'I was so glad Jackie thought I was gay', says Laurence

television

Kerri-Ann Roper

Changing Rooms presenter Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has said he is glad his wife Jackie thought he was gay when they first met aged 19 at a dinner party.

They've been married for 25 years.

"It was a complete, Olympic instant attraction," he told Radio Times.

"I was actually quite pleased to find that she had assumed I was gay because it meant that my very, very stealth pounce was entirely unexpected and unguarded."

Bowen's latest venture is a BBC2 documentary called Cracking China. With a camera crew in tow, he's trying to expand his business ventures in China and Mexico.

He's also attempting to venture into lingerie designing at the same time.

Bowen credits his marriage success to the fact that the couple have "completely and utterly grown up together".

"We enjoy each other so much, you know," he said.

intimacy

"The children aren't around any more, and we spend so much time together - we have a Pre-Raphaelite intensity and intimacy."

He described his two daughters, Cecile and Hermione, as "not brats at all and they are very thoughtful".

He also admitted having always had a 'thing' for The Good Life's Margo Lead- better, played by actress Penelope Keith, but says Jackie is far sexier.

"She's like Margo Lead- better with Madonna thrown in," he said.