Her witty asides to camera (and of course her wardrobe) delighted viewers in the latest series of The Traitors, but as Claudia Winkleman’s star power – and workload – increases, so does the time that she spends away from her family. And it’s left the presenter feeling conflicted.
An insider tells heat, ‘Claudia has been secretly agonising for years over juggling her home life with her work life. When she quit her radio show, she openly said she wanted to spend more time with her children, because she knew that stating it publicly would make her do something about it. But the reality is, she's more in demand than ever.’
Over the years, Claudia, 53 – who is mum to daughter Matilda, 18, and sons Jake, 21, and Arthur, 13, with her executive producer husband of 24 years, Kris Thykier – has become one of the country’s most-adored TV presenters. Last March, she stepped down from her BBC Radio 2 show in order to spend more time with her family, saying, ‘Time is going too fast, my daughter is getting ready to leave home and she was three about five minutes ago. I still have a little one who wants to be with me – I don't know how long that will last, and I just need to be at home more.’
Several years ago, Claudia also quit the BBC’s flagship movie review show, Film 2016, after being left feeling overwhelmed by her workload, which had resulted in her missing her children’s nativity performance.
But despite Claudia’s best efforts, 2025 seems to be bringing more work than ever before. Following the finale of the third series of The Traitors, she will be back on our screens next month with the return of her quiz show One Question, as well as taking over for Graham Norton on his chat show while he’s on a stand-up tour of Australia. Then she’ll be filming series three of Channel 4’s The Piano, plus The Traitors season four and a celebrity version. All of that will likely take her until September, when the next series of Strictly Come Dancing will kick off.
Our insider reveals, ‘Claudia's work schedule is very intense right now and as much as she loves the work, she does wish that she could scale it back a little to spend more time at home with her family. She battles mum guilt just like anyone, but feels very compelled to continue in her career as TV can be such a ruthless place – especially for women over a certain age. Claudia wants to keep going with her career, break down barriers and challenge herself. But it still makes her feel sad to think that she has to make that sacrifice, and potentially miss out on precious family moments. She's worried that in a blink of an eye, all three children will have properly grown up and left the house, and she'll look back with regrets.’
Luckily, Claudia’s family have been nothing but supportive of her presenting career. ‘Claudia’s kids absolutely love that she is a TV star and always want to see her on-screen, even though she has jokingly banned the family from watching her in anything,’ explains our source.
‘The children would never want their mother to step away from something she loves. Her husband Kris is also very supportive of her choices when it comes to work – both he and Claudia do their fair share when it comes to the kids and always have done. He thinks she's a great mother, but champions her to follow her passions. She feels lucky to have him on her side and as her biggest cheerleader, as it can be really tough for her to say yes to all these different projects knowing that it’s going to mean spending less time with her loved ones.’