Farage's wife fears for his health amid 'hectic lifestyle'

The German wife of British eurosceptic leader Nigel Farage revealed Tuesday she fears his pub-loving lifestyle is taking its toll on his health, and defended her role as his taxpayer-funded secretary.

Kirsten Farage, wife of the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) which rode a wave of anti-EU sentiment to finish first in the European Parliament elections in Britain, said her husband “drinks and smokes too much”.

She also said her 50-year-old husband was stung by accusations he is racist.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, she said she was concerned that Farage skipped too many meals and lived on adrenaline, which would eventually catch up on him.

Asked if she worried about Farage’s lifestyle, she said: “I do ?- I think it is a very hectic lifestyle.

Farage was “a good man — and keeps himself busy”, she said, so much so that their two young children rarely see him.

In contrast to his exuberant public image — Farage likes to hold court in a pub with party supporters and journalists — he is in fact a dutiful family man who also likes to relax at home, she said.

Farage came under scrutiny for admitting paying his wife £27,000 (33,300 euros, $45,400) a year from his European Parliament allowance to work as his secretary, but she described how “I sit at my computer in my nightie and am very dutiful”.

Like Farage, she is a former commodities trader in the City of London.

She rebuffed suggestions that Farage is racist — most recently he made comments about not wanting to live next door to Romanians.

And she revealed that the children of the man who once said he was uncomfortable hearing foreign voices on the train, are being brought up to speak German.