Those who have a passion for property TV and renovation shows will be more than familiar with Geordie man, George Clarke.
The architect has featured as an almost permanent fixture on our screens since he first hosted Channel 5's Build A New House In The Country in 2005.
He has since made appearances as presenter of Dream Home Abroad, The Restoration Man and The Great British Property Scandal, however the 47-year-old is best known for his own BAFTA nominated series 'George Clarke's Amazing Spaces', which sees him following the lives of people turning unconventional things, such as old boats, into places to live, with a particular focus on creative use of small spaces. The new episode airs on Friday, February 4 at 8pm on Channel 4.
Aside from his success on our screens however, George has had quite the interesting life off camera that fans have been extremely intrigued by.
Born in Washington, England in 1974, Clarke was struck by tragic circumstances when his father passed away when he was six years old. This heartbreak did however create a strong bond between him and his paternal and maternal grandfathers, both of whom were builders. Their relationship ignited within him an intrigue of architecture.
In 2014, he told the Evening Standard, "One of my most vivid early memories was of my granddad taking me to the Portakabin on a building site where there were 40 or 50 blokes having fry-ups and smoking cigarettes. Probably the most unhealthy place in the world but I loved it."
He then left school at 16, landing a job with a local firm of architects before completing a BTEC in Building and Construction. From there, he gained a place at the University of Newcastle to study Architecture and was then later awarded with a post-graduate diploma from London's Bartlett School of Architecture. On the side, he made extra money as a student by renovating people's homes, in turn providing him with a credible reputation.
In turns out that Clarke's move to television came about accidentally... He had approached a literary agent after being asked to write a book about architecture, not realising the agency also represented television presenters. The agent asked Clarke if he would screen test for a new Channel 5 show (which turned out to be Build A New Life in the Country), as the production team had been struggling to find a suitably charismatic building professional to front the show. Clarke was subsequently offered the presenting role, kicking off his on-screen career.
When it comes to his love life, the Sunderland lad has been relatively private when revealing the truth of his relationships, however it emerged in 2013 that he and his Spanish wife, Catriona, were getting divorced after 10 years of marriage. The pair, who had met whilst he was renovating her brother's house, had welcomed three children together during their relationship.
At the time, the architect explained, "We have been married quite a long time and decided to part. We have separate custody of the kids and are going through an amicable separation and divorce."
In 2018, he married his second wife, American fashion marketing and communications consultant Katie. The pair wed in an elaborate ceremony in Ibiza before moving in together to their London home in Notting Hill.
George has been putting his building knowledge to good use in recent months however, as he has now totally renovated his 1910 home, transforming the interior into a modern townhouse, whilst restoring the exterior to its original appearance. He has also been teaching his children a trick or two about home restoration along the way, telling viewers of ITV's Lorraine: "I've almost thrown them in at the deep end to be honest with you. I think the sooner you get your kids building and doing stuff, the better.
"I think the sooner you teach them the safer it is, getting them to learn how to use tools in a really safe way and hammers and power tools and stuff like that, the earlier they start the better.
"So they got to work on the garden shed which was fantastic."
Speaking about his adoration for London life recently, the TV star added: "It’s an amazing metropolis and one of the best human cities to live in. It’s not as difficult as New York, not as anonymous and mad as LA, not as intense as Tokyo, which is why so many people want to come here.
"There are beautiful parks, brilliant master planning, and it’s actually still quite a low-density city. Even though great buildings like the Shard have been built, there’s still a lot of room for London to get bigger, and I don’t mean spread, I mean go up."
A new episode of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces airs tonight at 8:00pm on Channel 4.
