gary lineker smiling

Meet Gary Lineker's family: from his ex-wife and siblings to children

The former England footballer is fronting the BBC's Euros 2020 coverage

Senior Features Writer
Updated: July 2, 2021

As the Euros 2020 football tournament enters the final rounds, retired footballer Gary Lineker is the man bringing us all the latest news on the exciting matches.

The BBC Match of the Day host is a former England striker who remarkably never received a red or yellow card during his whole career – impressive. He's also well known for his crisp adverts!

MORE: Gary Lineker's incredible garden has to be seen to be believed

WATCH: Gary's son George loses his sense of taste

Gary is certainly the man of the hour on TV right now, but how about his life away from the cameras? The 60-year-old star lives in Barnes, London and his children split their time between their mother and father's houses following Gary's divorce.

Find out more about Gary Lineker's family life below…

Gary Lineker's former partners

Gary married his first wife, Michelle Cockayne, in 1986. Twenty years after they tied the knot, however, it was announced that Michelle was divorcing Gary on the grounds of "unreasonable behaviour," and she later claimed that Gary's actions during their marriage had caused her "stress and anxiety."

In 2007 Gary started dating model Danielle Bux, who is 20 years his junior, after being set up on a blind date. Two years later, as featured exclusively in HELLO! magazine, Gary and Danielle tied the knot in a gorgeous ceremony in Italy.

However, in 2016 the pair announced they were to divorce amid reports that they parted ways because they had different ideas about starting a family together.

MORE: 11 royal children in cute suits! From Prince George to young Prince William

© Photo: Getty Images

Gary and Danielle split in 2016

Gary Lineker's children

Gary shares four sons with ex-wife Michelle: George, Harry, Tobias and Angus. Gary is very close to his children, and back in April 2019 he recalled the devastating moment his eldest son George was given just one night left to live when he battled a rare form of leukaemia as a baby.

George, now 28, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia after Gary and ex-wife Michelle noticed a lump on their young son's head.

Gary with his four sons

The Match of the Day presenter spoke about the heartbreaking time on BLANK podcast with Jon Daly and Giles Pale-Phillips, telling them: "I could cope with it while he was ill. I could cope with it while I felt there was hope. But there was a couple of times when they told us, they said, 'Honestly, we've got to warn you that we will be quite surprised if he makes it through the night.'"

Gary recently took to his Instagram Stories to tell fans of a special lunch he had with his four sons and a 'special guest', German professional football manager and former player Jurgen Klinsmann.

Gary with sons and Jurgen Klinsmann

"Particularly in lockdown, I have also found a love for healthy cooking. My signature dish is gambas al ajillo – prawn in garlic, something I fell in love with during my time playing for Barcelona," he revealed.

MORE: Andy Murray's family: Who are the Wimbledon star's wife and children?

© Photo: Getty Images

Gary's younger brother Wayne

Gary Lineker's brother Wayne

Gary has one sibling, Wayne, who is two years his junior. Wayne works as a DJ and Beach Club owner in Ibiza and has made a number of appearances on The Only Way is Essex.

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up to HELLO Daily! for the best royal, celebrity and lifestyle coverage

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More Parenting

See more