Nigel Farage admitted his marriage is going through "ups and downs" as he broke his silence over speculation about his private life.

The former Ukip leader said he had been aware of recent press coverage about "a few personal difficulties that I've had with my marriage and my family and my relationships".

Speaking on his LBC Radio show, Mr Farage said: "All of us in our lives go through ups and downs and I regret the down that I am in at the moment."

His comments followed, his wife Kirsten Farage's admission that the couple had been living "separate lives" for some years after unconfirmed press reports that her husband was sharing a house in London with a female French politician.

Laure Ferrari - who runs the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE) - has been living in the former Ukip leader's house in Chelsea for the past week, The Mail on Sunday reported at the weekend.

Mr Farage told the newspaper he was helping her because she needed accommodation and had nowhere else to stay.

"She is someone I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn't cost her any money. It's a working relationship," he was quoted as saying.

The newspaper said Mr Farage told its reporters last month that he spent most weeknights at a "bachelor pad" and denied that he had split from his wife.

Ms Ferrari, who became involved in politics as a result of a chance meeting with Mr Farage 10 years ago while she was working as a waitress in Strasbourg, said she had been forced to move out of her flat after the European Parliament stopped IDDE's funding.

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"I have no trustworthy friends in London who could have hosted me. I asked and he accepted. He is just trying to be helpful," she told the Mail on Sunday.

German-born Ms Farage said the former Ukip leader had moved out of the family home in Kent "a while ago".

"This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved," she said in a statement.

Before his radio appearance, Mr Farage was showered with eggs as he greeted Ukip leader Paul Nuttall near his campaign office in Stoke-on-Trent, where he is standing in the by-election this month.

In November, the Electoral Commission announced it was opening an investigation into whether Ukip accepted "impermissible donations" from IDDE and the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE), the political party it is affiliated to.

It followed an audit by the European Parliament which concluded that ADDE and IDDE used EU grant funding for the benefit of Ukip in breach of its rules.