10 of the best Exmoor experiences: day trips, activities and places to stay
Exmoor's 37-mile stretch of coastline is one of the most undeveloped in England, with steep cliffs (at 1,044ft Great Hangman is the highest sea cliff in England) overlooking quiet fishing villages and long sweeps of beach. Broadsands – not to be confused with the beach of the same name in south Devon – is a hidden gem, lying 239 steps down from the South West Coast Path, between Watermouth and Combe Martin. It's also accessible by kayak from Combe Martin, but for those who do walk, the lovely outdoor terrace at the nearby Sawmills Freehouse is the perfect recovery spot after the climb back up.sawmillsfreehouse.co.uk
Rising 1,700ft above Exmoor's wooded valleys and rolling hills, Dunkery Beacon is the highest point in the national park, and at its loveliest in spring when wild flowers carpet the valley woodland. A circular walking trail runs from the car park at the Webber's Post lookout spot, with Bronze Age barrows dotted around the landscape and the chance of spotting red deer between the trees. The three-mile walk takes around an hour, with a stiff pull up on to the Beacon, worth it for the spectacular views. Afterwards, pop to Porlock for lunch or tea and cake at the Whortleberry Tearoom.whortleberry.co.uk
For an upmarket stay with a real sense of tranquillity, book into Locanda, tucked away in the sleepy seaside port of Porlock Weir, where the clutch of houses, galleries and cafés are set around a small, quaint harbour. The four bedrooms are furnished with carefully chosen brands, including House of Hackney fabrics and Aromatherapy Associates toiletries, while the restaurant, overseen by Pio, originally from Naples, offers a daily-changing set menu. This is a quietly sophisticated bolthole, run with real love, from the curated books, games and records, to the pot of Exmoor coffee, brewed fresh on arrival. Doubles from £200 B&B, locandaontheweir.co.uk
A 13th-century Norman castle converted into a lavish country house 600 years later, Dunster is one of Exmoor's most dramatic sights, set on a wooded hill, surrounded by terraced gardens filled with Mediterranean and subtropical plants. The castle charts 1,000 years of history, with artworks, a library, atmospheric attic rooms and a grand, central staircase, while outside a working watermill and natural play area are surrounded by 700 acres of parkland. Dip into Gatehouse Books to browse hundreds of secondhand titles, or settle in for homemade soup, sandwiches and cakes at the Watermill Tearoom.nationaltrust.org.uk
Food is a big part of a visit to Exmoor, with farms, bakeries, dairies and specialist producers scattered across the hilly heathland. A cream tea is a must, and the Withypool Tea Room – on the site of a former garage – is hard to beat, famed for its Withybig Scones, best taken at one of the outdoor tables, with the restored Shell petrol pumps gleaming in the background. Across the road, the Withypool Shop specialises in selling Exmoor foodie (and drink) treats, including locally produced tea, coffee, meats and preserves.withypoolexmoor.co.uk
Exmoor is famous for its red deer, but the moors are also home to Exmoor ponies, badgers, stoats and weasles, and more than 275 species of birds, including kestrels, buzzards and grey herons. Red Stag Safaris offers wildlife safaris in the company of an Exmoor guide who knows where the animals are most likely to be found. The morning safaris begin at 9.30am, afternoons at 2pm, with a maximum of six people a day. The tour lasts around two and a half hours. £75pp, book on 01643 841831, redstagsafari.co.uk
No holiday on Exmoor is complete without a visit to Tarr Steps, an ancient 'clapper' bridge across the River Barle, which still divides historians as to whether it was originally constructed in the medieval period, or actually as long ago as 1,000 BC. The longest bridge of its kind in Britain, the steps are surrounded by oak woodland and meadows that offer delightful walks, while Winsford Hill is home to wild ponies and a collection of 'wambarrows' – ancient burial mounds. Post-walk, settle in at the 16th-century Tarr Farm Inn, where new spring menus offer the best local produce.tarrfarm.co.uk
For those on a budget, the Rockford Inn, hidden away in the remote Brendon valley, offers the chance to experience Exmoor at its wildest and most traditional. Built in the 17th century, the Rockford is an ideal base for walkers, with a lattice of footpaths running through the surrounding woodland and gorges, and along the banks of the East Lyn river, which flows directly past the pub. Dinners of Exmoor beef burgers or honey-glazed ham and eggs are perfect post-walk fuel, while the seven rooms are simply furnished but perfectly comfortable. Doubles from £95 B&B, therockfordinn.co.uk
Ideal for families, the 530-acre site surrounding Wimblehall is packed with activities, from archery and fishing to walking and cycling trails, including the nine-mile Lakeside Round hike, around the full perimeter of Wimbleball. Cycle routes mostly follow bridleways and quiet country lanes, while the calm, flat water makes paddleboarding, kayaking and sailing easy for everyone from beginners to serious watersports fans.swlakestrust.org.uk/wimbleball-lake
One of Exmoor's most picturesque market towns, Dulverton has more than 30 independent shops, offering everything from antiques to handmade jewellery at Browns of Dulverton and paintings by local and national artists at the Barle Gallery. Pick up goodies for a picnic at the Exmoor Deli, browse the vintage and retro finds at Mother's Attic and dip into two floors of books at Rothwell & Dunworth, before discovering more about the town at the Heritage Centre. Afterwards, pop into Tantivy – part tea room, part shop, stocked with local books, maps, stationery and Exmoor produce. visitdulverton.com
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Sardinia has the best of Italy. These are its loveliest hotels
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And since most people stick to the beach, they're often all yours. One piece of advice: don't ignore the mountainous inland. This is where you'll find the real Sardinia — where the cannonau vines and clean air keep centenarians healthy, where you can hike from mountain to megalith, and where old traditions endure (the pagan-rooted carnival celebrations are the trip of a lifetime). Drag yourself off the beach and you'll find the best of Italy here. This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue It's a match made in heaven: Italy's ritziest coastline and one of the world's most luxurious hotel brands. Tucked into a fold of the Porto Cervo coastline (perhaps the very poshest bit of the Costa Smeralda), the 1965-built Romazzino has a celebrated past — Princess Margaret, Grace Kelly and half the Beatles have passed through its doors — but was brought up to date with an overhaul in 2024. Not that it's had a complete facelift; there's still a retro feel to the rooms, with colourful tiles and unadorned wood furniture. Four yawning hectares of gardens distract from the sea views, interiors match the outside with granite and wood materials, and sinuous curves provide privacy away from your fellow guests. Don't miss the simple grill-on-the-sand restaurant, Éntu e B&B doubles from £1,068. Fly to Olbia The Costa Smeralda doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Just like its glitzier cousins, this four-star sits right on the waterfront with the kind of vistas for which other Costa Smeralda hotels charge thousands. The difference? Fewer creature comforts. There's no pool, for starters, but then you don't exactly need one — the beach is right outside and the clear water is perfect for swimming and snorkelling. All 100 rooms are beach-perfect: bright, summery spaces with sea-blue tiled floors, white furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows — even in the entry-level options (though it's well worth splurging for a sea view). The sandy Cala Battistoni beach is a five-minute walk Seven nights' B&B from £789pp, including flights and car hire ( This discreet four-star keeps things tranquil on the chichi Costa Smeralda. Instead of a prime beachfront location, it's set a little back with the forested Monti Corru mountain rearing up behind. That said, you still get views of the sea and the Maddalena archipelago from just about everywhere. There's an Instagrammable feel to the rooms — all cork-panelled walls, earthy drapes and pops of sea and sun in the colourful fabrics — and even the entry-level contenders have their own independent entrance, ramping up the intimacy. You'll also find a strong emphasis on wellness, from yoga in the garden to sound Three nights' B&B from £978pp, including flights and car hire or transfers ( The clue's in the nature-centric name. This 75-room hotel sprawls in 40 acres of landscaped grounds, including those pines, and opens out on to no fewer than four secluded coves in front of the Maddalena archipelago. If you prefer nurture, there are two pools, an 800 sq m spa, tennis, padel and basketball courts, plus water sports galore. Rooms are categorised according to their location: 'Gardens' are immersed in greenery, 'Lagunas' cluster around a laid-back pool of the same name, and 'Sea Views' do exactly what they say on the tin. As night falls, the focus moves inwards — there's even a nightclub, with DJs and live music taking Room-only doubles from £294. Fly to Olbia You're not far from the glittering waters of the Costa Smeralda, yet you also get a taste of the real, mountainous Sardinia at this hotel sculpted from an old stazzu (farmstead) and wedged among boulders. Between rocks and greenery, its entry-level rooms accentuate that wilderness is somehow more atmospheric than pricier categories with far-off sea views. In all cases you'll get rustic-chic style (hand-carved bed frames, rough-painted walls), a terrace and — for Pool Junior Suites and above — your own tiny pool. The Michelin-starred restaurant, Il Fuoco Sacro, creates dishes from the hotel farm's vegetables, cheese and even some meats, while the smallish communal pool overlooks the Gulf of B&B doubles from £391. Fly to Olbia 'Nest' is no exaggeration: this three-bedroom villa is perched in the undergrowth above the coast, slotted into a landscape of olives and pines. Your bird's-eye view means the Costa Smeralda twinkles in the distance as the house is enfolded in greenery. Those bright colours are all visible from the oversized windows in your living room and from the terrace and pool, which point towards the bay. With two king rooms and a twin, this is a particularly good bet for families with older kids. It's just over a mile's drive to the sandy, forest-backed Sciumara Seven nights' self-catering for six from £3,046. Fly to Olbia Shimmy west from the Costa Smeralda and you'll hit the far northwestern tip of Sardinia, a curled finger beckoning to Corsica as it stretches north. Jaw-droppingly beautiful, this area offers soft dunes, long beaches and quick hops to Asinara, the 'donkey island' just offshore, which isn't home to just any old donkeys, but indigenous white-coated ones. Don't worry about the 'club' in the name — this is a great little four-star containing just 48 rooms, all with balconies, in 10,000 sq m of grounds. The pool is filled with saltwater while the beach, facing Asinara, is private. Kids' play areas, tennis and beach-volleyball courts make it a good bet for families too. La Pelosa, possibly Sardinia's lushest beach, is just over a mile Five nights' B&B from £462pp, including flights ( • 19 of the best family hotels in Sardinia A wild headland towards the northwest tip of the island isn't the glam Sardinia of holiday brochures. Instead it's a more remote and back-to-nature kind of place, and all the better for it. Inside a namesake protected area, the clifftop Villa Nurra is an old farmhouse converted into a four-bedroom family-friendly villa whose walled garden, fenced-off pool and bunk beds render it a good fit for families with younger kids. The decor is pleasantly rustic, typified by exposed stone walls, while the sea is visible beyond the garden and fields of cows and Seven nights' self-catering for nine from £2,855. Fly to Alghero Sardinia produces some of Italy's best wines, and you'll be a short stagger upstairs from nightly samples at this vino-themed stay in the countryside near Alghero. A former farmhouse swaddled by 44 acres of vineyards and olive groves, it's now a six-room retreat for anyone aged 12 and over. Pair mornings by the pool with afternoons of tastings (try the home-grown vermentino), tours of those groves or a bike ride into town — Alghero is half an hour away. Rooms are simple but tasteful — think wooden floorboards, cheerfully tiled bathrooms and the odd wooden beam — while even the cheapest have sofa-filled balconies overlooking the Seven nights' B&B from £1,199pp, including flights and car hire ( Sea vistas needn't be expensive. Etched into a cliffside, the four-star Petraladda has views for days: of the multicoloured houses of neighbouring town Castelsardo, clinging to the cliff; of the small Pedraladda beach, immediately below; and of the sea ambling towards the Strait of Bonifacio and Corsica. Drink them all in from its rooftop pool, or from the floor beneath, where a restaurant juts out over the blue, or from your window. In each bedroom sunny yellows and sea blues complement the colours outside; splash out on a still affordable superior for some of those sea Seven nights' B&B from £594pp, including flights and transfers Get the best of both worlds courtesy of this castlelike grande dame. You'll be right in the middle of Alghero, the delectable seafront town that's more Catalan than Italian thanks to its past rulers, yet also far from the crowds on your very own private peninsula. Italian royals used to love this escape, separated from the masses by two hectares of grounds. Today its 24 rooms still have that classical style with lashings of drapery, antiques galore and views over gardens or the sea. Flop by the saltwater pools or set up a lounger on one of the tongues of rock extending into the B&B doubles from £223. Fly to Alghero As the summer holidays drag on, well-heeled parents sigh and think of Forte Village. It's not just that the southern coast east of Cagliari is more family-friendly than the Costa Smeralda. This resort is also legendary for providing the kids with so much to do: bowling, ceramics classes, a waterpark, even a Barbie-themed area. Feeling competitive? Train them up at one of Forte's academies, where the great and good of the sporting world often shower a bit of stardust on the little blighters. Tennis, fencing, dance and boxing — they're all on offer. There's plenty for parents too, including the Acquaforte Thalasso and Spa, which specialises in seawater treatments and has circuits taking in six Half-board doubles from £454. Fly to Cagliari Here's your leafy retreat in Sardinia's capital: an elegant art nouveau mansion inside one of the poshest parts of the city, turned into a graceful 19-room hotel (having also once been a convent). Depending on the category, your room, designed by the owner, Lucina Cellino, might have an exposed-stone wall, an in-room hot tub or a soothing view over the back lawn. Whichever you pick, you'll enjoy this home-from-home. The staff are invariably delightful, the public areas are drenched in art and the garden sunloungers instil a holiday vibe whether you're on your first or last night. It's an easy drive to one of Italy's best archaeology museums in the Castello B&B doubles from £102. Fly to Cagliari An hour's drive southwest of Cagliari, past the ancient Phoenician city of Nora, gets you to Chia, one of the southernmost points of Sardinia (next stop: Tunisia). This is a coastline of immense beauty and family-friendly calm-watered beaches, and the resort of Chia Laguna, overlooking a flamingo-filled lagoon, makes the most of it. One of three hotels here, its family-centric Conrad has a kids' club hosting youngsters up to 17 years old, a children's pool and activities for teens including riding, tennis, snorkelling and, new for 2025, a football academy. Modern rooms keep the focus on the outside through the huge windows or patio doors. Choose either the hotel's Laguna (closer to the sea; better for couples) or Oasis (family-friendly; immersed in gardens) B&B doubles from £210. Fly to Cagliari On Sardinia's southeastern tip, astride the deliciously named Capo Carbonara, is peaceful Villasimius, where white-sand beaches are two-a-penny. The Stella Maris sits on one of its own so, while there's an on-site pool, you'd be mad not to swap it for the loungers and parasols set up on the sand. A four-star, it's secluded from other hotels and set in a pine forest that backs on to the shore. They aren't afraid of colour here, with pastel greens, soft yellows and emerald pine tones on the walls. All 49 rooms also have balconies, affording inland views that are just as soothing as those of the Five nights' half-board from £1,302pp, including flights and transfers ( • 24 of the best things to do in Sardinia 'Retreat' is no exaggeration for this eight-bedroom villa, tucked away in the forested hills behind Sardinia's less-visited southwest coast. Perched on an eyrie-like hillock from which you can survey the landscape as it unfurls to the sea, it has everything you need: proper lawns, enough loungers for everyone around the 15m pool and even a spit roast with the barbecue so you can have a go at cooking Sardinia's famous porceddu (suckling pig). Oh, and there's a vast shaded table area for everyone to enjoy it in. Inside, it's a modern affair with contemporary art and film posters on the walls, and windows that perfectly frame the wild outdoors. Grab a bike from downstairs — the sprawling, sandy Portixeddu beach, popular with surfers and one of the area's largest, is an easy ride Seven nights' self-catering for 16 from £3,448. Fly to Cagliari Here's a case of Robinson Crusoe meets five-star luxury. It took three years to refurbish what used to be an old mining warehouse (and, later, a simple hotel) on the beach into today's top-notch resort, and plenty of wildness remains. For starters, they didn't redo the unpaved road that leads here, crossing some of Europe's highest dunes on its way, and the hotel really does sit right on the sand. Despite such a spectacular location, it's not all about what lies outside the deceptively simple rooms, where sand-coloured walls give way to sandy patios. There's an art collection too, including pieces designed for the B&B doubles from £265. Fly to Cagliari If it was good enough for the ancients, it's good enough for us. Sardinia's Nuragic people were the first to settle the Sinis peninsula, on the west coast near what is now the city of Oristano. Later, the Phoenicians turned it into a trading port, and they were followed by the Carthaginians, Romans and Spanish. You can see the remains of these civilisations at Tharros, an archaeological site racked along the cliff, and stay nearby in the small town of Cabras, where this four-star 'scattered hotel' (an Italian speciality) is spread across several buildings around town. The 1950s Laguna building has six classic-looking rooms overlooking the pretty Cabras lagoon, with a birdwatching terrace on the roof. Note that as this is an albergo diffuso, the buildings aren't always manned, giving the vibe of a more independent B&B doubles from £121. Fly to Cagliari It takes patience to reach the east coast of Sardinia — this is the wildest side of the island, where roads peter out into tracks and sheer cliffs dive into the sea — but if you make the trek, you're rewarded with pebbly coves that have nary another person on them. This sweet 40-room four-star manages the best of both worlds: it's plum in Cala Gonone town itself, yet steeped in clifftop greenery and just 300m from the pebbly Palmasera beach. Pared-back rooms emphasise the greens and blues outside. There's a pool, a tennis court, a five-a-side football pitch and a kids' playground in the grounds, while the restaurant enables full-board stays if you just want to Seven nights' half-board from £1,004pp, including flights and car hire ( • The magical crowd-free Italian city that stays warm in winter Round up the family because this nine-room villa is the stuff of dreams — and it becomes attainable if you can fill it up. On the beach at Capo Coda Cavallo, or Cape Horsetail, which flicks upwards into the Tyrrhenian Sea about 12 miles southwest of Olbia, it has direct access to two beaches, as well as its own infinity pool beside the Mediterranean scrub. Wallowing in an acre of coastal gardens, it has room for loungers on the lawn, a pine-shaded dining area and even a patio cantilevered over the beach. Inside lie slick, brightly painted rooms, as well as a cottage suite in the garden, with floor-to-ceiling windows always pointing you outside. Rates include a housekeeper, butler and cook, but not Seven nights' self-catering for 17 from £38,299 ( Fly to Olbia If you prefer the wild east of Sardinia but don't want to scrimp on comforts or ease, pick this: a two-bedroom apartment overlooking a sandy beach outside Arbatax, one of the east coast's larger (though still small) resorts. This is Capo Bellavista, or Cape of Good View, and that's no exaggeration. Facing towards mainland Italy, it's a place of dazzling dawns and a jumping-off point for the beaches and coves along this stretch. Though the flat is compact — a double room, a twin and a sofa bed, all sharing one bathroom — it offers sweeping views of the bay from a large Seven nights' self-catering for six from £1,967. Fly to Olbia This dubs itself an 'experience hotel' and that's spot-on. In the island's wild entroterra, or interior, Su Gologone offers activities such as trekking through canyons and caves, taking a 4×4 up the mountainside or dropping in on Europe's largest karst sinkhole. Back at base you can learn embroidery, make ceramics, stargaze or listen to traditional tenores singers every Friday night. The hotel is a repository of Sardinian art — its owner, Giovanna Palimodde, has collected about 900 works — while the bedrooms, always stylish, range from rustic doubles full of traditional Sardinian artisanship to the outrageously romantic Wild Suite, which is wholly B&B doubles from £244. Fly to Olbia Of all 7,000 nuraghi in Sardinia, only one enjoys Unesco world heritage status: the formidable Su Nuraxi di Barumini, a vast defensive complex spread along a plain in central southern Sardinia. Fifteen minutes' drive east is the village of Gergei and this luxury four-room B&B, lovingly converted from a 19th-century farmhouse (one room's in a stable-like building) into an upmarket take on how its owner Samuel Lai's ancestors would have lived. That means low lighting, exposed-stone walls, headboards made from traditional orbace wool, artisanal carpets and pick-your-own eggs for breakfast. For the full slow tourism experience, take a ricotta-making class with Lai — he's a cheesemaker by B&B doubles from £103 ( Fly to Cagliari • The charming Italian island where our war correspondent goes to relax In the highlands behind the Costa Smeralda, Cascioni manages to combine five-star luxury with eco-friendly policies encompassing renewable energy, electric house cars, re-used water and organic farming, for starters. Within an 18-hectare estate overlooking the Padula Saloni nature reserve and lagoon, this is a boho kind of luxury: the bedrooms, all of which feature understated whitewashed walls and wooden bed frames, get their own shaded patios, ringed by olive and mastic trees. Guests can collect their own veg and eggs, then have them cooked to order; spa treatments use products based on Sardinian herbs and local honey. The pool suites have their own pint-sized pools surrounded by Seven nights' B&B from £1,799pp, including flights and car hire ( You're only half an hour away from the Costa Smeralda beaches, but up here in the mountainous highlands behind the coast you're in another world. Not just the world of rolling hills and boulder-strewn peaks but also a liminal world between the living and the dead. Around Luogosanto ('sacred place') is a land of prehistoric stone circles, nuraghe and tombe dei giganti (megalithic burial sites), as well as gargantuan olive trees that are more than 1,000 years old. Gallicantu takes those eternal peace vibes and adds olive groves, beehives, pick-your-own vegetable patches and a cherry orchard. The simple whitewashed rooms overlook granite boulders, the pool is surrounded by olive and myrtle trees, and a cave-turned-wine cave is the ideal aperitivo B&B doubles from £182. Fly to Olbia
Daily Mail
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- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Christine Lampard shows off her washboard abs in black bandeau bikini as she soaks up the sun with husband Frank during South of France holiday
Christine Lampard wowed in black bandeau bikini as she soaked up the sun with her husband Frank during their South of France holiday on Monday. The couple, both 46, are currently enjoying some time away from work as they unwind together with friends. And the Loose Women presenter flaunted her incredible physique as she showcased her washboard abs in the tiny two piece. Meanwhile Frank went shirtless as he opted for a pair of blue striped swimming shorts and shades. The former footballer enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool with a group of male friends, laughing and chatting as they cooled off next to the Mediterranean waters. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The couple, both 46, are currently enjoying some time away from work as they unwind together with friends He then later returned to the couple's balcony where he joined Christine for a spot of sunbathing as they were seen chatting together. Earlier this week Christine was seen looking summer chic as she fit right in at the swanky resort and showed off her sophisticated sense of style in a pair of white linen trousers and strappy top. She later changed into a navy jumpsuit and stylish shades as she looked out at her muscular spouse who was enjoying a cooling swim in the sea. The manager of Coventry City showed off his tanned and toned physique in a pair of bright orange swim shorts as he enjoyed his time off after the football season. Their fun-filled holiday comes after last month Christine revealed the reason her husband Frank often used to cancel their dates at the start of their romance. The loved-up pair have been together since October 2009 and got married in 2015. They are approaching their 10th wedding anniversary this year and Christine has now opened up about their early dating days where things weren't all plain sailing. When they met he was busy playing for Chelsea but used to cancel dates with her when the team didn't win. Frank covered up in a black T-shirt as Christine was seen beaming in pics He told the Mirror : 'What keeps me and Christine going is we're there to support each other and we make each other laugh. We have a similar sense of humour' She told The Sun: 'When he was playing, he used to cancel nights out when Chelsea didn't win. Thankfully, it didn't happen that often, as luckily, Chelsea won a lot!' 'It was actually alright. He would be annoyed just because he takes it all so seriously!' She added that football was a whole new world for her and didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Christine explained: 'I went to an all-girls' school, I didn't have brothers. Football just wasn't a thing. I couldn't have cared less. And then, suddenly, I started to care. 'The more I went to the games, the more I got it. I thought, 'Oh my god, I see why people are into this. There is something magical about it'.' It came after Frank revealed the secret to his happy marriage with his beloved wife Christine. He told the Mirror: 'What keeps me and Christine going is we're there to support each other and we make each other laugh. We have a similar sense of humour. 'Christine's quite sharp and we're normally thinking the same thing, so the same situations make us laugh - I think laughing together is important for a happy marriage.' Frank was introduced to his wife at The Pride Of Britain Awards by fellow TV presenter Piers Morgan in 2009. Christine previously admitted she and the footballer were not even meant to be at the awards ceremony the night they met. Speaking on Lorraine, she said: 'It's a strange one it is because 10 years ago that we met at them, it was one of those nights that neither of us were meant to go to. 'It was a last minute thing for him and I arrived at the awards late because of work. We were sat on tables next to each other.' The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter called Patricia - named after his late mother who tragically passed away in 2008 - in September 2018. Frank also has daughters Luna, 19, and Isla, 17, with his former partner Elen Rivas, but they went their separate ways in 2008. Christine previously told how she thinks the secret to her marriage with Frank is that they are still each other's best friend. She said: 'We're still absolute best mates. He'll be the first person I'll pick the phone up to sort anything out with. And the biggest thing for me going back to my love of comedy, is he makes me laugh. 'And that is such a powerful thing to me - I have to be able to have a giggle… We just have proper laughs. We have the same points of view on things. 'We don't argue over parenting or how things run in the house. We sort of sing off the same page and that sort of makes everything flow… 'The basis is, there's love, we've got each other's backs and we're supportive. And if he suggests that some job is happening and he wants to do it, we'll make it work.'
