot of people – that idea that you’re more committed. I was already 100% in before we got to the wedding day. And we’d had a baby, for heaven’s sake. I think that pretty much puts your money on the table. That was the bigger one for me."

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