Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick seeks younger wife to have children as he reveals financial losses and AI legacy plan

Noel Fitzpatrick, the veterinary star known as The Supervet, says in a new interview that he is emotionally ready to become a father and would like to meet a younger partner—ideally someone between 30 and 40—to have one or two children. The 57-year-old Irish surgeon, who lives with his two cats near Guildford, Surrey, told The Times that he previously did not feel ready for parenthood and that he believes he would be a good father due to his morals. He has acknowledged in the past that he finds human relationships difficult and has never married. He also noted that he would prefer a relationship that could yield children rather than pursuing a long term partnership without starting a family. The Times interview underscores a shift in his personal outlook after years of publicly discussing his struggles with intimacy and heartbreak.

The 57-year-old, who built Fitzpatrick Referrals into a major veterinary practice, said his business is not performing as strongly as it once did. Anybody looking at our accounts on Companies House will know that I am making a financial loss. We are open seven days a week, 24/7, and we are hurting. I am just trying to survive as a veterinary practice, Fitzpatrick said. The blunt assessment comes as he also works to expand his influence beyond clinical care, including a plan to build an artificial intelligence avatar that could carry on his veterinary expertise after his death. The digital concept would draw on decades of surgeries, clinical papers, lectures and digital content to educate future generations.

In addition to family plans, Fitzpatrick has discussed long-standing questions about the role of relationships in his life. He has never married, and journalists have linked him to several partners over the years, including Cathy Dennis, with whom he reportedly dated from 1992 to 2003. Some accounts mention that a track by Britney Spears, Toxic, was inspired by his relationship with Dennis. In a 2020 interview, Fitzpatrick reflected on his past: he wanted children but acknowledged the changes needed. He has also acknowledged that his childhood experiences have shaped his adult relationships. He has described enduring sexual abuse from a family acquaintance during his early years and has spoken of the lasting impact on his trust in people. In 2022, during a BBC Breakfast interview, he said he had been running from that spectre and hoped to help others going through similar trauma. Animals, he has said, became a lifeline and a source of solace amid depression and doubt.

Fitzpatrick rose from Ballyfin in County Laois, Ireland, to establish a career in the United Kingdom. He moved to England in 1993 and founded Fitzpatrick Referrals in Guildford, a practice that treats hundreds of animals each year and employs more than 170 staff. His work has been the focus of Channel 4's The Supervet since 2014 and the BBC's The Bionic Vet in 2010. He has earned honorary doctorates from the University of Surrey and the University of Bath and set a Guinness World Record in 2009 for the first successful implantation of an amputation prosthesis in a cat. Earlier in his career he pursued acting opportunities, appearing in shows such as The Bill and Casualty before shifting his sights to veterinary medicine and science. He has described Ballykissangel as a pivotal moment that shaped his later decisions to focus on communication and teaching through medicine.

The life and career of Noel Fitzpatrick reflect a blend of science, media and healing. Whether his plans as a partner and parent will unfold in the near term remains uncertain, but he has signaled an interest in passing on his knowledge through family, through his clinic, or through a digital legacy that could educate future veterinarians and pet owners alike. The broader arc of his story—media prominence, clinical innovation and personal hardship—illustrates how a veterinary practice can become a public platform for science, compassion and resilience.