Michael Portillo tied the knot with his wife Carolyn Eadie in 1982 – but before that, he had had some “homosexual experiences” while he was a student at Cambridge University. The Great Railway Journeys presenter says he is now “happily married” to Carolyn, and never had any gay affairs while he was a serving MP or while “in public life”.

And all along, Michael insists, his wife knew about his romantic and sexual past. In an interview with The Mirror back in 1999, he said she was aware “all along” of his past. He explained to the publication: “All the time I have been in public life I want to make it perfectly clear there has been nothing of this sort whatsoever and when the interviewer asked me if I had any experiences at university I said yes.”

The star added: “I do not think it was a particularly big burden and I do not have any regrets. The truth is a good thing."

There was one thing Michael didn’t tell his wife at the time, however – that he planned to confront the rumours swirling head-on during his interview with The Mirror.

He told The Telegraph that Carolyn wasn’t aware he was sitting down with a newspaper to discuss his past, adding: “There’s only one person who knows me – and that’s me.”

Michael and Carolyn were friends in the late 1970s, and earned money together working as a tour rep. They married at the Harrow Register Office in 1982.

Two years after they tied the knot, Carolyn sadly developed breast cancer, and the treatment left her unable to conceive children naturally.

Their friend Anne Jenkin told The Telegraph: “It's one of their most extraordinary attributes - people may snipe that they don't have a family, but they never hit back or mope.”