from an early age, carlisle was encouraged to follow christianity by his parents. he adopted those beliefs, and became a regular churchgoer during his time at watford. carlisle was married to gemma, whom he met just prior to his admission to the sporting chance clinic. the couple married on the island of antigua, where some of carlisle's family also resides. the couple lived in ripponden, west yorkshire with their son, marley, who was born in 2007, and daughter honey, born 2010. carlisle also has a daughter named francesca, born in 1999, from a previous relationship. he is close friends with adebayo akinfenwa, his former teammate at northampton.