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Nigel Farage egged in street as wife reveals couple have been living 'separate lives for years'

Nigel Farage was forced to dodge a flying egg on Monday as his wife revealed the couple have been living "separate lives for some years".

The former Ukip leader had been forced to deny claims he is having an affair with a French politician 15 years his junior.

Later in the day, the MEP was pelted by a youth as he arrived at a public meeting in Stoke-On-Trent with Ukip leader Paul Nuttall.

Speaking on his LBC Radio show, Mr Farage admitted his marriage is going through "ups and downs" as he broke his silence over speculation about his private life.

His wife Kirsten Farage revealed they have been living "separate lives" for some years after unconfirmed press reports that her husband was sharing a house in London with a female French politician.

German-born Ms Farage said the former Ukip leader had moved out of the family home in Kent "a while ago".

Mr Farage said he had been aware of recent press coverage about "a few personal difficulties that I've had with my marriage and my family and my relationships".

He said: "All of us in our lives go through ups and downs and I regret the down that I am in at the moment.

"But I make this plea, particularly to the media - please leave my wife and children alone. Don't hassle them, don't intimidate them. They don't deserve it and it's simply not fair."

His wife's announcement came in the wake of revelations that Laure Ferrari, a 37-year-old former waitress, has been sharing the weekday home of Mr Farage, 52, in London's Chelsea.

She was photographed on Friday morning putting out the bins at the three-storey rented Georgian property shortly after Mr Farage left in his chauffeur-driven Land Rover.

Mr Farage has dismissed as "crackers" suggestions that he is having an affair with Ms Ferrari, the executive director of a think-tank.

On Sunday, Mr Farage was photographed returning to his family home near Biggin Hill - before Mrs Farage was seen leaving the property without her wedding ring.

Contacted on Monday, Mr Farage declined to make any response to his German-born wife's later comments.

The couple married in 1999, after Mr Farage's divorce from his first wife, and have two daughters.

In a statement, Mrs Farage said: "My husband and I have lived separate lives for some years and he moved out of the family home a while ago.

"This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved."

The Mail on Sunday reported at the weekend that Ms Ferrari - who runs the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE) - has been living in the ex-Ukip leader's London house for the past week.

Mr Farage told the newspaper that he was helping her out because she needed accommodation and had nowhere else to stay.

"She is someone I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn't cost her any money. It's a working relationship," he was quoted as saying.

The Mail on Sunday said that Mr Farage had told its reporters last month that he spent most week nights at a "bachelor pad" and denied that he had split from his wife.

He said that he and Ms Ferrari have a "working relationship" and dismissed any suggestion of an affair as "ludicrous".

Asked by reporters on Sunday if he wanted to comment further, he said: "I've said what I've said."

Ms Ferrari heads a think tank at the centre of an investigation into the alleged misspending of European Union funding of Ukip, according to reports.

The Electoral Commission has opened an investigation into whether Ukip accepted £400,000 in "impermissible donations" from the IDDE and another political alliance in the run-up to the general election and the Brexit referendum. 

The claims have been strongly contested by Ukip and Mr Farage has said the party is "fighting it very hard."

You are putting two and two together, but it is not as simple as that. I cannot stop people from fantasising

Laure Ferrari

The European Parliament had advised the Commission that "it has formally concluded that the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE) and IDDE used EU grant funding for the benefit of Ukip in breach of its rules and, therefore, these expenses were declared as non-eligible for the financing".

Ms Ferrari first became involved in politics as a result of a chance meeting with Mr Farage ten years ago, while she was working as a waitress in Strasbourg.

On Saturday night, she insisted she had been forced to move out of her own flat after the European Parliament stopped the IDDE's funding. 

"I have no trustworthy friends in London who could have hosted me," she told the Mail on Sunday. "I asked and he accepted. He is just trying to be helpful."

Asked by the newspaper if he was having an affair with Ms Ferrari, Mr Farage said he was not prepared to answer "ludicrous questions".

He said: "She is someone I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn't cost her any money. It's a working relationship."

Ms Ferrari said: "You are putting two and two together, but it is not as simple as that. I cannot stop people from fantasising. 

"I am not pleased to be in this situation and I am so sorry it is bringing awful things on Nigel's life and on my life."

Profile | Kirsten Farage

The pair met in 2007, when Mr Farage was dining with his friend Godfrey Bloom, then also a Ukip MEP. 

"I met these two MEPs and we started talking about politics," she said later. "The two Brits have no hierarchy and neither of them comes from a political background."

Within months, Ms Ferrari was made head of public relations for the British delegation to the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, which was led by Ukip. 

"Everyone says that I am Nigel Farage's parliamentary assistant, but this is not true," she told the EurActiv news website in 2014. 

"I was head of public relations." In March 2015, she was appointed executive director for ADDE's think tank, the IDDE.

Mrs Farage has worked as his parliamentary secretary and the couple met on a business trip to Frankfurt.

He has always made an effort to keep his wife and four children from the public eye.

Kirsten farage interview