Vernon Kay says meeting Tess Daly was 'life changer' as he recalls first kiss and secret to relationship

Vernon Kay has described meeting Tess Daly as a 'life changer' while recalling their kiss. The BBC Radio 2 host has also shared the secret to the couple's relationship after celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary last year.

Vernon and Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess tied the knot back in 2003 and have two daughters, Phoebe, 18, and Amber, 13. And while their relationship has faced challenges over the years, Vernon has now opened up on what makes his and Tess' marriage work with former Radio 1 star Annie Mac.

The Bolton-born presenter, 50, told how he and Tess, 55, are brave enough to speak openly about any problems in their relationship Speaking on the Changes podcast, he said, as per the Mirror: “Marriage is a rollercoaster, you have peaks and troughs and what I’ve learnt from the whole of that is that it’s really difficult to talk but it’s really easy to talk.

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"You’ve got to bite your lip and go, ‘I’m going to say this.’ Because there's always a swell of something that either you're feeling in your relationship or I'm feeling in my relationship and instead of letting it boil over, what we've learnt is bite your lip, say it. Put the kettle on, say it: 'I don't think we should be doing this, maybe we should be doing that, I'm feeling this...' Do you know what I mean?

"Communication is the most important thing in anything and particularly in a relationship, you've just got to say it, bite your lip. Don't go to the pub, bite your lip and say it."

Asked by host Annie if the secret to longevity was learning to communicate, Vernon replied: "I think being able to talk is, yeah. Being able to talk is. And then understanding that you're still, even as you're going through the years or decades, you're still changing, you're still evolving as a person, you know, so you might not necessarily be the person that the other person married or you're changing. So it's that evolution that you need to coincide with your partner and that can only be done through communication."

Vernon also told how he vividly remembers his and Tess' first kiss in Fabric nightclub in London. He said: "I think meeting Tess was a really good life changer because prior to that I hadn’t really met a woman. Tess had just come off the back of her modelling career and was independent and she just opened my eyes to a whole new world, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is unbelievable.’ I knew right away.

"We met at the BBC Music and Entertainment Christmas party. We’d been working together briefly and we knew this was the night where he fancies you and she kind of likes you type thing and then we went to Fabric and we snogged on the balcony of Fabric, that was our first kiss. I’m quite pleased with that. Then we stayed on the phone for ages afterwards and then we met the following day and that was it then. We got married in 2003 and Phoebe was born in 2004."

And while both have high profile jobs, Vernon shared what he thinks is another key to their long-standing relationship. He said: "Keep it private and precious, I think that's the key. There's no value on privacy, it's priceless because it's very difficult to maintain."