Alice Arnold clarifies why Clare Balding appeared at Rio 2016 without her wedding ring

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

Clare Balding has caused a storm of speculation after travelling to the Rio Olympics without her wedding ring.

A number of viewers had noticed that the BBC presented was not wearing her ring in the lead up to the opening ceremony for the Rio Olympics which took place on Friday.

Alice Arnold clarifies why Clare Balding appeared at Rio 2016 without her wedding ring

Taking to Twitter, her wife Alice Arnold reassured fans that she simply had not taken the ring with her after being advised not to.

Arnold tweeted: “I’m amazed how many have noticed @clarebalding is not wearing her wedding ring… don’t worry… it’s safely at home with me..”

To one Twitter user who had asked why, Arnold said: “I’m sure it would be fine.. but wise not to wear irreplaceable jewellery.”

One fan had tweeted: “Why is Clare balding not wearing her wedding ring?”

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The couple got married in 2015 after being together for 14 years.

The presenter last April announced that she Arnold had converted their 2006 civil partnership into marriage.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron last year named Clare Balding as one of his ‘gay heroes’.

He said: “Everyone says Alan Turing, and of course he was an amazing man and I’ve seen The Imitation Game and I thought it was brilliant, but I’m going to go with Clare Balding.