Lee Mack has opened up about the widespread disbelief that he could attract his beautiful wife, Tara McKillop, without the help of fame and fortune.

The 1% Club presenter, 56, admitted that people often assume Tara was drawn to him because of his public standing and wealth rather than his personal qualities.

He recounted during an interview that even a fellow comedian's sibling questioned whether he had performed a heroic deed to win her over.

Recalling a conversation with Roisin Conaty, Lee shared that her sister was shocked to discover that he had known Tara since their university days, long before his rise to fame.

Discussing his relationship history on a podcast in 2021, Lee said: "We talked the other day with Roisin Conaty."

He then recounted the reaction when revealing his longstanding bond with Tara, saying: "Her sister met Tara and said 'I assume you two have been together after you became a comedian and a bit of money'."

To which Lee clarified: "And I said 'no, no, we met before I ever was a comedian when we were at university.'".

The conversation took a humorous turn as the sister expressed her surprise: "And she looked aghast at why this woman would be with me. And do you know what she said? 'Did you save her life or something?'"

Lee found the "bold" assumption quite striking, adding: "I thought that's an incredibly bold statement to make after five minutes of meeting someone."

A decade after they met while studying at Brunel University, Lee and Tara tied the knot in 2005 and are now the proud parents to three children, Arlie, Louie and Millie.

Opening up about having children a little later in life, the Not Going Out star previously told : "I waited fairly late to have kids. I am 46 and my eldest is 10.

"Nowadays, 36 isn't massively late but I would probably have kids earlier because it has been so great. I now have a three-year-old - and I have more time but less energy."

The Would I Lie To You star leads a private life in East Molesey, Surrey, and enjoys the normalcy in his "grounded" home life.

Speaking to , he previously said: "Family is everything to me. I'm quite a homey person. The job is an escape from reality: you get treated phenomenally well and get paid well, and I can see why people who haven't got a grounded home life go a bit mental."