The wife of former UKIP leader Nigel Farage appeared without her wedding ring today hours after it emerged her husband had been sharing a London bolthole with a female French politician.
German-born Kirsten Farage, who has previously been photographed wearing a ring, refused to answer questions at the couple’s family home in Kent today.
But there was mounting speculation about the state of their marriage after it emerged Mr Farage, 52, has been living under the same roof as Laure Ferrari, 37, at a £4million ‘bachelor pad’ in west London.
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Ms Ferrari is at the centre of a investigation by Britain’s elections watchdog into UKIP’s use of funding.
Asked if she could provide details of where her husband was this morning, Mrs Farage simply said: “No”.
However, a stormy-faced Mr Farage arrived shortly after 3pm today and refused to answer questions.
Mr Farage has insisted his relationship with Ms Ferrari was professional and that he was not romantically involved with the former waitress.
Although he confirmed he was sharing the Chelsea home with her, he said claims they are having an affair were ‘crackers’.
He said: “She is someone who I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn’t cost her any money.
“It’s a working relationship, you can inflate that however you want,” he said.
Fears that his marriage could be under strain emerged when Mrs Farage did not take part in the recording of Piers Morgan’s Life Stories featuring her husband two weeks’ ago.
While his parents and brother were present for the intimate television profile, Mrs Farage did not attend the recording or film any clips for the programme.
In a magazine interview in January, the former UKIP leader denied his marriage to Kirsten, his second wife, was in difficulties.
“We get by and bumble along, like most people,” he said.
The couple have two daughters, aged 16 and 11. He has two older sons by his first wife.
In 2014 the Mirror photographed Mr Farage hand in hand with a female companion entering a hotel on Malta in the early hours of the morning.
He denied any impropriety.
Mr Farage and Ms Ferrari first met in 2007 when she was a waitress in Strasbourg.
Within months she was head of public relations for the British delegation to the European Freedom and Democracy group that includes UKIP.
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