Gogglebox's Jenny Newby's life off screen including rarely-seen husband Ray
Jenny Newby is one of the most popular stars of Gogglebox, where she stars alongside her best pal, Lee Riley, as they delight fans every Friday night. Jenny and Lee joined the Channel 4 show in 2014, and have been entertaining fans ever since with their hilarious commentary and chemistry together as they watch the week's TV highlights.
The hilarious pair film the series inside Lee's holiday caravan in Holderness, Yorkshire. Although Lee's long-term partner Steve Mail has made a guest appearance on the show, Jenny's husband, Ray prefers to stay out of the spotlight. When Jenny was approached to join the Gogglebox, it wasn't her husband she asked to star alongside her, but her best friend, Lee.
While viewers have never had a glimpse of Jenny's husband, he made a brief cameo on the show as she spoke to him over the phone in one episode. "Ray, can you do me a favour and pick up my prescription tomorrow?," she was heard asking.
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She then swiftly followed up with: "Hold on a minute!” Ray had been invited to take part in the show with Jenny when she was first scouted at Beverley Races Ladies' Day in 2014, however he declined the offer prompting best pal Lee to take his place on the couch.
Jenny and Lee have been best friends for more than 20 years after they met at The Crown Inn in Paull. At the time, Jenny was the landlady and Lee was a regular customer.
While enjoying a day out at Beverley Ladies Day, Jenny got talking to a Channel 4 researcher and after telling them she was a huge fan of the show, she was asked to join the cast. Lee previously opened up about Jenny convincing him to join her on the show instead of her husband Ray, who prefers to stay out of the limelight.
"She asked me if I wanted to sit and do a test filming with her," Lee shared with the Hull Daily Mail. "I'd never seen Gogglebox, it had only just started, so I walked into filming swearing my head off because she'd got me out of bed on my day off."
Jenny and Lee's friendship began in 1994 when she was running a pub in Yorkshire - and they quickly became inseparable. "Lee was a customer at my pub, The Crown Inn in Paull" she shared with Ireland's Big Issue. "He became a regular in 1994 and used to come in pretty much every night with his partner and we were friends from the off. We've been best friends ever since."
Lee quipped: "I wish I've never gone in the pub it cost me a fortune. When I first met her she had a perm and I can remember thinking, 'she needs a haircut'. We were firm friends immediately. I don't think we've ever had an argument. We're too placid to argue. She makes me laugh too much for me to ever fall out with her."
The best friends, who share a joint Instagram account boasting 878,000 followers, loved to watch TV together, long before before Jenny was approached for Gogglebox. She said: “To be honest, all we’re doing is what we already did. We’d go down to Lee’s house or he’d come around to ours and we’d watch TV and talk about it. The only difference now is we’re on telly doing it.”
Since joining the show together, their friendship has strengthened, regularly enjoying holidays together and they even isolated together so they could continue filming during the coronavirus lockdown.
Jenny is the matriarch of her close-knit family, and, in August 2023, she welcomed her third great-granddaughter. A picture of the proud grandmother holding the newborn was posted Jenny and Lee's shared Instagram account, alongside the caption: "Congratulations Jenny on your new great granddaughter Olive-Mae. More babysitting duties I think xx".
