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Mary Says Gogglebox 'Saved' Her Marriage To Giles

Mary Says Gogglebox 'Saved' Her Marriage To Giles

The couple were drifting apart before starring in the series

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Gogglebox's Mary Killen says the show saved her marriage to Giles.

Mary has revealed the couple hardly saw each other before they began filming the hit series a few years ago.

Speaking about their relationship, she said they had been like 'ships that pass in the night' before making it big on the reality show.

Mary told the Daily Star: "Giles and I were like ships that pass in the night. I got up early, he went to bed late and we rarely even ate together.

"Sitting down and watching television reminded us how much we enjoyed the same jokes."

The couple, who live together in Wiltshire, have previously spoken about their relationship and how Gogglebox has helped them rekindle their marriage.

Mary and Giles say Gogglebox saved their marriage.
PA

In their book The Diary of Two Nobodies, Giles said the show gave them the chance to reevaluate things.

He said: "Working together on Gogglebox - watching telly at the same time - meant Mary and I suddenly no longer lived like two intimate strangers, Mary working from 6am till 8pm, then falling asleep slightly drunk at 9pm; me gardening from 1pm till 3.30pm, when I have lunch, and then going to bed at two in the morning after watching vintage horror films. It has definitely saved our marriage.

"It took public interest in our relationship to make us think about it objectively. Are we actually happy?"

Mary said: "While we wait for each Gogglebox programme to begin, we end up chatting to each other, amounting to about three hours a week in total.

"Some of our chatter eventually gets broadcast and we have been amazed to hear from Giles's sister, who monitors Twitter, that people have found something we said funny.

"How interesting, when we thought of it as irritable backbiting. It certainly gives you a new perspective on your life.

The couple were drifting apart before starring in the hit reality series.
Channel 4

"But we had got out of the habit of discussing things. Gradually we realised we were enjoying the Gogglebox preambles - indeed they became an essential cog in the wheels of our marriage because we had to take it in turns to speak.

"And then we realised that we had a huge amount in common."

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mary also opened up about how they have coped during lockdown.

She added: "Lockdown wasn't a great hardship for us; more like an open prison with comfortable beds, but I know a few couples who have split up because they have decided they can't stand one another."

The couple met at Wimbledon College of Art where Giles was a student and Mary was a costume model. They have two grown-up children together.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 4

Topics: UK Entertainment, Channel 4