Being single parents helped us fall in love, says Kirsty Gallagher as she reveals TV couple introduced her to boyfriend

, the daughter of Scots golfing legend Bernard ­Gallacher revealed: “We’re very happy. We both had similar stories — we are single parents and love playing golf.

“He looks after me and tells me to have time off as I can be a workaholic. Gabby and Kenny, obviously they love him.

“We played golf with them a week ago actually.”

The star, who has two sons with ex-husband Paul Sampson, who she split from in 2015, said: “I’m usually running around like mad with the children at their sport but my boyfriend encourages me to take a day off as I work on Saturdays doing my radio show.

“I do myself in a bit sometimes, where I get exhausted and try to be everything for my children.

“It just works really well between us. And my boys Oscar and Jude love him and he’s got a gorgeous ­little girl. We’re very content. We’ve been together nearly a year.”

The couple met last autumn at a fundraising event in memory of late rugby player Doddie Weir, who died in 2022 from motor neurone disease.

Kirsty revealed: “I joined Gabby and Kenny on this ­Edinburgh-to- France fundraiser endurance challenge and Darren was there.

“He’s an ex-rugby player and he now has a sporting events ­company that he’s quite immersed in.

“I think it’s very impressive. ­Anyway we got talking and went on a date the week after we came back from Paris. It’s been very natural.

“It’s been wonderful and we’ve been very ­private for nearly a year and no one’s known and I’ve not wanted to talk about it.

“But then this summer I put a ­picture of us up on Instagram. I don’t put a hell of a lot up on there, but it just felt right.”

The Smooth Radio host, who inherited her love of golf from dad Bernard, who was captain of the European Ryder Cup team in the 1990s, has enjoyed several romantic breaks to Devon, where Darren’s parents live.

She said: “It’s been lovely. We first went at Christmas and spent New Year’s there. We did lots of walking and going to cosy pubs.

“Darren’s dad is obsessed by golf — which is priceless.

“We’ve been playing together — we’re a golf-obsessed family.”

Prior to Darren, Kirsty has been linked to ex-boxing champ Johnny Nelson and actor Laurence Fox, and she was spotted having a date with comic Paddy McGuinness last year.

She candidly opened up about her difficult split from her ex-husband, who she was with for 14 years, on pal Gabby’s Midpoint podcast.

She was competing in the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and presenting for Sky Sports at the time.

In the discussion, she said: “It was more than exhausting, emotionally, physically. I had a breakdown. I didn’t cope very well after that. I just kept going for so long.”

Kirsty, who left her hosting job with GB News in 2021 due to the symptoms of tinnitus caused by a benign tumour in her ear, now has a ­Saturday show on Smooth Radio.

Based in leafy Surrey, she has always thrown herself into fitness and enjoys playing sport with her family in her free time.

‘It’s very impressive’

She said: “When we were in Cornwall and in Devon in the ­summer we were all surfing, paddle boarding and going on boats as much as possible.

"Of course, we’re all into golf.

"My boyfriend and I regularly play golf with my boys, who are 17 and 14.

“I think my youngest son would like to be a golfer and take after my dad.

We’re very happy. We both had similar stories
and we both love playing golf. He looks after me and tells me to have time off as I can be a workaholic

Kirsty Gallacher

"We’re also all playing a lot of paddle ball. Gabby and I play quite a bit too.

"But we’re a very active family. It’s so nice that both my children are sporty because it would be strange if they weren’t.

“I know that if I feel a bit ­sluggish I need to exercise. I think I need that stimulation, I need the serotonin and the endorphins to be buzzing around.

"I think that’s important for me and I think for me it’s always been the same. It’s what I’ve done for years — it keeps me ticking over.

“Now the kids are back at school I’ll get back into my routine of weight training, which I enjoy.

“I feel like I’ve lost my strength a little bit but it’s fine.

“I think it’s good to have a break from the norm as well.”

Kirsty also has a love of animals and fancies hosting a wildlife documentary alongside her sports work.

She said: “We have a lot of pets at home. Theo the tortoise is gorgeous and has the best life ever.

‘I need the serotonin’

“Then I’ve got Bertie the French bulldog as well as a rescue cocker spaniel called Frank, who’s from Battersea Dogs Home. I do a lot with that charity.

"Next I would like to rescue some battery hens. Darren keeps trying to stop me — he finds me looking at them online.”

Kirsty, who has recorded an audio sports series for National Rail’s Days Out Guide, said: “I’ve spent all summer travelling by train to Devon and Cornwall, and it’s been wonderful.

“You can get so much done when you’re not driving, and your holiday starts as soon as you sit down and look out the window.

“I’ve teamed up with National Rail to host an audio series interviewing the great and the good of the sporting world, talking about Britain’s fantastic sports and sporting locations, encouraging as many people as possible to go on a ­sporting discovery by train.”