Daytime Talk Show Host Splits From Husband of 33 Years

Loose Women panelist Linda Robson confirmed that she and husband, Mark Dunford, have split after 33 years together. In an interview with Woman magazine, the 65-year-old revealed the news, per Daily Mail. “He’s a really good dad, and we had some good years, but enough is enough.”

“I’ve got my family and my kids around me. And I’m going on a cruise with Lesley Joseph in November. I’m keeping busy. I feel fine. I’m just going away on trips all the time. I’m not interested [in dating], honestly. I can’t be a—d with all that.”

Robson and Dunford, 63, the owner of a window cleaning company, share two daughters, Louis, 31, and Roberta, 27, and Robson also shares a daughter, Lauren, 40, with her ex-boyfriend Tony Tyler. Robson and Dunford, who were married in 1990, live together in London, but a recent report suggests they were having relationship issues. 

According to a source quoted in The Sun, “Linda has been quite open behind the scenes about problems in her marriage. They hit a bit of a rough patch before Christmas, but they’ve managed to work through it. Linda turned to her family and close friends who supported her through it all.”

Although Robson denied that she was experiencing a crisis in her marriage, she acknowledged that things haven’t been easy with her long-term partner. The Sun asked about the issues, and she responded, “That’s a load of rubbish. We’re still living together. We both love our kids more than anything else in the world, obviously, you have a few hiccups in every marriage. We’ve been married 33 years, so it’s not going to be all plain sailing, but we’re still together at the moment.”

During a recent interview, the actress talked about her relationship’s “ups and downs.” She told Best magazine, “There have been ups and downs, obviously, like any couple. What I think we have in common is that we love our kids more than anything.”

Loose Women panelists discussed if taking a “sex break” can help struggling relationships in a June segment that revealed the mother-of-three hadn’t had sex with Dunford in two years. Robson joined the conversation by saying, “Can I just say I’ve been celibate for two years?” to which Denise Welch replied, “I know, but you’ve got to get with the program.”

Robson joked, “I know, you got me a lady friend,” as her fellow panelists laughed. When Charlene White was asked whether celibacy had improved her focus and clarity, she responded, “Well, I’ve had no choice, I’ve not had it for two years!”

Robson and Dunford met as children when she babysat him. During an appearance on Loose Women, she shared their story, saying, “I used to babysit for Mark – he was a couple of years younger than me.

He was just two and a half years younger than me! I was 16, and he was 13 and a half, and he was a bit of a pain in the butt, to be honest. And we lived in the street next to each other.”

After bumping into Dunford several years later while walking in a local park with her three-year-old, the star firmly believed it was fate that brought them together. She revealed that her daughter asked Dunford if he could take them home during the unexpected encounter.

“And then he gives us a lift home, and then he asked me out on a date. So that was fate that day because I’d known him all my life, and I’d never seen him in that way before,” she added. Afterward, Dunford asked Robson out, but Robson wasn’t sure if that was a proper date, and the two went to an Italian restaurant. Robson was in a relationship with Tony Tyler for 11 years before she married Dunford, and the couple had a daughter, Lauren, in 1983. 

During Wednesday’s episode of Loose Women, Robson discussed her recent holiday without her reportedly estranged husband. The panel discussed the actress’ recent trip with Sue Cleaver on the ITV show. Robson said, per Express, “We have been cruising, we were invited onto a cruise.

“I didn’t know Sue was going to be there, so I took my sister Tina, who hasn’t been very well, and she needed a little bit of a break.” As she told the panelists, her sibling was invited, and spending time with her would be nice. When we got to the shop, there was this lady [Sue] there that I’d met probably about 15 years ago or something,” she added.

Cleaver chimed in, revealing that they first met on a Majorca holiday over a decade ago. The Coronation Street star addressed the audience live by saying, “Linda on holiday, oh my god. Linda is the gift that just keeps giving.” As Robson continued, she discussed an incident that landed her and now Dunford in an awkward situation.

Having given her number to a couple she met while away, they contacted her when they returned home, inviting them over for dinner. Despite Dunford’s reservations, they went anyway before realizing it was a swinger’s party. 

Robson explained, “Eventually we got three lovely couples sitting and a lovely dinner. And at the end of the dinner, all of the car keys went into the middle of the table!” They all erupted into laughter when she said Dunford came up with an excuse to get them out of the house.

Birds of a Feather star Robson previously hinted she and Mark were no longer together, telling the panel she does not need anyone. When discussing relationships on the show in September, she said, “I feel like I don’t really need a partner to love me. I’ve got my children, my grandchildren, my sisters and my friends.”