A COUPLE who met 50 years ago have revealed the secret of their happy marriage is their love of KFC.
Devoted Bob and Pat Fogg first set eyes on each other while eating at the fried chicken restaurant in 1965.
Every week they sit at the same table where they met to tuck into their favourite grub.
The lovebirds never miss their weekly dinner dates and have clocked up an estimated 2,600 visits — spending today’s equivalent of around £26,000 on finger lickin’ chicken.
Bob and Pat, who have been married for 44 years, met as teenagers at Britain’s first KFC branch in Preston, Lancs.
They were invited back to the takeaway in May this year to celebrate the restaurant’s 50th anniversary.
Retired engineer Bob, 68, who always has a three-piece meal with chips and gravy, said: “It’s a running joke with the family that if it wasn’t for KFC, we wouldn’t be together.
“It’s always been a bit of fun for us. It’s still exactly the same today as it was back then, the recipe is just as good and hasn’t changed.
“They’ve brought different meals in but we always have the same, it’s what we like.
They always sit at the table where they met
“We used to take our children and as they’ve gone on to have children, we like to take the grandkids too.
“I think they prefer McDonald’s really because of the toys, but we can’t compete with that.”
Retired teacher Pat, 66, who opts for a two-piece meal with chips, said: “I knew nothing about KFC but once we got together, he would forever be asking if we could visit my family in Preston.
“It never clicked with me it was KFC that was the attraction.”
Bob, originally from Warrington, Cheshire, added: “I used to come to Preston from Warrington.
“We heard the KFC had just opened and we didn’t know that it had come from America, but we thought we’d try it out.
“That was it then — we’d had nothing like it before. It was brilliant, we would go to the nightclubs and then to KFC.”
The couple’s favourite takeaway even played a part in their romantic honeymoon in 1971.
Pat said: “We were eating KFC and listening to the radio when we heard about a deal to go to Paris for a few nights, with Champagne in the Eiffel Tower, a visit to the Moulin Rouge, flights and evening meals, all for £55.”
The couple went on to have two children and two grandchildren, with one more on the way.
Earlier this year there were rumours that the record-breaking branch was set to close but regional manager Tim Adkins said it is here to stay.
Tim said: “I don’t know why Preston was chosen to be the UK’s first.
“I can’t imagine that Colonel Sanders had heard about Preston and wanted to come here, but someone was obviously instrumental in bringing Kentucky Fried Chicken to Preston.
“I don’t think anyone in the UK knows the secret recipe though. It was perfected all those years ago and it’s still a closely-guarded secret.”
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