For 27 years, Peter Spanton kept well out of the spotlight. Then, on 3 February 2026, his now wife Janet Street-Porter went on Loose Women and told the nation they had secretly got married the previous weekend. Suddenly, everyone wanted to know the same thing: who is this man?
The short answer? A 71 year old British entrepreneur who ran one of the most talked about bars in 1990s London, built a premium drinks brand from scratch, and quietly lived alongside one of the UK’s most recognisable broadcasters for nearly three decades before finally walking into a registry office.
Here is what we actually know about him.
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The Secret Norfolk Wedding
Peter Spanton and Janet Street-Porter tied the knot on Saturday 31 January 2026 at a registry office in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The whole ceremony took about 10 minutes.
Just six people were in the room: the couple, two former neighbours who acted as witnesses, and two close friends. Their dog, Badger, came along too. Janet wore a bright printed dress. Peter wore a black suit. The registry office had chairs for 100 guests but was otherwise empty.
Janet, 79, revealed the news on Loose Women two days later through a pre-recorded video message: “Peter and me, and Badger, got married on Saturday. So, there you are, I finally did it. Waited ’til the last for the best.”
She later told the panel that the decision came after the couple talked it through over Christmas 2025. She also admitted to being “a complete state” the night before, partly because her fourth marriage to David Sorkin in Las Vegas back in 1997 had been, in her own words, “a really bad mistake.”
Janet Street-Porter has been married five times in total. Her previous husbands were photographer Tim Street-Porter (1967 to 1975), Time Out editor Tony Elliott (1975 to 1977), Canadian film director Frank Cvitanovich (1979 to 1981), and David Sorkin (1997 to 1999). She began dating Spanton in 1999.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2025, before the wedding, Janet called this “probably” her longest relationship ever. Asked if it was a good one, she replied: “What do you define good as? It’s survived. I’m not bored.”
The couple live in Haddiscoe, Norfolk, and also keep homes in Kent and London.
Cocktail Mixer, Club Scene Veteran, Restaurateur
Peter Spanton’s career started long before the drinks brand.
According to The Caterer, a leading UK hospitality trade publication, he worked as a cocktail mixer at two iconic 1980s London venues: Blitz and The Fridge. Blitz was the Covent Garden club at the centre of the New Romantic movement, linked to Boy George and Spandau Ballet. The Fridge was the legendary Brixton nightclub that ran from 1981 until 2010.
By 1986, Spanton had opened his own place. Vic Naylor’s, a bar and restaurant at 38 to 42 St John Street in Clerkenwell, sat directly opposite Smithfield meat market. He ran it for close to two decades.
Barbican Life later described the venue as “supposedly the start of the Clerkenwell bar/restaurant scene,” with “something of a celeb/gangster clientele.” Film fans might recognise it too. Vic Naylor’s was used as the filming location for JD’s bar in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), the character played by Sting. FamousFix confirmed the bar appeared exactly as it looked in real life.
During this period, Spanton lived on a Thames houseboat in Chelsea and was, by his own admission to The Independent, “a serious drinker.”
He stepped back from Vic Naylor’s around 2005. LinkedIn records listed him as owner from 1986 to 2005, though the venue was not sold until roughly 2010.
How a Hangover Led to a Drinks Brand
After leaving the restaurant business, Spanton quit alcohol entirely. The problem was finding anything decent to drink instead.
He told Craft Gin Club that he bought every non-alcoholic drink on the market, laid them all out on a table, and sorted them into categories. Only two were good enough for an adult palate.
So he started making his own.
Peter Spanton Drinks launched commercially around 2012, and the range grew to nine beverages. Each one carries a number rather than a name, and the numbering is deliberately out of sequence. He told I Love Gin that he wants people “to be intrigued, to ask why.”
The core range includes:
- No.1 London Tonic | Sicilian lemon oil and bitter orange peel, under 4 calories
- No.3 Dry Ginger | Inspired by 1950s East London, dedicated “In memory of Notcher Spanton 1928 to 2012” (his father)
- No.4 Chocolate Tonic | Mint and dark chocolate, made for rum and amaretto
- No.5 Lemongrass Tonic | Lemongrass with ginger, best with vodka
- No.9 Cardamom Tonic | The flagship, a competition winner, pairs with gin
- No.13 Salted Paloma | Grapefruit soda for tequila and mezcal
- No.2 Italian Bitters Lemonade and No.16 Cream Soda | Both added in 2019
The brand won Gold, Silver, and Bronze at the SIP Awards, Great Taste Awards, and Class Bar Awards in 2017 and 2018. Chef Mark Hix stocked the drinks across his restaurants. Fergus Henderson served them at St John, his Michelin recognised restaurant in Clerkenwell. The Caterer also noted these were the first UK beverages carbonated with carbon-neutral volcanic CO₂.
Some well known names became fans early on. Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon (The Clash, Gorillaz) reportedly took the No.7 Acai drink on tour. Novelist and friend Will Self wrote in praise of the brand before it had even launched, which flooded Spanton’s website with requests.
As Spanton told The Independent: “By that evening, I had 3,000 e-mails from everyone from recovering alcoholics through to pregnant women, people in Muslim communities to people with medical difficulties.”
His philosophy behind the whole range was straightforward. He told Craft Gin Club: “Give the drinker and the non-drinker the same respect. Two people can enjoy the same experience with or without alcohol.”
Age, Background, and Business Records
UK Companies House records confirm that Peter Charles Spanton was born in January 1955. That makes him 71 years old as of January 2026. His nationality is British and his listed occupation reads “Drink Designer.”
Two companies have carried his name. Peter Spanton Limited was incorporated in May 2008 and dissolved in May 2018. Peter Spanton Drinks Ltd was incorporated in July 2014, entered creditors voluntary liquidation in June 2020, and was dissolved in July 2022.
Despite both companies being formally dissolved, the brand still appears to be active. Products remain listed on Amazon.co.uk and Ocado, the website peterspanton.com is live, and his Instagram account (@peterspanton_) has over 1,500 posts.
There is no verified figure for Peter Spanton’s net worth. Any numbers published online are speculative. His businesses have been privately held, and personal financial details have never been disclosed publicly.
The Name Confusion: Two Different Peter Spantons
Several websites have mixed up the entrepreneur with a completely different man who shared the same name. The other Peter Spanton was born in 1943 in Bow, East London, was a Wado-ryu karate pioneer with a 7th Dan ranking, and founded the Higashi Karate Kai martial arts group. He died on 23 November 2020.
The two men had entirely separate lives and careers. Janet Street-Porter’s husband, the restaurateur and drinks founder born in 1955, has no verified connection to martial arts.
Quick Reference
| Detail | Confirmed Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Peter Charles Spanton |
| Born | January 1955 |
| Age | 71 (as of Feburary 2026) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known For | Vic Naylor’s bar, Peter Spanton Drinks |
| Spouse | Janet Street-Porter (married 31 January 2026) |
| Residence | Haddiscoe, Norfolk (also Kent and London) |
| Father | Notcher Spanton (1928 to 2012) |
| @peterspanton_ |
Peter Spanton spent decades behind bars he built himself, first pouring cocktails at Blitz in the 1980s, then running a Clerkenwell institution that ended up in a Guy Ritchie film. He quit drinking, turned that into a business, got Damon Albarn and Will Self on board, and then married one of Britain’s most famous broadcasters in a 10 minute ceremony with six guests and a dog called Badger. Not bad for someone most people had never heard of until three weeks ago.
