Inside Christopher Biggins' short-lived marriage to wife and why he 'opposed gay weddings'

has been on UK screens for over five decades and rose to fame as an actor with roles in Porridge, Poldark and I, Claudius. However, in addition to his acting capability, the 76-year-old quickly rose to prominence for his larger-than-life personality after featuring in different reality shows, such as and on

Although Christopher is openly gay and supportive of the community, he was previously married to a woman, after feeling like he had to "live a lie." At 23, he tied the knot with Australian actress Beatrice Norbury, who was 10 years his senior, but their marriage was short-lived as they divorced three years later. Speaking on their union, Christopher previously admitted: "I'd known for years that I was gay, but getting married was the done thing. I suppose I was living a lie."

He added: "It was just one of those things you did, I think, in those days. We have remained friends and are still in touch."

The actor also said that men being fearful of being openly homosexual could "ruin" women's lives.

Christopher told The Big Issue: "I think the people who fear homosexuality most are the ones who could be gay. The world is full of bisexuals because that's the way they want to do it. What do they do? They ruin a woman's life."

The TV star is now in a relationship with air steward Neil Sinclair, whom he met in 1992, and the pair celebrated their partnership with a civil ceremony in Hackney Register Office in 2006.

Despite this, Christopher openly opposed gay weddings and surprised many as he shared his controversial view during a 2012 interview on 's .

He said that he believed same-sex marriage should not be legalised, strictly stating that marriage "is for heterosexual couples"

However, when same-sex marriage was introduced in England and Wales in 2014, Biggins attended the "I Do To Equal Marriage" event celebrating it.

That year, Christopher was among the thousands of people attending comedian Sandi Toksvig's vow renewal ceremony to her partner Debbie.

Other famous faces who attended The Royal Hall Festival were comedian Phill Jupitus, fashion guru Mary Portas, and activist Peter Tatchell.