Kirstie Allsopp prefers being a 'middle-aged girlfriend' to getting married

Kirstie Allsopp has shared that she has no interest in marrying her partner Ben Andersen just yet and is content with being a "middle-aged girlfriend".

The 48-year-old presenter said she is "happily unmarried" to Andersen, whom she has been in a relationship with for 16 years.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Allsopp explained: "I am at a loss when people question not being married, as if by not getting married you are somehow dismissing the choice they have made. Each to their own is my feeling.

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"I’ve been with my partner for 16 years and have two children and two stepchildren and, like many of my friends, we are very happily unmarried.

"I have no problem being a middle-aged girlfriend with an even older middle-aged boyfriend. And I have learnt from the very best, as we live next door to the most famous happily unmarried couple — Richard Curtis and Emma Freud."

Allsopp shares two sons with Andersen, Bay and Oscar, and is a step-parent to his two children from a previous relationship, Hal and Orion.

She went on to opine that the "rigamarole" of marriage has spun "completely out of control" in reference to the expectations when it comes to hen parties and weekend-long events.

Allsopp detailed that if she did one day decide to wed, it would be a "lowkey" affair.

Earlier this year, she also dished out some advice on Twitter in regard to having children and property buying.

She urged young people to buy cheaper houses and start having children “now” if it was something they could afford, warning that it "doesn't get easier" with time.