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Vernon Kay says “I slapped myself on the wrist” after a question from his youngest daughter. Vernon, 51, shares daughters Phoebe, 20, and Amber, 16, with former Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly.

Vernon and Tess met at a party in 2000 when they were working on rival television channels. Vernon was a presenter on Channel 4’s youth show, T4, while Tess was working on ITV’s SMTV:Live alongside the likes of Ant and Dec.

But their relationship blossomed and the pair tied the knot at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Horwich, near Bolton, in 2003. The family now spend their days in their six-bedroom home in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

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It was at the family home where Vernon says his daughter Amber had a devastating question for the BBC Radio 2 star. He says the teen failed to recognise a pop band he says are the “greatest ever”.

Speaking on his radio show on Thursday, Vernon said: “I am wearing my Beatles t-shirt today and it says, ‘John, Paul, George and Ringo’. When I first wore this around the house, our youngest said, ‘Who are they?’

“I slapped myself on the wrist, bad parenting. ‘Who are they?’ It’s the greatest band ever, it’s The Beatles.”

A 2022 study found that a third of Generation Z, often considered to be those born between 1997 and 2012, are unfamiliar with bands such as The Beatle and Queen. Almost half of the people surveyed by Roberts Radio said they were unfamiliar with British pop icon David Bowie.

Vernon meanwhile has previously spoken of his fondness for The Beatles. He named the Fab Four’s 1965 hit Help! as his go-to karaoke song during a discussion with NME magazine.

He said the track, the title song from the band’s fifth studio album, narrowly beats Twist and Shout when he picks up a microphone. He explained: “Always do something that people know.

“It’s a classic because it bounces along, it rolls along that tune. That and ‘Twist And Shout’, but ‘Twist And Shout’ is an end-of-the-night song because you know you’re gonna lose your voice.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Vernon revealed that Lucky Man by The Verve was the first song he fell in love with. He said the band’s album Urban Hymns was “never out of his CD player” after he made the move from Bolton to London to pursue his modelling career.

Vernon said: “It was the soundtrack of everything that was going on at the time. I was riding the crest of a wave with that album [‘Urban Hymns’] playing in the background. I’d moved to London in ’96 and it was never out of the CD player at the time.

“We were bouncing along, living the dream. I’d been scouted by a modelling agency so to be honest we were just freeloading.”

Vernon recently thanked his listeners on Radio 2 after it was announced that his show is the most-listened to in the UK. Around 6.7 million people tune in to Vernon’s mid-morning show every week.

Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: "In a quarter where Sara Cox ran five marathons in five days, with the listeners getting behind her to raise an astonishing £12 million for Children In Need, I’m thrilled that Radio 2 continues to be the UK’s most listened to single radio station.

"Vernon Kay continues to be the most listened to show on UK radio, growing to 6.7 million listeners each week. Many thanks go to the Radio 2 listeners, who are tuning in for just over 11 hours each week, a four-year record.”

Sharing the news to his Instagram Story on Thursday (February 5) morning, Vernon told his followers: "A huge thank you to everyone who's tuning in," before adding a string of red love hearts.