Jon Snow on sex: ‘It comes into every evaluation of a woman'

The veteran Channel 4 host let readers in on the inner workings of his mind – and it’s not as laundered as one might have thought

In other news ... Jon Snow performed at last year's Newsroom's Got Talent charity event (Getty Images)

Those who are familiar with Jon Snow’s astute and proper nightly delivery of the Channel 4 news may wish to look away now.

Because the veteran host has let readers in on the inner workings of his mind – and it’s not as laundered as one might have thought.

During an interview with the Evening Standard, he admitted that he thinks about sex every time he meets a new woman, and labelled considering "what could be" with female friends and co-workers a "rather a delicious thing".

"Sex comes into every evaluation of a woman, there’s no doubt about it. It’s there," he told the paper.

"Once you’ve established a friendship or a working relationship with a woman, it’s parked. But it’s an interesting barrier. When you’ve gone through it and arrived at the other side, it’s never a problem again.

"Well I’m not saying it is a problem at all, it’s rather a delicious thing really, ‘what might have been’ or ‘what could be’. "

He went on to say that he believes sex plays a "different role in different men’s personas", and described the sexual thought process as a "natural animal element of sustaining life".

"We are defined by women: They give birth to us and then they define us, although lots try to ignore it," he added.

Snow is now married to 39-year-old Zimbabwean neuroscientist Precious Lunga, but he has enjoyed an eventful romantic past, during which he raised two children with former partner Madeleine Colvin and was briefly engaged to ITN journalist Anna Ford.

He also confessed to having an affair with a librarian years his senior while he studied at sixth-form college Scarborough Tech.

"I was warned off by my lecturer, who told me I was very unwise to be seen going off in the lunch hour in the librarian’s car," he said.

However, despite being a self-professed lover of the opposite sex, Snow went on to express his regret that he had not done as much as he could to promote equal opportunities for his female colleagues in the work place.

"While I aspire to be a feminist, I think I am guilty of just as many failings in terms of supporting women’s equality," he concluded. "I couldn’t say I’d really fought for women to enjoy many of the fantastic benefits I’ve enjoyed."

Snow will be chairing a discussion on Fatherhood: Past, Present and Future. Other speakers at the event include Turner Prize-winning artist and famed cross-dresser Grayson Perry. The pair will attempt to answer questions such as "Is the male role looking a bit threadbare?" and "Why are our penises locked in the past?"