Does Gary Lineker have a wife? Inside the star’s love life
Gary Lineker hasn’t been in the news more since his World Cup days. After disputes with the BBC, we take a look at the ex-footballer’s love life, including if Gary Lineker has a wife and his previous marriages to Michelle Cockayne and Danielle Bux.
Gary Lineker has been a huge name in football since debuting professionally for Leicester City in 1986. Though he never had a win, his goals for the England team during his World Cup years are still fondly remembered to this day. Nowadays, he’s more famous for being a football pundit and presenter, as well as the face of Walkers.
Starting with Match of the Day in 1999, he’s now reported to be the BBC’s most-paid star, making approximately £1.35 million from the gig.
If seeing his name in the news has made you curious about his love life, then we’ll be able to fit you in.
Does Gary Lineker have a wife?
Currently, Gary Lineker does not have a wife. The footballer has been married twice before to Michelle Cockayne and Danielle Bux.
The former striker hasn’t been married since 2016 and seems to be enjoying the single life. In fact, Gary spoke to The Daily Star about how he likes being “selfish.”
“I’m happy being single now. It’s nice to be unanswerable in a slightly selfish way and I’m not actively seeking a partner right now.”
Though the 62-year-old was in a “happy place” when giving the interview early last year, he did remark that he might not always feel that way.
“that might change. I might need someone to change my nappies. Who knows?”
One thing is certain, you won’t be swiping right on Gary’s face any time soon. Even if the presenter does go looking for love, it won’t be through online dating.
“The thought of going on a dating app makes me grimace. I know there’s a celebrity one called Raya, but I’ve never been on it and I never would. Dating is hard enough work anyway. I just can’t imagine doing it. I don’t know how people manage it. It’s definitely not for me.”
Looks like Gary will be sticking to the more traditional methods of finding love if he chooses to do some.
Gary was married to Michelle Cockayne
The footballer was first married in 1986 to Michelle Cockayne. Over their 20-year marriage, the two had four sons, George, Harry, Tobias and Angus.
His eldest son, George had a rare form of leukaemia when he was just 2 months old and was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Speaking about the ordeal on the Beyond the Headline podcast, Gary went on to support CLIC Sargent, a children’s cancer charity and has even appeared in advertising campaigns for them.
Gary and Michelle divorced in 2006 after they had “grown apart.” The news came as a surprise as many believed the two had a strong marriage, especially after so many years together.
A year later, Gary started dating actress model Danielle Bux who is 20 years younger than him. Proving his traditional ways, they got together after being set up on a blind date.
In 2009, the two got married in a lavish ceremony in Italy. During their marriage, they won an episode of Mr and Mrs and were able to give £30,000 to charity.
Unfortunately, the two announced they were divorcing in early 2016. The reason this time was that Gary, who was 56 at the time, didn’t want any more children. Luckily, the two are very amicable and the footballer admitted that they text multiple times a day and see each other as often as they can.
“Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time.”
Proving that the split was a hard decision for the two of them, Gary told The Times that he “obviously would have” had children for Danielle, but she thought it wasn’t “fair” on him.
Since their divorce, Danielle Bux has gone on to marry Nate Greenwald and the two now have a daughter.