Christine Bleakley: Footie rules everything in my house

People must sit at home and think 'I wish these two would shut up about their wedding'," laughs Christine Bleakley. "But it's not us bringing it up, honest. People are always asking about it."

She's not wrong. We're guilty ourselves.

We've only been chatting to her for 10 minutes and have already brought up her impending nuptials to Chelsea and England superstar Frank Lampard.

But you can hardly blame us. This is a wedding never too far away from the headlines – one minute it's on, the next it's off, one second understated, the next a WAG-tastic affair in a castle.

The opportunity to clear things up once and for all is simply too good to pass by.

"I do get tired of reading stories saying it's been postponed or cancelled. It has never been postponed or cancelled. Because of football reasons, it's never even been booked!

"We've read so many stories that have said that though. We've read so many crappy things like we've booked a castle only to find out someone else was having their wedding there and we've tried to pay them off. They just paint you in the worst possible light and make you look like a complete t***. I mean stuff like that is just silly – I wouldn't mind if it was true but it never is. It's a little bit tiresome.

"But we know what we want to do and when we want to do it. Let's just hope England get as far as possible in the World Cup next summer and then after that we're good to go."

Christine and Frank met at the 2009 Pride of Britain Awards. Before then, she didn't have a clue about football – apart from what her bessie mate Adrian Chiles had to say about his beloved West Bromwich Albion – but now the beautiful game rules her beautiful life.

"It has a massive influence on everything," says the 34-year-old presenter, who will become stepmum to Frank's two daughters Luna and Isla when they tie the knot.

"I didn't give a damn about football before Frank but now I live and breathe it. It affects everything. For example, Frank's away tonight playing in the Champion's League and will be away at the weekend so I'll have his girls. It affects a lot of people in lots of different ways.

"And God it's nerve-wracking watching him play – and Frank feels it like a fan feels it. He doesn't come off the pitch and go 'Who cares?', far from it, the rest of the weekend is ruined and he'll be like 'I am not going out. I am not going anywhere, I'm too depressed'. He really feels it. And I suppose that's what the fans want to hear.

"You know, if you'd asked me a few years ago, I wouldn't even know what a fixture list is, now I've got them memorised. It's ironic really because growing up my dad wasn't remotely interested in football, he was a musician, and I went to an all-girls school and didn't have any brothers so I didn't know a thing about football and now it rules my life."

But has she ever been a guest of Adrian at his hallowed Hawthorns?

"No! I really wanted to go – especially when they played Chelsea but he said no, he said he couldn't cope with having me there.

"But I know lots of the guys who work behind the scenes at Albion through Adrian and they're lovely. I've got a soft spot for West Bromwich Albion – from before I'd even met Frank.

Adrian used to do Match Of The Day and I'd watch him on there and always look out for West Brom. His book is fantastic too, I enjoyed that. It must be my destiny in life to be surrounded by football-obsessed men."

Christine, born and raised in County Down, Northern Ireland, got her big break in TV when she worked as a runner while studying for her A-levels. She then trained to be a floor manager before moving on to be a local newsreader.

Her BBC career started with Let Me Entertain You back in 2006 before she and Adrian captured the nation's hearts on the sofa of The One Show.

However, the pair made the leap to ITV in 2010, amid a storm of headlines and questions about the size and value of their contracts with the BBC. The issue was even raised in the Houses of Parliament.

More controversy followed with the arrival of Daybreak, which replaced GMTV and was described by Chiles himself as "one of the biggest crocks of s***e anyone had seen in years". The show was a flop, panned by both the media and viewers, and both Bleakley and Chiles left for pastures new.

"The change to ITV was anything but quiet," she says. "I just got on with things but there were moments when I was like 'What is the problem here? No one's died!'.

"I did feel a bit persecuted at the time. People were making it into this massive deal and I didn't understand why. But, you know, sometimes it only takes two people to leave 50 messages on Twitter and then it erupts into all this nonsense.

"But I am very very lucky and I love what I do. I work with the best in the business and get to do amazing things.

"Not that long back, I stood in for Holly on This Morning because she was in Ibiza and I was so nervous, I was dreading it. It was a case of knowing what to do but just being so nervous because it's that famous sofa and it's This Morning, which I have watched for years. But it was wonderful and I don't take any of it for granted.

"And, in all honesty, I don't get any trouble on Twitter or out in the street. Now, I don't do Twitter as much as I probably should so if there is any trouble on there, I'm out of it anyway but I can honestly say that everyone is so nice. If there is any controversy, we don't interact with it. That's why it's been nice to get back out on the road and meet real people. We have to remember that people are lovely, the general public are lovely. Even when it comes to Frank's football, which is such a tribal and passionate thing, there's no trouble, it's just not like that. If we're walking down the street or out for a meal we always end up talking to these random people who are totally lovely and want a pic with Frank – I'm always the official photographer."

Christine's talking to us in the middle of her new ITV series Off The Beaten Track, which sees her venture away from the nation's cities and tourist hotspots in favour of lesser-known destinations, discovering local histories and sampling customs on the way.

The next episode – on Friday at 8pm – is set in Shropshire, where she visits the National Museum of British Popular Culture in Craven Arms, Whittington Castle, the Humphrey Kynaston Bridleway and Shropshire Petals in Newport.

"I just had the best summer filming it," she says. "It really took me back to my early days with BBC Northern Ireland, this was the stuff I'd be doing all the time so it was a case of going back to basics and I loved that aspect.

"Sure, it's great to be in a TV studio, with lights, make-up and a nice dress on but it's been wonderful to go out into the real world and talk to real people. It wasn't scripted, the cameras just kept on running and it was much more relaxed and organic – it was lovely.

"Everywhere was so wonderful and I loved Shropshire. I wasn't so familiar with the area beforehand but I really fell in love with the place and was sending pictures home all the time saying 'Look how beautiful it is here'. In fact me and my mum are going to come back for a night soon. We're just deciding where to go. It is a glorious place – even though at Whittington Castle I had to dress up as a medieval woman which wasn't a look that suited me at all, let me tell you!" But would she ever give up her London lifestyle and escape to the country for good?

"I'm a fresh air kinda girl so maybe, yeah. That is what my childhood was all about, that is where my family still are, in the fresh air of Northern Ireland. I very much still feel like a tourist in London, when I'm driving to the studio and I go past Big Ben I'm still like 'B***** hell, that's amazing!". I haven't lost that excitement. But home is still Northern Ireland and the countryside and it's nice to get outside and away from the madness of London.

"I escape to the country all the time. I go home about once a month and I still sleep in my old bedroom at my parents' house. I haven't quite got posters on the walls but it's just like going back in time. I just love the different pace of life. The countryside is good for the soul, to breathe in the fresh air. I can definitely see me living back in the country in the future."

But what about Frank?

"He's had a very different upbringing to me. I grew up in a place where tractors and animals would bring the roads to a standstill but him and his girls have never seen anything like that.

"We do all like to get out of London though, it's nice to have a different view. Remember, Frank's lived in London for years now and he's a total Essex boy – although not quite to the standards of TOWIE!"

Elizabeth Joyce