My Favourite Holiday: Coast vs Country host Kirsty Duffy on why Thailand calls to her

TV presenter Kirsty Duffy is one of the hosts of Channel 4’s Coast vs Country property show.

Kirsty also co-presented The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 for years among many other projects.

She lives in Hertfordshire with her partner, former Hollyoaks star Ben Richards, and their two-year-old daughter, Freja-Amelie.

I NEVER ever thought I’d like Dubai because I love history and culture and I just didn’t envisage it having them.

However, if you have kids it’s an incredible place. It’s completely set up for families.

From when we got off at the airport we found people there to help with children – and we needed it.

Freja-Amelie had had enough after the flight and threw herself down in a huge tantrum.

Two guys who looked like security came over and I thought they were going to have a go, but they picked her up to play with her and it was such a lovely start to the holiday.

The kids’ club was brilliant, there was a huge choice of food and the hotel had so much to do that we just stayed there, which isn’t what we’d normally do – we’d normally be out exploring all the time.

The other place I’d pick is Thailand, which is somewhere Ben and I visit a lot although we haven’t yet taken our daughter there.

The first time we went was about four years ago when I took Ben there for his Christmas present.

My friend’s parents have a place out there and we loved it so much we extended our stay.

We took a boat and visited some islands and got a real feel of the place.

The people were so content and happy and it seemed the most magical paradise.

There was a ceremony where people were lighting lanterns on the beach and we joined in as we had both been through difficult times.

In Ben’s case it was going through his bowel cancer.

You’re supposed to make a wish as you light it and we both wished we could have a baby as Ben had been told he wouldn’t be able to do so after his treatment.

Not long after we came back I found I was pregnant, so we feel Thailand is so special for us.

And, Coast vs Country filming schedules allowing, we’re planning to go back in 2018, but this time take Freja-Amelie so she can experience it for herself.