Mark Durden-Smith has revealed his children are not interested in his screen fame.
The 46-year-old TV presenter, who has fronted ITV’s This Morning, I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! Now! and Lorraine, has three children – twin sons Archie and Freddie, and daughter Rosie – with wife Rachel Morse.
“They couldn’t give a monkey’s. I don’t think they even know that I’m on the TV,” he said.
“I’ve got twin boys who are nine and a girl who’s eight. I do a lot of sports presenting at the moment so obviously I try to make them watch me on a Sunday night but they refuse, they couldn’t be less interested. It’s very upsetting.”
Mark, whose parents are travel presenter Judith Chalmers and sports commentator Neil Durden-Smith, said he and his sister Emma were not like them when he was growing up.
“We were much more respectful children so we did definitely sit down on a Monday night and watch Wish You Were Here when my mum was on and we definitely did sit down when my dad was commentating,” he said.
“In those days there were only about four channels, so I used to watch The Six Million Dollar Man on the other side if I could, but if my mum was around it was always Wish You Were Here.”
Mark, who hosts ITV’s new game show Freeze Out, said he is very proud of his parents.
“I’m very proud of my mum and dad actually – they’re both broadcasters so I’ve not tried to shake it off. You do your own thing, get your jobs on your own merit and that’s what you aim to do,” he said.
“They’re great my parents. They’re brilliant and I’m certainly not trying to shake them off. I’m very proud of what they’ve managed to achieve in their lives and they’re still doing great stuff.”
He added: “In a constructive way they are amazingly supportive. Many years on and I will 100 percent get advice from my mother. I will normally get a full review of anything I’ve done from my parents but usually it’s pretty positive, they’re more carrot than stick.”
Freeze Out begins on ITV at 5pm on August 3.
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