Jeremy Vine is "terrified" to be working with his wife Rachel Scofield.
The 55-year-old television presenter – who tied the knot with Rachel in 2002 – will join forces with his partner on ‘The Jeremy Vine Show’ from Monday (07.09.20) as his usual co-host Storm Huntley takes some time off, but he is slightly apprehensive as she has more experience than him.
He said: "She is of course streets ahead of me in every dimension, so I know I’ll be in good hands. Secretly I can’t wait."
Appearing on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ on Thursday (03.09.20), he added: "It wasn’t my idea, it came up in the office. They said, ‘We’ve got an idea for who might fill in for Storm,’ my co-present on Channel 5. I said, ‘OK, hit me with it,’ and they said, ‘It’s your wife.’ "
Rachel, 44, started her career in journalism with BBC Radio 4 in 1999 before joining the BBC News until 2012.
However, her new role on alongside her husband will involve introducing callers and fielding comments from viewers as they discuss the latest hot debates.
She recently said: "I think between us Jeremy and I have over 50 years of broadcasting experience, but amazingly we’ve never ventured into a studio together before, so stepping into the brilliant Storm’s shoes for a week is a unique opportunity.
"I just think I might need it in the contract that he makes the tea when the alarm goes off."
Meanwhile, Jeremy – who has two daughters with Rachel – recently revealed he struggled to cope with the pressures of working five different jobs, raising a young family and the unwanted attentions of a stalker, all of which left him in a bad place.
He said: "I had a stalker, two young children, I was in hunter-gatherer mode, the 2008 crash happened. I was doing five jobs, not really in touch with my emotions and not in a good place.
"I had burnout without a doubt 10 years ago."
The BBC Radio 2 DJ admitted he didn’t feel able to take the time off, even though a psychologist recommended he needed to recover.
He said: "Workplace stress is a big thing. If you talk to psychologists they will tell you by far the majority of their patients have stress-related depressive illness.
"I remember speaking to a friend who was a psychologist who said, ‘If you had a nervous breakdown in the 1950s you would be sent to live with your aunt in the country … and in three or four months you would be better.’
"The problem now is no one has time to do that. [My friend] has patients who are seriously broken and they need to get better fast because they will get fired if they are not back at work in three weeks."