Inside Simon Rimmer's life off air - from rarely seen wife, net worth to bankruptcy fears
Sunday Brunch star Simon Rimmer is a regular on the Channel 4 show waking up the nation at the weekend alongside his co-presenter Tim Lovejoy.
Simon Rimmer has been presenting Sunday Brunch on Channel 4 with his co-star Tim Lovejoy since 2012. Express.co.uk takes an inside look into the TV chef's life from his rarely-seen wife, and huge net worth to bankruptcy fears.
Despite being married since 1996, Simon, 61, and his wife Ali typically shy away from public appearances together, opting to maintain their privacy. The on-screen star recently surprised fans at the 2024 Golden Chopsticks Awards when he appeared alongside his other half in May.
The couple have been married for the past three decades, Simon and his wife Ali first met when they were waiting tables together, long before his success on TV.
The pair reside in Manchester with their two children, Florence and Hamish as well as their dog Cali and cat Glinda.
"In life, like most people, we've had our ups and downs," Simon candidly revealed in a 2018 interview with Mind Map. "But through it all, Ali has been my rock and my partner in life. We've managed to navigate through everything together, and I am incredibly grateful for the family we've built."
In a tell-all conversation with the Daily Express, he confessed that the most significant day in his life was the birth of his kids, stating "when you're handed your child and you become a parent, it's the most amazing moment."
Born on May 5 1963 in Wallasey, Wirral, Simon worked as a filing clerk at an Insurance Broker when he was at sixth-form college, before embarking on his career as a chef.
He also originally studied fashion and textile design at Leicester Polytechnic, before teaching himself to cook in 1990.
Not long after, he bought Greens restaurant in West Didsbury, Manchester.
Simon has previously addressed his bankruptcy fears after he admitted becoming "too cocky".
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Speaking to presenter Kate Thornton on her podcast White Wine Question Time in 2021, he described the period when he and his wife opened two new venues within 18 months as "the worst of times" after The Viking pub was forced to close and he entered into a race with the bank to sell before foreclosure.
He said: “I think then we got cocky and we opened another restaurant that wasn't veggie that was just around the corner from here and we nearly went bankrupt as we opened a third one pretty soon after that.
"So we had three restaurants, we opened two restaurants in the space of 18 months, we thought we were invincible."
He now has a number of restaurants across the UK, including branches of Rudys in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, Liberty Tavern in Woolton Village Liverpool and Alberts Schloss in Manchester.
The renowned chef, has an estimated net worth of £1.2 million, and it is understood he earned his fortune from his chain of restaurants. He has also authored several books and hosted shows like Making a Meal of It on BBC Two and Secrets of Our Favourite Snacks on Channel 4.
Fans of Strictly Come Dancing may remember him from the 2017 series, where he and his partner danced their way to week six before being eliminated.
Simon has also tested his knowledge on celebrity TV shows, appearing on programmes such as Pointless Celebrities and Celebrity Mastermind, where he chose football club Tranmere Rovers as his specialist topic.
