Veteran broadcaster Tony Blackburn has made a startling confession, revealing he was unfaithful to his first wife with the woman who lived next door.
A Marriage Unravelled by Infidelity
The 82-year-old radio presenter opened up about the past betrayal during a candid conversation on Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast. Blackburn was married to actress Tessa Wyatt, now 77, after the pair tied the knot at London's Caxton Hall in 1972. Their son, Simon, was born a year later.
Their union, however, was not to last. The couple ultimately separated in 1977, with both parties having engaged in affairs with their close friends' partners. While Blackburn had a relationship with Margo Webb, Webb's husband, Roger, was simultaneously involved with Wyatt.
The Neighbour's Secret and a Bookish Discovery
Blackburn disclosed a further layer of marital deceit, admitting to a separate affair with his and Wyatt's next-door neighbour, Rebecca Sayce. Intriguingly, Wyatt was herself in a relationship with Sayce's husband at the time.
The radio star confessed that his first wife only learned of his infidelity with their neighbour by reading about it in his published autobiography. "She didn't know I was having an affair with the next-door neighbour, and then she was having an affair with her [the neighbour's] husband," Blackburn stated. "She didn't know I was having an affair until she read the book. Isn't it awful."
Reflecting on the breakdown of the marriage, Blackburn added, "She left me for Richard O'Sullivan. We got married too young. I could never understand why she married me in the first place because she was very beautiful."
Lasting Love and a Confession of Embellishment
Blackburn found lasting happiness with Debbie Thomson, whom he married in 1992. The couple welcomed their daughter, Victoria, in 1997. In an interview with Bang! Showbiz, the broadcaster credited his stable home life for his enduring career, now spanning decades.
"How have I managed to last for so long? I'm very happily married, which helps," he explained, noting his wife often drives him to his live 'Sound of the 60s' theatre shows.
In a separate revelation last year, Blackburn admitted to fabricating a salacious claim in his memoir that he slept with 250 women before marrying Debbie. He told Radio Times the exaggerated figure was invented because he was "fed up being asked about my personal life," and confessed he had not read the final manuscript before publication. "Not my best moment, to be honest," he said. "I didn't read my own autobiography. It was stupid."
