bill bailey

Everything you need to know about Bill Bailey's wife Kristin

The comedian tied the knot back in 1998

Deputy Online Editor
Updated: December 17, 2020

British comedian Bill Bailey, swapped the mic for the ballroom on this year's Strictly Come Dancing - and we are loving every minute of him on the show. He has already amassed a huge army of fans supporting him throughout his stint, and his wife Kristin has no doubt been his biggest fan while cheering him on from the sidelines.

READ: Jamie Laing opens up about JJ Chalmers and Amy Dowden's controversial Strictly exit

Who is Kristin Bailey?

The couple first met at one of Bill's comedy gigs in 1987. At the time, Kristin managed a bar in Edinburgh and Bill said he was immediately drawn to her "wild spirit".

WATCH: Check out Bill's amazing Strictly Come Dancing transformation

"She had a very distinctive style," the 55-year-old told the Scotsman in 2015. "She had this long brocade coat, and I realised she was a free spirit and did her own thing. We ended up chatting away, and all went to a party, and she put me up on her sofa."

MORE: Kevin Clifton hints regret over quitting Strictly Come Dancing

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MORE: 13 of Strictly's most dramatic transformations revealed

Before they started dating, Bill went touring and kept in touch by writing letters to Kristin every day for an entire year. She used to be a costume designer but now manages Bill's business affairs.

When did they get married?

They tied the knot ten years later in 1998 in Indonesia. Talking to The Independent in 2009, Bill shared: "We were travelling around Asia and sailed into a place called Banda, with a beautiful lagoon, and a smoking volcano on one side and a Dutch colonial fort, an old church and remains of a little town on the other."

He added: "We decided to get married there and then."

© Photo: BBC

Bill Bailey is one of the stars in this year's series

Do the couple have any children?

Bill and Kristin are doting parents to their 14-year-old son Dax. He was named after a child the couple met on their travels. "Contrary to popular belief, Dax is not named after a Star Trek character," the doting dad previously told the Guardian.

MORE: The Strictly Come Dancing relationships that didn't stand the test of time

"The name came from a friend of ours who married an Indonesian man. They had a son called Dax and we just always associated it with being in Indonesia and always said, 'If ever we have a child, that'll be in the running'."

Where do they live?

The family live in a large Victorian house in Hammersmith, London. The TV star has lived around west London ever since arriving from the West Country in his twenties.

© Photo: Getty Images

The star shares one son with his wife - here pictured in 2012

"I guess it's the first place you reach. I used to live on a houseboat near Hammersmith Bridge," he told Evening Standard in 2018. "Sometimes in the night the keel got stuck in the silt, the boat would tip up and you'd wake up with your feet up the hull. Eventually, when we were looking for a house, the criteria got lower and lower. 'What happens if the tide goes out?' 'Nothing.' 'We'll take it'."

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