Sunderland-born architect, TV presenter and writer George Clarke is well into his 13th series as the presenter of Amazing Spaces.
One of the show’s most memorable moments came in 2021, when a dedicated son converted an old railway cattle carriage into a mobile holiday home as a treat for his mum, whose husband had recently passed away. It moved audiences to tears.
Since Amazing Spaces launched way back in 2012, George has branched into the renovation space with Channel 4 show Remarkable Renovations. And his own love life has had its ups and downs during that time, too. So, strap in.
George Clarke ‘not the best person to talk to’ about relationships
First of all, 51-year-old George Clarke is the first to admit that, when it comes to relationships, he’s “probably not the best person to talk to”.
Why is that? For the simple reason that he has been divorced twice.
But he’s an emotional softie, and knows that comes through on television.
“It’s not easy,” he told Big Issue last year. “But when it comes to love and friendship and family, it’s the best thing in the world. I’m an emotional softie. You’ve probably seen me cry on the telly.”
He tells his mates he loves them. He tells his kids he loves them. He’s passionate about his career, his kids, his friends and his family because he “really deeply loves them”.
The road has nevertheless had bumps, and George has had to navigate some twists and turns along the way.
Meet the Amazing Spaces presenter’s first wife, art director Catriona Drummond
George Clarke met his first wife, Emmy Award-winning art director Catriona Drummond, in the early 2000s.
She’s from Brisbane, reportedly has Spanish citizenship, and currently lives in Melbourne. Catriona works across multiple visual media, including animation and illustration. She was the lead art director for the first series of Bluey, an immensely popular Australian kids’ cartoon.
Catriona and George met through her brother, the late Armani model Swiggy Drummond. He hired George for some architectural work – back in the 2000s – and one thing led to another. They married in 2009.
He and Catriona lived in Notting Hill, in a house George renovated. They have three children together – Georgie, Emilio and Iona. OK! quotes him as saying his favourite thing in the world was coming home to his wife and kids in their West London home.
Catriona’s brother Swiggy passed away in 2012, after a painful battle with brain cancer. He was just 39, and was due to carry the Olympic torch later that year. George was “proud” to carry it on his behalf.
A year later, the couple announced that they were parting ways. The Mirror quotes George as saying, at the time: “We have been married quite a long time and decided to part. We have separate custody of the kids and are going through an amicable separation and divorce.”
George Clarke married second wife Katie Morgan Jones in 2018
Fast forward five years and George married PR executive Katie Morgan Jones in a beachside ceremony in Ibiza in 2018.
They lived in London for a year or so before moving to the Cotswolds.
He wrote in The Times that the house they bought together sat “on a steep hill so you enter it at the upper level. We have the kitchen and living room on the first floor, while the bedrooms, bathrooms and storage rooms are on the ground floor.”
“I also have a place in London,” he continued. “But home is in the Cotswolds now. I have quite a nomadic life – I travel a lot and spend on average three nights a week in hotels – so I take every opportunity I can to get home.”
All appeared to be well, until late 2021, when Katie started posting cryptic messages on Instagram. She wrote, per The Sun, of having been “through the most bizarre and traumatic situation”.
She referred to “lockdowns isolated on my own” that were a “test of mental agility”, and “many, many other trials and tribulations, tears and revelations”.
“After a weird couple of years,” she penned from the Bahamas, “it’s time for change.”
In 2022, after three and a half years of marriage, they put their country bungalow up for sale for a hearty £870,000, and that was that.
George was then seen on holiday in Ibiza with his new flame…
August 2023: George publicly introduces opera singer Florence Hvorostovsky
A year and a half after separating from his second wife, George Clarke went public with his new girlfriend, Swiss opera singer Florence Hvorostovsky.
She had been married to Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. He died in 2017 following a brain tumour diagnosis. Florence and her late husband had two children together, named Maxim and Nina.
Dmitri’s father, Florence’s father-in-law, approved of her new relationship with the Amazing Spaces presenter, although not for the reason you might expect. He made a public statement claiming that a “woman who doesn’t support her femininity” will “quite quickly turn into an old lady”.
“Nobody would be interested in her then – neither her children, nor anyone else. So however great was her late husband, and however much she loved him, we all – us all, her children, and the public – need a vibrant, lively, beautiful Florence,” he said.
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Shortly before his 50th birthday, George told The Guardian he was still geeky nerd, “according to my kids, anyway. Even though I get invited to red-carpet events – and I’m sure they’re really nice – I don’t go to them. I’m just not that bothered.”
“I’d prefer to be at home with my kids and my girlfriend,” he said, referring to Florence.
She posted a picture of them together on Valentine’s Day in 2024, rendering their relationship fully public.
Remarkable Renovations continues Sunday June 22 on Channel 4 at 3.10pm.
Read more: George Clarke takes aim at Helen Skelton as her new BBC property show embroiled in ‘plagiarism’ row
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