![\"Fred\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_JS368813330.jpg\")
Fred is fronting new show Who Do You Think You Are where he is embarking on finding out more about his family<\/p>\nEXCLUSIVE: First Dates star Fred Sirieix married his fianc\u00e9 of five years earlier this year in a Jamaican romantic ceremony but like any other couple, the pair have their tense moments<\/p>\n
08:00, 25 May 2025Updated 08:23, 25 May 2025<\/p>\n
Fred is fronting new show Who Do You Think You Are where he is embarking on finding out more about his family<\/p>\n
Fred Sirieix <\/a>is best known for making the nation smile or fall in love, but now the First Dates ma\u00eetre d\u2019 is set to make us cry too, in a deeply moving new episode of Who Do You Think You Are?.<\/a><\/p>\n Fred, who was born in Limoges, France, discovers more about his grandfather\u2019s experiences during the Second World War, gaining a heartbreaking insight into those \u201csilent periods\u201d which would affect Fred\u2019s own mother while she was growing up.<\/a><\/p>\n Fresh from marrying his fianc\u00e9e of five years<\/a>, who he affectionately dubs \u201cFruitcake\u201d, in a romantic ceremony in Jamaica in February, the charming 53-year-old Frenchman opens up exclusively to OK! about love, legacy and the highly emotional discoveries from the past that have brought him closer to his family than ever before\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Congratulations on getting married earlier<\/strong> this year. How was the wedding?<\/strong><\/p>\n The wedding was amazing. <\/a>We got married in Negril, in Jamaica. It\u2019s my favourite part of the country \u2013 seven miles of beach, discovered in the 60s by hippies. The music, the sand, feeling your feet in the water \u2013 you hear Bob Marley in the air. We were there for a couple of weeks. Days before the wedding we all had drinks on the beach, shorts on and just relaxed. That way, everyone already knew each other on the big day. And then, it was a huge party.<\/p>\n It sounds like an absolute fairy tale\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n It was brilliant. But you know, we did it for us. We had friends and family there, but it was about Fruitcake and me. We\u2019ve been together for 10 years. We\u2019re 53 and 51 \u2013 we\u2019re not spring chickens! But we believe in our relationship, and it was great to make a big deal out of it. It was about trust, commitment and celebrating what we have. It really elevated our relationship and sealed the way in which we feel for each other. It\u2019s been a beautiful experience.<\/p>\n How is married life now? Is it any different?<\/strong><\/p>\n It just carries on. But I\u2019ve got the ring \u2013 I feel it on my finger every day. <\/a>Life is the same \u2013 we still argue as much as before! I\u2019m still cooking, and she still complains because I haven\u2019t cleaned the kitchen properly. I always clean it, but apparently there\u2019s always something that\u2019s not clean enough.<\/p>\n How did you first know Fruitcake was The One?<\/strong><\/p>\n Because I realised early on that I could totally trust her. She\u2019s genuine. She is who she says she is.<\/p>\n The nickname Fruitcake is so sweet \u2013 literally! Where does it come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n That one\u2019s just between her and me. It works for us. She\u2019s Fruitcake.<\/a> That\u2019s all you need to know. And that\u2019s all she wants you to know. We\u2019re happy that way.<\/p>\n Being on<\/strong> First Dates <\/strong>, you have built a TV career around love and relationships. What\u2019s something you\u2019ve learnt about love that you wish you<\/strong> knew 20 years ago?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s about trust. About knowing someone\u2019s got your back and you\u2019ve got theirs. Love is not something that changes. Like Shakespeare said, \u201cLove is not love which alters when it alteration finds.\u201d We have to know what we want in life. A lot of people change their minds like the wind. One day they love you, the next they don\u2019t. I\u2019ve seen it for years on First Dates . People say they want X, Y and Z \u2013 we give it to them, and suddenly they want A, B and C. It\u2019s not about \u201csettling\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s about knowing what you\u2019ve got is as good as it gets, then making it work.<\/p>\n Your daughter Andrea [Spendolini-Sirieix] <\/a>is an Olympic diver for Team GB. How did it feel to see her win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics?<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazing. Andrea has been training since she was eight. The Olympics was her dream. And to win a medal in Paris \u2013 it was incredible. <\/a>She\u2019s won medals for Britain and Italy, but never in France. She trained so hard she barely went to school, but she still got brilliant results. I\u2019ve always said if you want something, you\u2019ve got to work for it. No shortcuts. You\u2019re going to suffer. It\u2019s got to be painful.<\/a><\/p>\n You\u2019re in the latest series of<\/strong> Who Do You <\/strong>Think You Are?. <\/strong>It\u2019s an emotional watch\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, I cried every day in fact, because it was very emotional. I went to Burgundy, where my grandfather was a prisoner of war. I went to the very place he was held during the Second World War. He escaped from there to go home, crossing the whole of France. It was so dangerous. The penalty was being shot. What I didn\u2019t realise is that my grandfather was suffering from PTSD, and so was my great-grandfather, who, incredibly, took part in the First World War from the very first battle to the last. And he survived. I mean, it\u2019s just incredible.<\/p>\n Your calls to your mother during the show<\/strong> are very moving, too\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I was calling her every day, telling her what we found. And as I was telling her things, it triggered stuff for her. She told me something I didn\u2019t know: that my grandfather would sometimes not speak for weeks, even months. It created a very strange atmosphere in the house. That affected my mum in a really big way. There was always a part of my mum I didn\u2019t fully understand. But by doing Who Do You Think You Are? , I just got it. That feeling of being abandoned, not loved, being left behind. My mum would have been six years old, and her father didn\u2019t speak to her? That\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n It sounds like it helped you to bond in a new way\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n It really did. I remember when I called her, I was standing in the trenches \u2013 and she told me that story<\/a>. My heart just sank. I never could have imagined it. But without doing this show, I wouldn\u2019t have known. It brought me closer to her. It strengthened our bond. It was a beautiful experience.<\/p>\n Away from TV, you\u2019re doing amazing work with your charity, The Right Course, aren\u2019t you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, I started working with this charity, which seeks to promote the education of young offenders, ex- young offenders or those at risk of offending through hospitality, when my daughter was born. At the time, there was a wave of crime in our local area, people were getting stabbed. I thought to myself, I\u2019ve got to do something about it. Right now, we\u2019ve got six restaurants in prisons, helping offenders train and get jobs; the goal is to have one in every prison.<\/p>\n What sort of help do you give?<\/strong><\/p>\n When people come out of jail, they need three things: a job, a place to stay and contact with family. That\u2019s how we stop reoffending. We\u2019re making a small difference. We\u2019re working with the government and the Ministry Of Justice to scale it up. But I\u2019m part of society. I\u2019ve got a voice, and I\u2019ve got to be able to use it \u2013 if everybody focuses on that, we can make the world<\/a> better.<\/p>\n Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on<\/strong> TikTok<\/strong> <\/a>,<\/strong> Snapchat<\/strong> <\/a>,<\/strong> Instagram<\/strong> <\/a>,<\/strong> Twitter<\/strong> <\/a>,<\/strong> Facebook<\/strong> <\/a>,<\/strong> YouTube<\/strong> <\/a>and<\/strong> Threads<\/strong> <\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Fred](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_BAFTA-TV-Awards-2024-London.jpg\")
Fred and Fruitcake have been together for five years before tying the knot(Image: PA)<\/p>\n![\"Fred](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_JS360385338.jpg\")
Fred and Fruitcake tied the knot in Jamaica in February this year<\/p>\n![\"Fred](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_JS340892434.jpg\")
Fred’s daughter, Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, is an Olympian for GB and Italy<\/p>\n![\"Fred's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_JS368816890.jpg\")
Fred is embarking on a deeply personal journey to uncover his roots in his new show<\/p>\n