The soon-to-be former Prime Minister of Britain Boris Johnson is as famous for his colourful personal life as he is for his impressive political career, having acquired a reputation for philandering and womanising.
When Johnson (or BoJo, as he is nicknamed in the UK), was sworn in as PM in 2019, he sent tongues wagging around the world as he moved into 10 Downing Street with his new girlfriend Carrie Symonds, while technically still married to his second wife of 25 years.
The couple are now married and share two kids but why did his previous marriages end, and who else has he dated in the past?
We’ve got all the juicy details – here’s everything you need to know.
Meet the woman who described Boris as an excellent “ex-husband”
Boris and Allegra coupled up at Oxford University.
(Image: Supplied)
Years before he got into politics, Johnson was a journalist married to the glamorous art world doyenne, Allegra Mostyn-Owen.
The pair got together at Oxford University and were married in 1987, a day Allegra reportedly later described as “the end of their relationship, rather than the beginning”.
The beautiful daughter of art historian and millionaire William Mostyn-Owen has been described as a “Botticelli angel” and was even featured on the cover of Tatler magazine in the late 1980s.
It’s well reported that during the final days of Johnson and Allegra’s relationship, he had begun an affair with his childhood friend Marina Wheeler, who he would later go on to marry.
After six years of marriage in 1993, Allegra reportedly “generously agreed to divorce her husband”, the Daily Mail wrote at the time.
Relations between the former couple have always been perfectly pleasant and Allegra has not once had a bad word to say about the PM, even telling the London Evening Standard in 2012: “He’s a better ex than he was a husband”.
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Allegra’s amazing Tatler cover.
(Image: Supplied)Johnson married his second wife, Marina Wheeler
Boris and Marina’s families have known each other for decades.
(Image: Getty Images)Just an alleged 12 days after he divorced Allegra in 1993, Johnson married Marina Wheeler, a successful barrister whom he has known for decades.
And just five weeks later, the couple’s first child was born. They now have four children, Lara, Milo, Cassia and Theodore.
After 25 years of marriage, it was revealed in September 2018 that the couple had separated “several months ago” and intended to divorce.
“We decided it was in our best interests to separate,” the couple said in a joint statement.
“We have subsequently agreed to divorce and that process is under way. As friends we will continue to support our four children in the years ahead. We will not be commenting further.”
The couple’s daughter Lara, a fashion journalist, has reportedly called her own father “a selfish b–tard” and has insisted that her mother is “finished” with Johnson and will “never take him back”.
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The couple pictured towards the end of their marriage.
(Image: Getty Images)There are whispers Boris’ third affair was the final straw
British journalist Petronella Wyatt pictured in 2007, three years after she ended her affair with Boris Johnson.
(Image: Getty Images)It has been widely reported that Johnson had three affairs while married to Marina.
The first was an alleged four-year relationship with journalist Petronella Wyatt, from 2000 until 2004, when Johnson was her editor at The Spectator.
Petronella, known as “Petsy” to her friends, reportedly fell pregnant with Johnson’s child and later had an abortion.
Petronella’s mother later revealed to the press that Johnson had promised he was going to leave his wife and marry her.
“In the beginning, the reason she went out with him was because he said he was going to marry her. Otherwise, Petronella never went out with a married man,” she told The Sunday Times.
What’s worse is that it’s also claimed Johnson had an affair with The Guardian journalist Anna Fazackerley at the same time he was dating Petronella.
Johnson had an affair with British journalist Anna Fazackerley.
(Image: Twitter)The scandal emerged in 2006 when Rupert Murdoch’s controversial newspaper News of the World revealed the duo were seeing each other.
According to The Sun, “the pair were said to have had sex while he was a junior shadow education minister in 2005. On one occasion Boris got off a flight home from China to hook up with Ms Fazackerley in Paris.”
And then in 2009, it was reported that Boris had an affair with arts consultant Helen MacIntyre and fathered a secret lovechild, a daughter called Stephanie, with his mistress. There was a legal injunction sought to try to ban reporting of the child’s existence, but the judge ruled that the public had the right to know about Johnson’s “reckless” behaviour.
Marina is said to have thrown her husband out of the house several times over the years, but many believe fresh allegations of a new fling were the final straw for the respected barrister. It’s unclear exactly who the reported fling was with.
Boris fathered a secret lovechild with arts consultant Helen MacIntyre.
(Image: Getty Images)Johnson started dating Carrie while he was still married to his second wife
Carrie Symonds is a British publicity queen who has been credited with transforming Boris’ public image.
(Image: Getty)Johnson is now married to British PR whiz Carrie Symonds. She is reportedly highly respected in parliamentary circles and actually worked as a press officer for his London Mayer campaign, BackBoris2012.
She was even named the UK’s most powerful public relations professional by PR Week magazine. She currently works as a senior adviser to ocean conservation charity Oceana.
The pair were first spotted together on Valentine’s Day in 2018 – and in February 2020 announced their engagement and Carrie’s surprise pregnancy.
The couple welcomed their first son, Wilfred, in 2020 just weeks after Johsnon was discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for COVID-19.
A year later, the parents got married in a “small ceremony” at Westminster Cathedral.
Then, as 2021 came to a close, Boris and Carrie announced the birth of their baby girl, Romy.
“Both mother and daughter are doing very well,” an official statement read at the time.
Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson pictured arriving together to the Commonwealth Day celebrations in March 2020.
(Image: Getty)Carrie’s romance with the PM got off to a scandalous start – it’s said that the pair started dating while Johnson was still married to his ex-wife Marina Wheeler.
Furthermore, in June 2019, the couple made headlines after police were called to their London apartment when neighbours said they heard the couple shouting at each other, including slamming and banging, with reports Carrie could be heard telling her boyfriend “Get off me” and “Get out of my flat”.
Neighbours said Carrie reprimanded Johnson after he reportedly spilled red wine on the couch and that they heard a loud smashing sound that sounded like plates.
“You just don’t care for anything because you’re spoilt. You have no care for money or anything,” she reportedly said.
Following the argument, a happy photo of the couple relaxing together in the countryside just happened to surface online.
The image of the couple released shortly after reports of their domestic row.
(Image: Supplied)Johnson’s team were accused of leaking the positive photo in an attempt to downplay the domestic dispute.
Aside from their early domestic rumblings, the couple usually keep a low profile and are rarely photographed together.
They were first non-married couple to live together at 10 Downing Street.
Carrie, pictured outside Downing Street, wore this pretty summer dress after her official public appearance.
(Image: Getty)
