Piers Morgan’s wife Celia Walden has credited a ‘marriage sabbatical’ with reviving their relationship.
The couple – who celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in June – spent five weeks apart where their only communication was via text in a bid to ‘reboot’ their marriage.
Speaking on Thursday’s episode of Lorraine, Celia, 46, revealed the break had ‘worked wonders for their relationship’ and that it ‘felt like the early days of marriage’ when they finally reunited.
Taking time out: Piers Morgan’s wife Celia Walden has credited a ‘marriage sabbatical’ with reviving their relationship (pictured in 2021)
Speaking to stand-in host Christine Lampard while appearing remotely from France, Celia revealed that they spent more than a month apart while Piers, 57, was working on a serial killer documentary and she was working in Los Angeles.
‘It was very good for both of us,’ she explained. ‘We didn’t have problems before, it was nothing like that, but it’s been a long pandemic hasn’t it.’
Revealing how she felt when they reunited, she said: ‘I just found it so exciting when we saw each other again, it felt like the early days of our marriage, or even the early days of dating and I loved that.’
Catching up: Speaking with Christine Lampard on Thursday’s episode of Lorraine, Celia, 46, revealed the break had ‘worked wonders for their relationship’
However she warned: ‘If you have any problem with your marriage, don’t do it.
‘It doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder does it, if you’re in a perilous place for whatever reason.’
Asked if she would schedule another marriage sabbatical for the future, Celia mused: ‘Probably a good moment to have it – Christmas is always a bit of a nightmare, isn’t it?
‘In terms of, coming out of Christmas and into January, nobody wants to be anywhere near their family. So, I think possibly by February I’ll be ready for another one. Maybe just a fortnight this time, or even a week.’
Celia revealed that her only concern going into the marriage sabbatical was caring for their 10-year-old daughter Elise.
Piers also has three children from his previous marriage to Marion Shalloe, sons Spencer, 29, Stanley, 25, and Albert, 22.
Celia explained: ‘Well my daughter stayed with me, because I don’t think I can be away from her for that long. Piers was fine but not her and I think that worked out very nicely.’
She added: ‘I wouldn’t forcibly take away a child from their father but it was a work necessity and she spoke to him a lot more than I did.’
Doting dad: Celia revealed that her only concern going into the marriage sabbatical was caring for their 10-year-old daughter Elise
Last month, Celia detailed her ‘marriage sabbatical’ in her column for The Telegraph, as she urged ‘every married couple who has lived through three lockdowns’ to follow her lead.
Comparing their union to rebooting a computer, she noted: ‘There was nothing wrong. We weren’t glitching. It wasn’t like the little rainbow wheel known as Satan’s beachball had started turning in my head every time he spoke (although I can’t speak for him).
‘But when you consider how unnatural it was to spend every waking hour in your other half’s company for all those long months, it’s a miracle any couple – married or not – made it through unscathed.’
Celia warned: ‘If you have any problem with your marriage, don’t do it. It doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder does it, if you’re in a perilous place for whatever reason’
Speaking on Good Morning Britain in 2020, Piers previously discussed how he spiced up the couple’s sex life after they became stuck in a rut during lockdown.
The hilarity began when Susanna Reid made reference to an article by Celia in which she joked that she’d had her ‘fill of him’, with her husband then giving suggestions on how to make things more exciting.
Susanna began by saying: ‘By the way, your lovely wife was talking about your…’
Piers then jumped in by confirming: ‘Role play? Yes’, as Susanna continued: ‘Can I just say, this isn’t a private conversation – this is a national newspaper column in The Telegraph this morning!’
Going on to explain things in more detail, Piers went said: ‘You know when you’re stuck inside… So, my wife out of nowhere decided to tell this story.
‘When you’re with the same person all year and you can’t really go anywhere or do anything, it does get a bit boring… So I suggested dinner together.’
In the article, Celia then suggested they attend dinner together as different people and pretend they didn’t know each other.
Celia said in her column: ‘There would have to be rules of course, wedding rings would come off and we’d be allowed to only meet in the restaurant pub.
‘We could do the whole , ‘Is this seat taken?’ and I was already planning personas, outfits and lame first date topics when my husband forwarded this exchange.’
Susanna was left cringing as Piers elaborated: ‘My wife asked me if I had any fantasies and I said I had just one, we pretend we’re complete strangers and we’ve never met.’
Planning: Asked if she would schedule another marriage sabbatical for the future, Celia mused, ‘Probably a good moment to have it – Christmas is always a bit of a nightmare, isn’t it?’
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