Gogglebox star's 'complicated' love life after split from TV partner

Former Gogglebox star Daniel Lustig-Webb split from Stephen Webb last April after the pair married six years ago. Now, Daniel has opened up on his love life after his divorce
Ex-Gogglebox star Daniel Lustig-Webb has been a familiar face on our television screens since 2018, but he has only now found the confidence to open up about his hidden disability.
The 50-year-old, who split up with his husband of six years, fellow Gogglebox star Stephen Webb, last April, reveals he's spent decades coping with hearing loss in one ear after catching mumps as a child. However, until recently, he felt too embarrassed to tell people he was partially deaf.
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'I've never really spoken about it before and it's always been a big part of my life,' he says. 'I wasn't very confident talking about it years ago.' While Daniel is ready to open up for the first time publicly about his hearing loss, he admits it has had a huge impact on his life. 'It has impacted my whole life constantly,' he says.
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'As you get older, you have mechanisms to cope with everything but when I was younger, I didn't have a lot of friends. I was quite a shy kid and it made it worse – I remember just hearing a lot of noise but not being able to pinpoint where it was coming from. If you're on the periphery of a conversation and you're not concentrating, you can't hear what people are saying properly.'
Daniel lost his hearing in one ear aged seven, after mumps led to an ear infection. 'We were on holiday and while I was told it was safe to fly home, the flying must have perforated it,' he says. 'I don't remember anything about it – except that at sports day at school, I wasn't running in a straight line. My parents said that it really affected my balance.'
He spent decades hiding his deafness, with the salon owner admitting he didn't tell Stephen when they started dating.
'I was quite embarrassed by it and I didn't tell Stephen in the beginning,' he says. 'He was like, 'Why didn't you tell me? It's nothing embarrassing.' I'm not worried now, but if you go to a dinner party, you have to get there first because you have to get to the corner of the table where you can hear everyone.'
Daniel admits he even struggled to hear during his first series on Gogglebox, after producers placed him on the wrong side of the sofa. 'The producers went, 'Can you sit here because that's where Stephen's former co-stars Chris and his mother had sat?'
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'I didn't speak up and, bless him, Stephen didn't think about it but it's not up to him to think about. I remember saying that I needed to move sides because I can't really hear but they said, 'Well, you always have to sit this side now – that's how we work.''
Daniel had to wait until the next series of Gogglebox to swap positions with Stephen on their couch. 'The whole first series, I couldn't really hear what he was saying half the time,' says Daniel. 'I'm just giggling and laughing – I don't say much. That was only a few years ago, but it sits with you.'
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The couple left Gogglebox in 2023, before shocking fans the next year by announcing their plans to divorce after more than a decade together. While it's been more than a year since their split, the exes are still living together in their Brighton flat and working together at their hair salon.
'Our flat is on the market but the market is slow, so we still live together,' Daniel says. 'We've probably had the nicest break-up that I know of. We get on really well. We obviously run the salon together, so maybe 70% of the time we're still working together. When a problem arises, we're very grown up – more grown up than when we were married – and we talk everything through. We both want to start making our new lives but, for now, we're like we were on Gogglebox – still watching TV together!'
Their living arrangement does mean that it's tricky for either of them to date. 'That's complicated,' he says. 'If I'm going on a date, I'm a bit sheepish about it. I'll say I'm going to meet a friend but Stephen can just read me. He'll say, 'Don't wear that.' I can't bring anyone to the house so it's a little bit different – but we make it work.'
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Daniel turned 50 last month, celebrating with a party at Soho House in Brighton and a stay at his brother's property in France. He admits his love life hasn't panned out the way he thought it would. 'I didn't think I was going to be single at 50 but I am, so it's fine,' he says. 'People are very complicated and the last time I was single, there weren't any dating apps. Now, you pass by people all the time who are probably really decent but because their profile isn't perfect, you don't look at it.'
That's why Daniel is following in the footsteps of Stephen, who did Celebs Go Dating last year. 'I did do something to do with dating that's coming out next year, but I can't talk about that,' he teases.
He's also dying to strut his stuff on Strictly Come Dancing. 'I don't know if I'd be any good, but I think I look alright in a sparkly shirt,' he adds, laughing.

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