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Loose Women's Kaye Adams' unexpected confession about long-distance 30-year relationship

The TV star will be spending time away from the tennis coach during Loose Women Live

Kaye Adams in a pink jacket and white top sitting on a blue sofa
Nichola Murphy
Deputy Lifestyle Editor
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Although the conversation often turns to relationships on Loose Women, Kaye Adams is one of the few stars who keeps her love life fairly private.

The panellist made an exception ahead of the start of Loose Women Live, which will see Kaye and her fellow stars – including Christine Lampard, Denise Welch and Frankie Bridge – tour the country, starting in Birmingham on 1 September.

kaye adams partner ian© Instagram
The couple share two children

Kaye has been in a relationship with Ian Campbell for over 30 years, but the couple have never got married. Instead, they live in Scotland with their children Charley and Bonnie and their Cockapoo Bea.

When asked what she will miss while she's on the road, many may have expected her to say her long-term partner, but she commented on why she's used to spending time apart from Ian.

"Ian and I are both away for work a lot though and it wouldn't work for everybody but I think it works for us. You know, we've been together for 30 years plus… We're never entirely sure because it's so long and can't remember… But it's definitely 30 years plus! 

kaye adams partner
Kaye and her partner Ian have always had different work schedules

"We've just always been like that, we've always had our own thing going on and before I had the kids and I was doing Loose Women I was in Manchester from Monday to Friday for a long time and he works a lot in Italy doing tennis stuff so it's just the way that we are. 

"Whether it strengthens us or not I don’t know but I do know that it certainly doesn't damage it [the relationship] because it's just our rhythm!" she explained.

Speaking about Ian and Bonnie's close father-daughter relationship, she joked: "I call them the flatmates because they are both messy," adding: "So they get their wee takeaway pasta and sit and watch the telly without me saying someone needs to come and do the dishes!"

kaye adams© Getty
Kaye will join Loose Women Live with her co-stars

Kaye previously admitted she "wouldn't say no" if her partner proposed, but said he was an "unconventional person" who didn't necessarily want to get married.

Chatting to The Mirror, she said: "When we first met Ian was in his late 20s working as a tennis coach, spending half his life in Italy and half in Scotland, and he was not a man going to settle down.

"He's an unconventional person and I didn’t have any great thoughts of settling down at that stage either. It was just a relationship that carried on and carried on, very happily, and maybe we just passed the point of getting married.

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"If Ian wants to pop the question and I get a decent ring and a good holiday out of it I wouldn't say no!" she joked. 

The mother-of-two added that they don't feel the need to exchange vows to prove their commitment, as their decision to start a family was enough.

"I guess that was our equivalent of getting married," the TV star added. "That represents our commitment to each other. We would never have had children if we weren't going to stay together and getting married isn't something that needs to happen for our relationship."

Tickets for Loose Women Live are on sale now via livenation.co.uk

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