Ben Fogle’s wife, Marina Fogle, has shared her ‘nauseating’ and ‘fury’ inducing interaction with social services after being accused of verbal abuse towards her two children.
Broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle, 50, married wife Marina, host of the podcast The Parent Hood, in 2006. The couple shares two children, Iona and Ludovic, born in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
Now – prompted by Kirstie Allsopp having social services called on her after she allowed her 15-year-old son to go inter-railing around Europe without an adult – Marina has opened up about her own ‘sinister’ experience which took place in 2013.
She explained that she found a letter from social services about a complaint after returning from a family holiday but before she was able to correct the ‘error’, ‘two ladies with badges’ arrived on her doorstep.
‘A neighbour had reported us for supposedly shouting at our children, they said, the kind of sustained verbal abuse that was simply unacceptable,’ she explained.
At the time her children were aged three and four and were ‘playing in the kitchen’ while the questioning took place.
As Marina tried to explain, the whole family had been on holiday on the date the neighbours claimed to have heard the abuse.
She provided ‘boarding passes’ as ‘irrefutable proof’ before being asked about her home life all the while ‘anxious not to convey the frustration and emerging fury I was feeling,’ as she wrote in The Times.
After the social service workers spent some time with the children, and saw their toys, they concluded ‘there wasn’t an issue’.
Marina conceded that these tip-offs can be ‘genuine’ but ‘sometimes they get it wrong’ as she went on to defend Kirstie.
‘Even though I was completely innocent, my interaction with social services rocked me,’ she added, explaining that Ben was also ‘so shocked’ that he ‘suspected it might have been someone wanting to cause trouble.’
‘Either way, I felt tarnished by the experience,’ Marina said.
TV personality Ben has been on screens since BBC reality show Castaway in 2000 and has since appeared on ITV, Channel 5 and Sky in shows such as Crufts, Countryfile and Animal Clinic.
Elsewhere, Location Location Location star Kirstie has also addressed the ongoing backlash to her son’s summer travels, including those who contacted social services for neglect.
Speaking to Times Radio earlier this month she described it as ‘a malicious call, made by someone who was obviously trying to upset me’.
And she also added to the Mail on Sunday that she ‘felt sick, absolutely sick’.
‘Then I was cross. I was very, very cross. It was just so extraordinary. I was in a parallel universe where they were actually taking this seriously.
‘I have broken no law and nothing about allowing my child to travel around Europe is neglectful,’ she added.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Ben Fogle shares heartbreaking tribute to son on 10th anniversary of his stillbirth
