Ben Fogle is a devoted father of two. The presenter – who resides in a £2.2m mansion in Henley – loves nothing more than taking time with his wife, Marina, and their children: son, Ludo, 15, and daughter, Iona, 13.
"Fatherhood is the best thing that's ever happened to me," Ben told the Metro in 2019. "My son's like me in that he loves the outdoors, whether it's in the sunshine or rain, but he doesn't have the shyness I suffered from as a child.
"My daughter is more like my wife as she's relaxed and chilled but definitely knows what she wants," he continued.
While Ben, 51, is used to travelling the world, coming home to his loved ones makes it that bit sweeter, and he often pens his gratitude for his wife and kids on social media.
"Coming home is the best feeling ever. There's nothing like perspective to remind you of what you have," he gushed to House Beautiful last month. "We can all get a bit complacent with our home, our family and what we have. I love coming home, being in our house, being back with family and dogs. If I could bottle how it feels, I probably wouldn't have to work again."
Here, we take a look at Ben's close bond with his children…
Ludo is following in his father and grandfather's footsteps
Ben has many common interests with his son, Ludo. Like his father, and grandfather Bruce Fogle, the 15-year-old has always been passionate about animals. Speaking with HELLO! in 2019, Ben noted that Ludo had wanted to be a vet "pretty much from when he could talk".
"He loves animals," the Channel 5 favourite said. "We have a black Labrador called Storm who he absolutely loves. My father – his grandfather – was a vet and he loves going to the veterinary clinic and sitting in on the operations and sitting in on the consultations so I know he would love to work with animals one day.
"But he's fascinated by travel and I was lucky enough to take them to Africa and they loved seeing all the big African animals and they got to meet baby elephants… Iona as well."
These days, Ludo – who is following in his father's footsteps and attending boarding school – continues to love both animals and the outdoors.
In a new interview with The Times, Ben was asked for his favourite journey so far. " I have just returned from a father-son trip to Norway," he replied. "We learnt to kite ski, we cross-country skied and pulled sledges and camped out in minus 25C. It was epic, seeing the joy on my son Ludo's face was priceless."
Iona is just like Ben's wife Marina
Ben has opened up about the differences in his children's personalities before. During a chat with HELLO!, the 55-year-old mused that his daughter, Iona, is "a little bit quieter" than Ludo. "She's very athletic, and I think she'll actually be quite a good sportswoman," he raved.
Iona, who is also attending boarding school, has an interesting story behind her name. After returning to Scotland for a BBC programme in 2021, Ben revealed that his travels had greatly inspired him.
"I'm still fascinated by Scotland's islands. The remoteness, the peace, the wonder - I even named my daughter Iona after one," he explained.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesLike her mother, Marina, Iona loves to ride horses and she's taken part in competitions too. Extremely proud of his daughter, Ben is often on hand to watch Iona, who has won many rosettes.
