A Place in the Sun presenter Ben Hillman has been a regular face on the Channel 4 show since 2015, helping homeowners create their perfect abode with his interior design expertise. But away from his time on the programme, he can be found at his own house in Shoreham-By-Sea with his wife and two children. The star is currently taking a sabbatical to focus on renovating his family home, turning it into their forever pad - and it sounds like it's a huge job. "Right now, I am taking a sabbatical for a year to finish renovating my house. When we bought it, the place was very compartmentalised and higgledy-piggledy, with lots of little rooms. We kept the hall and original front room, then took out every downstairs wall to create a large open-plan living space. We've now got a plastered shell, and I'm taking over with tiling, flooring and carpentry – creating in-built wardrobes in the bedrooms and an oak hall unit with a recessed shelf and hidden lighting on the landing," he told House Beautiful earlier this year.
Ben, a design and property expert, is relishing spending quality time with his loved ones during his sabbatical. The TV star has been married to NHS worker Gaby since 2011. While he keeps their relationship fairly private, he revealed how they spent their 10th wedding anniversary back in 2021. "Today is a good day because it is my 10th wedding anniversary. Can you believe, how fantastic is that? And we're going to a little music festival down the road which I'm super excited about," explained Ben. The pair share daughters Hope Blossom and Honour Willow, and Ben occasionally shares glimpses of his family helping him with his renovation. Here's everything we know about Ben's family life...
Family time
The proud dad often posts photos of his family on his Instagram account, including this adorable beach selfie, which shows the four enjoying fish and chips by the sea at the end of the summer holidays in 2023. In the caption, Ben penned: "Enjoying a thoroughly British evening on the beach, and the perfect end to a wonderful summer break with the family. Back to the old grind [winking face] tomorrow and beginning my endless summer in Portugal."
© @benhillmantv/Instagram
© @benhillmantv/InstagramThe presenter, who appears on the Channel 4 show alongside Jasmine Harman and Laura Hamilton, previously opened up about working away from his family regularly. He told The Express Online: "I'm a real home bod, I love being around my family and being around my kids, they're the number one thing in my life." He went on to explain how lockdown brought them closer together before his filming schedule abroad pushed them apart. "To be intensely with them for all that time [through lockdown] and then all of a sudden not, that was quite tough," he said.
Home renovation
In 2016, Ben and his family worked on a renovation project after buying their 1934 four-bedroom property. He told Metro at the time: "They are my DIY girls and join me on my adventures. During the build I did the A Place In The Sun walk round with them, saying, 'Imagine how it's going to look like when it's finished.'" Take a look at his garden and epic hot tub in the video below. Ben has shared before-and-after videos of his home transformations, including a mustard yellow bedroom and a neutral utility room. Painting the latter white to cover the neon orange walls, he joked: "What are you up to? I hear you say. Saving my marriage! That’s what."
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© InstagramHe also offers his followers practical advice, sharing everything from how to save precious pennies by building your own floor-to-ceiling cupboards to DIY building his kids' climbing frame. It's no wonder Ben wows fans with his impressive DIY skills - he's certainly got the background. Ben studied product and furniture design at Ravensbourne College in London and broke into the property business with an internship for London designer Michael Sodeau. He then moved to Wallpaper magazine as an assistant interiors editor before working at The White Company and finally branching out into television.
