Claudia Winkleman is known for being a TV icon as the host of The Traitors, Strictly Come Dancing and The Piano but when the presenter isn’t on our screens cheering on hopeful contestants, the mum-of-three spends most of her time with her loved ones.
The 53-year-old has been married for 23 years and shares three kids with her husband Kris Thykier. However, what many don’t know is that the BBC star is not the only famous face in her family.
Claudia not only has well-known parents but also has a family connection to the Royal Family as her half sister turns out to be a member of ‘the Firm’.
Here’s everything we know about Claudia’s private life off camera and who her famous relatives are..
Film producer husband
The Traitors’ host has been married to film producer Kris Thykier since 2000.
Kris, 53, has been in the film industry for many years with his name on the credits of many huge blockbuster films and TV shows such as Kick-Ass, The Woman in Gold and Sky Atlantic’s Riviera.
Claudia and her hubby have three children together, Jake, 20, Matilda, 17, and Arthur, 12 but rarely post about their relationship or children as they prefer to keep their private life under wraps.
However, Claudia has made it very clear that her kids mean the world to her, so much so that she almost quit her beloved hosting role on Strictly.
The TV star revealed on Radio 4’s Woman House that she had phoned BBC bosses “in tears” out of fear that the show would clash with her son’s move to university.
She recalled: “I phoned the boss of Strictly quite dramatically and said, through tears, ‘Sarah I love you. I don’t want to leave Strictly and Tess and I have agreed we will leave together when they’re done with us, but if the first show is September 13, I’m out and you’ll have to go with somebody else.'”
Claudia added: “And there was a beat. And she said, ‘Quite dramatic. We don’t start that week.’ I was like, ‘Alright. I have to go and put up his posters.’ It’s not that I love him more than others love their kids, but this is something parents have to go through.”
Royal sibling
Claudia was born an only child but gained two siblings after her parents divorced and remarried new partners.
Through her mother Eve’s second marriage, Claudia was given a younger half-brother named Oliver, and she also gained a half-sister through her father’s second marriage, who turned out to be actress Sophie Winkleman.
Sophie, 44, has starred in shows such as Peep Show and Two and a Half Men alongside Ashton Kutcher throughout his career.
However, similarly to Prince Harry’s former actress wife Meghan Markle, Sophie’s life took a royal turn when she married Lord Frederick Windsor in 2009, who is the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
Sophie is now formally known as Lady Frederick Windsor. She attended the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor alongside Prince Harry in 2019 and is also known to have a good relationship with King Charles.
Back in 2017, the 44-year-old was seriously injured in a head-on car crash which luckily resulted in no long term damage. The following year, she recalled how supportive the then Prince Charles had been and thanked him for helping her and her family through the hard recovery period.
Sophie said at the time: “Prince Charles sensed correctly that everything would be chaos at home, so he asked his cook, instead of taking care of him, to take care of us.” She continued: “So, our lunches and dinners were cooked at Clarence House then delivered for weeks on end while I was in hospital and then still disabled at home.”
Journalist parents
It’s not only her relatives she met later in life that are famous as Claudia was also born to her well-known parents, Eve Pollard and dad Barry Winkleman, who were both journalists.
Claudia’s parents split when she was just three but the TV host decided to follow in her mum and dad’s footsteps by working in the media.
Eve is the former editor of the Sunday Express and her father was a book publisher. Following their split, Claudia’s mum remarried to the former editor of the Daily Express, Nicholas Lloyd, and her dad tied the knot with children’s author Cindy Black.
Eve has made it known how incredibly proud she is of her daughter as she told the Sunday Times in 2018: “Numerous mothers and fathers have had a famous child. But Claudia’s fame is so astonishing because it has crept up slowly and not one bit of it was planned.
“She doesn’t feel famous. If you think you’ve seen her on the Tube, you probably have.”
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.