With his career taking him on adventures around the world, Ben Fogle is no stranger to packing a suitcase and temporarily leaving behind his home with his wife Marina and two children, Ludovic and Iona.
In a new update, the Into The Congo With Ben Fogle star, 51, has opened up about the strain it puts on the family. Taking to Instagram, he shared a photo of his wife standing in the grounds with her lookalike daughter, who stood almost as tall as her with long blonde hair. Displaying their equestrian passion, the mother-daughter duo smiled for the camera as they held onto their horses, which Ben said help "look after them" in his absence.
"My beautiful girls. I LOVE them. I miss them so much when I’m away but they both have their horses looking out for them while I’m in faraway places.
"They love their horses more than anything…..and their horses love them. Love, peace and hooves," he wrote.
His teenage son was missing from the photo, possibly because he was busy studying for his GCSEs, which will take place over the next few months.
Boarding school
Both of Ben and Marina's children attend boarding school throughout the week, returning to their family home in Oxfordshire for the weekends.
Discussing her empty nest at their Henley home, which features 1.3 acres of land, including a tennis court and a swimming pool, Marina told The Times: "For the first time in nearly 15 years, I won't have any children at home during the week. My 13-year-old daughter has now joined her brother at a weekly boarding school."
© Instagram/@benfogleReflecting on his own boarding school education, Ben admitted he was sceptical of his young children spending a lot of time away from home. In an interview with Absolutely Education, while the family were still living in London, he clarified he wasn't "anti-boarding", adding that he would "consider" it.
"Not for the sake of boarding per se, but if the right school for one of my children is too far away – and there aren’t many great schools in central London if your children aren’t highly academic – then I might consider it," he said.
Country move
© GettyBen and Marina relocated to the Oxfordshire countryside in 2020, and they have been enjoying the "rural" lifestyle.
However, the TV star admitted he would love to be even more off-grid if it weren't for his family.
"If I didn’t have a family, I think I would be off," he told The Telegraph. "Having grown a massive beard, living an eccentric life in a little cabin in some faraway woods, probably up in Sweden or Norway. Without doubt I get a pang of jealousy when I see how people can live without the complications we create in our own lives, living the Western, materialistic lives that we do."
