Elizabeth Rizzini is not currently married. The BBC weather presenter was previously married to an Italian man, a relationship that ended in divorce in 2016. Since 2019, she has been in a long-term relationship with BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner. The two are not married.
That is the direct answer. Below is everything behind it.
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She Was Married Before — and Kept It Almost Entirely Private
Elizabeth’s first marriage was to an Italian national. She has never publicly named him, and he has remained completely out of the public eye throughout.
The marriage produced two daughters. Her younger daughter was born in 2014. By 2016, the marriage was over.
Elizabeth has not spoken publicly about why the relationship ended. That has been a consistent choice on her part across her entire BBC career. What is known comes from small details she shared on social media at the time, including a tweet in which she mentioned her husband was Italian, and a March 2018 post wishing her then-father-in-law a happy 80th birthday.
Beyond that, she has not gone further, and there is nothing credible to suggest otherwise.
Who Is Frank Gardner?
Before getting into how the relationship with Elizabeth began, it helps to understand who Frank Gardner is, because his story is extraordinary.
Frank Gardner is the BBC’s Security Correspondent. He was born on 31 July 1961 and graduated from the University of Exeter in 1984 with a degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. He joined BBC World as a producer and reporter in 1995, became the corporation’s first full-time Gulf correspondent in 1997, and was appointed BBC Middle East correspondent in 1999.
On 6 June 2004, while reporting from the Al-Suwaidi district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Frank was shot six times by Al-Qaeda gunmen. His Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers was killed at the scene. One of the bullets hit Frank’s spinal nerves, leaving him partially paralysed in both legs. He underwent 14 surgical operations and spent seven months in hospital. He has used a wheelchair ever since.
He returned to journalism in mid-2005 and has reported from conflict zones around the world since. In the 2005 Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to journalism.
Before Elizabeth, Frank had been married to Amanda Jane Pearson. They married in 1997 and separated in 2018 after more than two decades together. The divorce was finalised in 2019. They have two daughters, Sasha and Melissa, and Frank has spoken warmly about Amanda in interviews. The two have remained on good terms.
How Elizabeth Rizzini and Frank Gardner Got Together
They met in a lift at work. Both are BBC employees, and somewhere along the way, a routine moment in a BBC building became the start of something lasting.
By 2019, the relationship had become visible. The two were spotted together at a pub in Putney, South London, and by October 2020, Frank had spoken about Elizabeth publicly for the first time, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.
He said: “I’m incredibly fortunate to have met a lovely person, the BBC weather presenter Elizabeth Rizzini. We first met in the lift at work. I’d always admired how she was on camera and the way she presents the weather in such an engaging way. She is wonderful company. It’s almost like having a first girlfriend.”
He also mentioned a holiday they had taken together: “Even after all my Middle Eastern travels, a simple holiday in Greece with her recently seemed refreshingly adventurous.”
There is a 15-year age gap between them, with Frank the older. He has said she makes full use of that fact, telling the Radio Times: “She loves ribbing me about the fact I’m older than her. That is a great source of amusement for her.”
The Documentary That Confirmed Their Relationship Publicly
On 5 November 2020, BBC Two aired Being Frank: The Frank Gardner Story. The documentary was a deeply personal account of Frank’s life since the 2004 attack, covering his disability, his daily physical challenges, and his personal life.
Elizabeth appeared in it.
She spoke candidly about what living with a disability actually involves beyond what people see on screen. On Frank’s condition, she said: “People don’t think about what happens. You can see he’s in a wheelchair, but you don’t get all of the other stuff that’s also going on.”
She described him on camera as “devastatingly handsome” and later admitted she found that moment awkward, saying: “There is something a bit icky about people declaring their love to each other in public.”
The documentary brought their relationship fully into public view. It also gave audiences an honest look at what Frank manages physically every day, including chronic pain and medical routines that most people would have no awareness of.
Where Things Stand in March 2026
As of now, Elizabeth Rizzini and Frank Gardner are still together. They are not married.
The two have been seen at Wimbledon together during both the 2024 and 2025 championships. In January 2026, they attended a high-profile media event in London together. Neither has made any announcement about plans to marry.
The question of whether Elizabeth Rizzini is married to Frank Gardner comes up regularly, largely because the two share so much professionally and publicly. The answer remains the same: they are a committed couple. A marriage certificate is not part of it.
The Celebrity Mastermind Win That Said a Lot About Her
On 13 January 2025, Elizabeth took her seat in the famous black chair on Celebrity Mastermind (Series 23, Episode 12), broadcast on BBC Two at 7:30 PM, hosted by Clive Myrie. Her fellow contestants were Danny Miller, Josie d’Arby, and Qasa Alom.
Her specialist subject was Celine Dion.
She scored 23 points, the highest of the series at that point, and won the episode. All winnings were donated to Hospice in the Weald.
The reason she entered matters more than the result. Elizabeth chose to compete in memory of her cousin Jo, who died in 2021 after receiving care from the hospice. Speaking about it afterwards, she said:
“Jo was full of life and joy, always there for big moments in my life. The Hospice allowed her to have the dignified, comfortable passing she wished for, surrounded by love.”
Hospice in the Weald confirmed the win raised vital funds for the charity’s work across Kent and East Sussex.
Elizabeth Rizzini’s marital status, as of March 2026, is straightforward. She is not married. A previous marriage to an Italian man ended in 2016. She shares two daughters from that relationship. Since 2019, she has been with Frank Gardner, one of the BBC’s most respected correspondents. The relationship is well-documented, publicly confirmed by both parties, and still going. A wedding has not been part of the picture.
