This Morning presenter Ben Shephard has given fans a rare insight into his marriage to his doting wife Annie as they celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary. Taking to Instagram, the 51-year-old host looked back on their relationship as he shared a selfie of the couple when they first got together. He captioned the post: "So 22 yrs ago today @mrsannieshephard said 'Oh go on then', and that was that!

"It might have taken me 9 years to realise it and to ask her to marry me, but she's still the best thing to happen to me," he continued before joking about his other great love, West Ham legend Mark Noble. It didn't take long before fans flocked to the comments to share their congratulations.

Leading the sweet comments were messages from his showbiz pals, including his podcast co-host, Joel Dommett, who penned: "This is the BEST" while his This Morning co-star Cat Deeley added: "'Oh go on then', The Marvellous Mrs Sheps."

Ben and Annie tied the knot in 2004 in Salcombe, Devon, after meeting as students at the University of Birmingham. As he revealed in his post, it was nine years later that the broadcaster got down on one knee in Paris, just one year before walking down the aisle.

It comes after the dad-of-two opened up about the secret to balancing marriage, fatherhood, and work. The couple share two sons: Sam, 21, and Jack, 19. In an interview with the Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine in January, he revealed: "Annie was with me way before I got into telly.

"She has been through everything with me, the highs and the lows. She's exceptionally patient. And I'm very patient with new shoes," he joked. "What I really think is that we were great mates when we got together."

After 20 years working in television, presenting everything from This Morning to Tipping Point, Annie has remained out of the spotlight, concentrating on her job as an interior designer and building their family home.

He gushed: "Annie has been brilliant at allowing me the space to go off and do the job I do. She's been the most important factor in our lives as a family; this amazing influence who created the home for our boys to become who they are and certainly made me better at being a dad."

The power couple are soon set to embark on a new phase in their life as empty nesters. Their eldest son Sam is currently studying maths at university, whilst his younger brother is working as a teaching assistant while he saves up to go travelling.

After covering the ongoing meningitis outbreak in Kent, the TV favourite shared his concerns for his student son returning to university. Discussing the outbreak and the latest developments on the show, he admitted: "We were talking about this yesterday, Sam and Jack are slap bang in that age range 19 to 21.

"Sam's in his second year at university, and it's interesting he's down in Bristol, and they were talking about this strain, and he was like: 'Oh no, no, I've been vaccinated. I don't really [need it]' and he didn't realise that he was born in 2005, he hadn't been vaccinated against the meningitis B strain.

Fortunately, we're in a position where we can afford to do that if we want to, but it's a real concern, particularly when you look at these symptoms, which just look like freshers' flu, they look like a hangover, they look like anything! Particularly when you look at these symptoms, which just look like freshers' flu, they look like a hangover, they look like anything!"