Alan Titchmarsh has written heartfeltly about the tragic passing of his parents this year, as well as about his own feelings and geographical setting at the time of the difficult circumstances.
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Alan Titchmarsh recalled a heartbreaking comment from his wife Alison (Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
TV icon Alan Titchmarsh has talked the heartbreaking moment his wife told him his father had died of a heart attack.
Speaking on the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast hosted by Isabella Branson and Cressida Bonas, Alan had been discussing the death of his mother when he compared it to the death of his father who passed away at the age of just 62.
Alan suggested that while losing both of his parents was difficult, his father’s passing was less unexpected, and that losing both had been harder.
He went onto explain how he had only heard about his father’s death when he returned to his Hampshire home after doing some filming in Stoke.
Alan said he drove up to Yorkshire to be with his mother and support her when his wife informed him of his father’s tragic passing.
He claimed that because he had a heart attack and there was no way it was going to happen, his father’s death was “in a way harder in]86.”
I spent the Garden Festival in Stoke-on-Trent when I was a child.
My wife informed me that my dad had died that afternoon and that he had a heart attack while I was filming the Garden Festival in Stoke when I drove all the way back home.
So I immediately left the car and drove back to Yorkshire, leaving Stoke-on-Trent, to visit my mother. It was very difficult, not just losing a parent, but also finding comfort in a parent whose other half was so important to them. I can’t help but feel terrible about it.
Not once has Alan mentioned his parents’ passing. The 76-year-old described his final encounter with his mother and how emotionally vulnerable they were before writing about their final relationship in his book “Knave of Spades.”
The Gardeners’ World presenter said: “From above the sheets only her head and her right hand were visible. Her hair was still dark, even at 78, though she had never in her life coloured. Hair dye would be for ‘that dame’. After an hour or so I got up to go and she opened her eyes. ‘You going?’
She nodded off. We had never been particularly open-minded about our feelings as a family. Every time we met, we exchanged kisses and hugged, but never exchanged words.
You simply didn’t do that in Yorkshire, I guess. not in the 1960s or 1950s. However, it no longer seemed important. I told her I loved her a lot as soon as I gave her a squeeze.
She used all of her strength to repress it. She said, “Not as much as I love you.” I sat down next to her and sat down.
I turned around and turned back to her at the hospital ward. She winked at me as she sluggishly waved her fingers higher than the sheets. I last saw her when I saw her. She passed away peacefully in her sleep two days later.
Members of Adam’s family will not be present because they have been prohibited from the ceremony. However, Holly Ramsay will wed Adam Peaty in Bath next month in front of the entire Ramsay clan.
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Adam and Holly met in 2021 on the set of Strictly Come Dancing and will tie the knot next month(Image: TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED)
Adam Peaty is at war with his family, and it was apparently at the engagement party where it all started to go wrong.
The Olympic swimmer and Holly Ramsay should be in a happy place with only one month until their wedding day. Instead, they have gotten so stale that the majority of Adam’s family has been turned away from the ceremony because they have gotten into a feud with him.
The Ramsay clan and Adam’s now-divorced mother Caroline were present at the couple’s lavish engagement party in London last December, according to reports.
According to reports, the party was filmed as part of Gordon’s fly-on-the-wall docuseries, Being Gordon Ramsay. The celebrity chef, 59, was filmed over nine months as he opened five new restaurants in London, alongside juggling his personal life.
Holly and Adam with their families in happier times will be portrayed in scenes from the show. However, problems were already brewing behind the scenes.
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Adam’s family attended the engagement party when things were much better, according to a source close to the source. From there, things started to go wrong.
His mother confronted Gordon at the event because she was upset that some members of the family weren’t present. They added that “in addition to the stringent regulations, guests were required to sign non-disclosure agreements and hand in phones while the party was filmed.”
Mother Caroline described how disappointed she was that the Peaty family’s entire family had been cut out of the event in an explosive interview. You know how significant family is to you, as it is to me, she told the Daily Mail. My sisters have attended every event in Adam’s life, but they don’t come to the party.
There was nothing horrifying about those messages, she explained, adding that she assured Gordon at the party that Adam didn’t take kindly to me sending them.
Caroline explained how more words were exchanged because she wanted to wear a cream dress on the day of the wedding. Caroline was not invited because the tensions had reached boiling point before the hen arrived. Holly’s aunt, Louise Williams, publicly criticized Holly for not inviting her, calling the decision “divisive and hurtful” for which Caroline publicly thanked her.
According to a source close to the Peaty family, the tension may be brought on by the Peaty family’s differing working-class backgrounds and the Ramsay family’s more affluent lifestyle.
The glitzy world of showbiz, is a world away from Adam’s more humble upbringing in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire as one of four growing up on the ‘poverty line’.
Caroline would drive Adam 40 minutes from their home to the Derby pool if he wanted to realize his dreams at 4 am. She would drive him home, have a quick breakfast, and then work as a nursery manager from 8 am to 5 pm until her two-hour wait for his morning session to come to an end. She would then drive him back to the pool for evening training sessions, frequently arriving home by 8 or 10 o’clock.
Surprisingly, Adam is honest about growing up in resentment. He stated in an interview with The Guardian, “I have been driven by suffering since I was a child. Although I am a working class person, there are millions of other people working as well. They are unable to afford luxury items because they live paycheck to paycheck.
You had to fight for what you had because I had two brothers and one sister and because I was the youngest, so I always had hand-me-downs. Because my parents have sacrificed so much for me, I don’t want to sound harsh.
Adam and Holly met in 2021 on the set of Strictly Come Dancing, on which the swimmer was a contestant alongside her younger sister, Tilly. The pair began dating in 2023 and announced their engagement in September 2024.
The Peaty family reportedly invited only Bethany, Adam’s sister, to the couple’s wedding. Adam said in a statement addressing the feud last week that: “Over the past few days, many reports and comments have been made about Holly and I’s private life.
Bethany, my sister, has also been targeted. This has been largely unilateral and intrusive in many cases. Reading it was deeply unsettling and upsetting, especially given the false foundation we were targeted on.
Its encouragement by members of my family “makes it worse,” I say.
Given the ongoing police investigation into serious matters that emerged long before recent events, Bethany, Holly, and I cannot go into specifics.
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For those of you who have met me personally, you are aware of how diligently I work to make my own contribution to improving the world. Even in these challenging times, I am continuing to learn about myself and how to become the man I want to be: a respectable partner, father, businessman, friend, and athlete.
Harry had an awkward moment when he was assembling a Christmas tree as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrated their first Christmas in California after quitting the position.
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Prince Harry(Image: Getty Images)
With December just around the corner, millions of people are preparing for the festive season by putting up their Christmas decorations. And while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle now reside in California, they are keeping with holiday traditions with their children Archie and Lilibet.
In 2020, as their first year in America came to a close after they quit their royal lives and relocated abroad, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted shopping for a Christmas tree in Santa Barbara. The couple then ran into a young boy who was shopping with his family, with an awkward moment ensuing.
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Another store salesman claims that Harry mistook the young boy for a member of the staff in the store. One family reportedly remained inside the store even though it was empty, according to reports from the time.
According to shop salesman James Almaguer, the excited child “asked if he worked here” as the duke “ran through the trees to the duke.” He continued, describing Meghan as “very kind” and Harry as “chill lad.” James wrote: “We sold them their Christmas tree at my work today. It was a very, very interesting experience despite being anticlimactic.
Our agent advised them to arrive at a good time rather than shutting it down because we had our lot empty when they arrived. One family was present, and their young, enthusiastic son questioned if Harry had worked there without knowing who they were.
They appear to be very kind people, to be honest. Meghan sounds very kind, and Harry’s performance was sincere and euphoric. I’m so happy that they liked our trees. The best that was available to us. Thank you very much.
Meghan is celebrating Christmas in a unique way this year, as she prepared for her Netflix holiday programme to premiere on December 3. The trailer for the With Love, Meghan Christmas show shows the Duchess talking about “embracing traditions” and “connecting with the people we love”.
While giving the audience a glimpse into her Christmas preparations, Meghan says: “I love the holiday season. It’s about finding time to connect with the people we love. Embracing traditions and making new ones. Let the festivities commence and embrace the special touches that bring you joy.”
Meghan adds that “being a hostess or a host is about making people feel comfortable,” while adding that “you can do things that make people feel seen.”
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Meghan will be accompanied by tennis champion Naomi Osaka, chef Tom Collcchio, chef Tom Collcchio, chef Will Guidara, philanthropist Kelly McKee Zajfen, and long-time friend Lindsay Roth. The Duchess will be “sharing her favorite holiday traditions, seasonal crafts, and family recipes with friends old and new,” according to Netflix.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are “vulnerable” to losing their royal titles, according to royal biographer Tom Bower when Prince William assumes power.
Mitya Underwood Senior Celebrity and Royal Writer
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According to a royal expert, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will lose all of their royal titles.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on borrowed time with their royal titles amid what a royal expert describes as their ongoing betrayals and growing threat to the royal family. Biographer Tom Bower says the “ruthless” and unprecedented act of stripping Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his Duke and Prince titles should serve as a serious warning to the couple about what their future could hold once Prince William becomes monarch.
King Charles ’s younger brother lost his titles and his Royal Lodge home of 20 years following more revelations about his decades-long friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “For Harry, it was an unbelievable shock that the King could strip Andrew of his titles, including Prince, and it changes everything,” he tells the Mirror. “He must really fear that William will strip him, Meghan and the children of their titles when he succeeds to the throne.
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They are currently vulnerable and on borrowed time because William is still furious and Kate and William are unsure of what can be done to stop the harm they have caused them.
In Harry’s memoir Spare, Tom claims that many of their repeated betrayals of the royal family are simply too catastrophic to overlook. They go beyond revealing intimate details of Prince William and Kate’s interactions with them.
The pair’s jaw-dropping interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the year they resigned as working royals, was their biggest success, Tom says, and William is already at risk from the threat of them hurling similar grenades at him in the future.
Meghan and Harry are both making a lot of money, so the threat is that they will act foolishly and harm the royal family.
“They are uncontrolled, so Meghan’s risk is one of writing a memoir or hosting an interview like Oprah Winfrey.” Meghan’s accusations that the royal family is racist continue to permeate the interview’s legacy. Who has any idea what she might say next?”
Meghan’s use of her own royal titles has been a major sticking point since the couple moved to Montecito, California, and started a new life there.
The Palace and the pair agreed that they would stop using their His/Her Royal Highness titles but could still keep them when they left as working royals. It was compared to the time when Andrew, the then-Duke of York, made the deal.
However, it became questionable if Meghan was breaking their agreement when she gave a card with the words “With the Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex” as a gift to IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima in April of this year.
The couple’s defense of the monogrammed card, which was defended by “sources close to the couple,” was mentioned in a number of places, claiming that it was a personal gift and not connected to her As Ever lifestyle or any other commercial transactions.
Meghan’s interview with Harper’s Bazaar earlier this month reignited the discussion because the journalist had a strange-sounding encounter in his interview. When the house manager announces “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex,” even though we appear to be the only other two people present, wrote Kaitlyn Greenidge about our meeting with Meghan.
The title has a lot of power over Meghan, according to Tom, whose second tell-all book on the Sussexes will be released next year. He claims that “she uses it ruthlessly and with impunity” and that it is a great trading asset. She simply uses it to give herself the status she craves, not because she cared about the royal family.
Meghan didn’t realize that his uncle had lost his title until Harry explained that, he said, “and that is a reality.” I don’t believe she or any of us even realized how brutally ruthless they were. I can only imagine her contemplating, “What are we going to do? ” Who is she because she doesn’t have any titles? However, whenever she uses the title, she betrays the royal family.
The bombshell statement from Buckingham Palace about King Charles, 77, formally stripping his brother of his “style, titles and honours” came a few weeks after Andrew, 65, relinquished his Duke of York title.
Epstein was found dead in his federal prison cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial, but the statement read, “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
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However, Tom says it won’t be easy to remove Meghan and Harry’s titles and that King Charles won’t be putting their names on the papers. The royal family finds it hard and rocked by the Sussexes’ titles. Even if it would appear like sour grapes, Meghan’s status can only be undermined by her removal of her title.
“And it won’t take place in Charles’s lifetime.” There is no justification for him to take advantage of William’s pressure, and they haven’t done anything embarrassing with it other than using it to trade on. They are only currently under no obligation to remove their titles. I believe it will be inevitable, but they would have to be very cautious with how they do it.
As she discusses potential career scutches, a potential career swerve, and Rod Stewart’s emotional plans, Penny Lancaster offers a fascinating insight into her relationship with rock legend Rod Stewart.
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Penny opens up about her husband Rod, Christmas at the Stewarts and Rod’s emotional plans(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Penny Lancaster is the undisputed queen of reinvention. She began her career as a model in the 90s, later trained as a photographer and, after finding love with rock icon Rod Stewart, embraced her most cherished role yet – motherhood.
She went on to compete in Strictly Come Dancing, has spent a decade guest presenting on Loose Women, and taken on the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen.
Then, after appearing in Channel 4 ’s Famous And Fighting Crime in 2020, Penny qualified as a special constable for the City of London Police. Now, as a new year approaches, the star, 54, is contemplating another professional pivot as she divulges to OK ! her dreams of moving into nature television.
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“I love the idea of doing my own gardening show, maybe even based out of Durrington,” she tells us, referring to Durrington House, the 18th-century Grade II-listed Hertfordshire estate that she and Rod have shared for 12 years. Spread across over 50 acres, the grounds boast a walled garden, a 48sqm greenhouse, formal topiary, a woodland area and eight beehives.
With [our] head gardener, I’m getting more information about various plant varieties. I love being amongst nature. When things get too much, I get a sense of goodness if I spend time outdoors, in a greenery, by a source of water, while birding, in the rain or the sunshine. Although it’s not something I do every day, I do it frequently. Rod and I both do”!
On Sunday, Penny and Rod will give the nation a rare glimpse behind Durrington’s gates as TV host Anita Rani visits their luxurious home for a brand-new series of BBC One’s My Life At Christmas. Together, the couple reflect on their relationship’s biggest chapters, including first meeting at a Christmas party at London’s Dorchester Hotel in December 1998.
At the time, Penny was studying photography while Rod was a globally famous singer, preparing to separate from ex-wife, New Zealand supermodel Rachel Hunter. Nine months after the pair started dating, Rod, a father of six, declared he would never get married or have more children.
Years on, that resolve melted away. He and Penny wed in Portofino, Italy, in 2007, two years after having their first son Alastair, now 19. Fourteen years ago their second boy, Aiden, followed. Now, long after a bumpy start, navigating the pitfalls of a blended family, they operate as one tight unit.
As she contemplates the journey they have taken to date, Rod’s realization that he never imagined he would marry and have children again, and what a gift it is to have found one another and have brought this family so close to one another, makes me cringe.
When she and Rod start talking to OK!, they’ll start decorating Durrington House with holiday decorations. As well as their two sons, Rod’s children Ruby, Liam and three grandchildren, are flying in from LA.
“We’re going ice skating, to the theatre, the races, then there’s local pubs and catching up with Rod’s sister Mary, who’s 97 on Boxing Day,” says Penny, who has arranged all social engagements over the holidays. “Everything’s booked because if it’s done ahead of time, I don’t stress and just let it unfold, like a gift!”
One notable absence, however, will be Rod’s daughter Kimberly, 46, who welcomed her second child in July.
Kimberly isn’t coming, Kimberly. She and her mother reside at home. It’s a very, very new]baby], so she’s going to stay home”, explains Penny, who flew out right after the birth to support her step-daughter. I received a lot of cuddles in the three weeks that followed the birth of Babba!
Penny grins as she recalls the holiday seasons when her own boys were young. “Rod used to dress up as Father Christmas. We would force him to walk slowly before he was even dressed and stuffed with a pillow in his front. If you’re still awake, I’d say to the kids, “Frother Christmas cannot stop at our house.” They’d jump in their beds and not get out until the morning”!
Although Penny hasn’t yet begun the present-shopping task this year, she claims Rod’s gifts always call for an extra boost of inspiration and thoughtfulness, which she perfectly matched a year ago.
“Rod’s got a great respect for veterans and last Christmas, with Rod turning 80 and it being 80 years since the end of the Second World War, I got two metal black silhouette figures of soldiers with metal poppies and placed them in the garden. On Christmas morning, we took the dogs out for a walk in the garden and he saw his gift nestled out in the fields. He always says, ‘How do you always find the right thing?!’”
Describing her husband as “a true romantic”, Penny reveals that the singer is a connoisseur of surprises too. He bought her a narrowboat for her 50th birthday during lockdown after she fell in love with canal boats on daily river walks.
However, her adventures on Bluebell have recently been hampered by health issues. “I’ve neglected her a bit as last year I tore the meniscus in my knee and I’ve injured my Achilles doing a]police] fitness test”, she says.
My right Achilles began to hurt sharply about halfway through. Because of the adrenaline, I kept going instead of stopping, and now it’s swollen and limping. It’s really frustrating. While I recover, I’m thinking about volunteering at organizations like The Felix Project, a food distribution organization.
It’s here that the chat darts to another professional possibility – training to be a psychotherapist.
“I know it would help with policing, because we often have a mental health nurse come out when we’re dealing with someone with mental health issue,” she says, noting that penning her autobiography Someone Like Me , which was published in September, was “a little bit” like going through the therapy process.
Another milestone, Penny’s 55th birthday in March, is on the horizon, and it’s even more exciting. Are any plans in the making? “No ! I’m always considering how to celebrate [other people’s birthdays]. I was so looking forward to my 50th birthday and was going to make it a big one, then it was lockdown, so nothing happened. But I overcame it. It worked out perfectly.”
Rod, loitering in the background during our interview, finds himself drawn into the discussion. Do you want to make plans for my 55th birthday, Dear Darling? She asks and smiles as he responds. “He said, ‘ Yeah, simple. ‘ So there you have it. He’s a last-minute, spontaneous [guy] guy. He’ll probably go, ‘ Pack your bags. I’m taking you somewhere. He’s last-minute, and I like to plan ahead. So it’s a good combo.
After 25 years together, Penny and Rod are undisputedly a united force and with Rod touring Europe until just before Christmas, then again in the New Year, it begs the question: does being frequently apart keep them together?
” We can all take things for granted as time goes by and]absence] allows you a little bit of space to reflect, to start missing someone again and remember why it’s so important to have snuggles on the couch together or coffee mornings after the drop-off, “agrees Penny”. It’s about developing small habits, finding small moments, and maintaining communication. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
Penny also opens up on what she finds most sexy about her other half – his sense of humour. He takes himself too seriously. He also dresses in such a beautiful way that I can’t help but feel proud of my appearance. We dress for each other. Additionally, he lacks any laziness in his body. THAT is “sexy”!
With a 26-year age gap and Rod now approaching 81, mortality is a conversation the couple don’t swerve. In My Life At Christmas , viewers will see Rod pointing out a cream-columned temple in the garden at Durrington where he intends to be laid to rest. The poignant moment offers insight into the practical mindset of a man who Penny insists “has no plans to retire”.
She explains: “You don’t want to talk about the end, but he’s like, ‘ Look, it happens to all of us. ‘” He consistently states, “I’ve had the best life ever, and I wouldn’t have complaints if it ended tomorrow.” However, his sister passed away this year. Why wouldn’t he go to 100? ‘ ” “
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As Rod himself says in the BBC One programme, “Like the Duke of Edinburgh, I like to plan ahead. So this little house is where I’m going to be laid to rest, hopefully. It’s my special place. Penny hates me to talk about it but we all have to die.”
An idea strikes Penny as she discovers that their dog Bubbles is buried in the gardens. She smiles in the property deed, which is required if there is a family cemetery. You buy the property, you have to maintain the cemetery of the Stewarts! “
After her fella won £1 million, Michelle Oakes, known for her champagne lifestyle, was the envy of Essex, with a fantastic house, riding stables, and a glittering swimming pool. All the riches are now, though…
Hannah Britt and Emma Ponsford are the features editors for advanced content.
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Michelle Oakes, who was married to a lotto millionaire, now lives for the majority of her time in a static caravan in St Osyth, near Clacton On Sea.(Image: PHIL HARRIS)
After her fella won £1 million, “Lotto wife” Michelle Oakes, who was famous for her champagne lifestyle, was the envy of Essex with a fantastic house, riding stables, and a glittering swimming pool. Michelle, who had five wives, had the feeling that she had hit the jackpot once more when she married and fell in love with the architect who built the lavish home she left when her Lotto marriage ended.
However, that love story ended in a disaster and she was forced to live in a static caravan due to her “rags to riches… to rags again” love life. Michelle is now free and single, despite having two failed marriages to soldiers, a forklift driver, a doorman, and a builder behind her. She sees her newfound happiness as yet another upward trend in her fortunes, even though the money is gone. She has already lost the four stone she used to comfort eat during her unhappy marriages, vowing never to tie the knot again, on the eve of her 60th birthday.
READ MORE: ‘I won £11m on lottery but ran out of money – one man chucked his beer over me’
In the cozy caravan, which she jokes is smaller than the stable she had constructed next to her old swimming pool, Michelle enjoys snuggling up with Labradoodles Betty, Kofi, and cat Bruce.
She claims that she has lost everything. But I’ve always been the happiest. When the mother-of-three was just 23 years old, Simon Corne became her first husband in 1991. Matt and Charlie had sons Matt, 37, and Charlie, 33, but they divorced because they were both too young to settle in.
A year into their relationship, Gary Brand, a taxi driver and doorman, won a £1 million lottery win. Gary, according to her, “went from being a member of a syndicate that won the lottery to becoming a millionaire.” We were so happy living the dream that our lives changed overnight.
“Our 1902 cottage was transformed into a stunning, large, swimming pool in the backyard. My horses and a dressing room were both put in by Gary next to our bedroom. Our fleet of glamorous vehicles, including my lilac BMW, were triple garaged in front of electric gates. The quality of life was incredible. He had such a kind heart.
“When we got married in 1997, I quaffed pink champagne and we spent the next couple of years travelling the world, taking incredible holidays to New York, Disney World, visiting all of the Greek Islands and flying out to Ibiza at least three times a year. Gary was a great man and loved spoiling me with beautiful jewellery and fancy cars, but after a couple of years the relationship went stale, as we wanted different things.
He and I ended up divorced in 1999 because he was focused on growing his business. I sold the diamonds and moved on because it was amicable and I left with a £37,500 settlement and a sizable solicitor’s bill.
Michelle and Terry Clarke had a son named Mason, who is now 22 years old, a year after their 2002 divorce, but she later said, “I do” to another soldier, Richie Oakes. But by 2009, they, too, had divorced. Michelle and the lovestruck builder who had met through a chance on the dating website Plenty of Fish, met again in the news in 2014 after it became known that she had fallen in love with the woman who had built her dream Lotto home.
After she unwittingly messaged him after seeing his profile on dating website, Ian admitted he had fallen in love with Michelle while digging out her pool in the 1990s, and that their romance had become a “fairytale.”
After meeting in their local pub a few days later, Ian was still in love with her that he proposed in a text message to her when she arrived home hours later despite Michelle not acknowledging him. In 2016, the happy couple even finished renovating their three-bedroom home. However, sadly, she requested divorce after six years and what Michelle refers to as an “Eureka moment.”
She claims that Ian and I parted ways during our time together. I ran Michelle’s Baps, provided roadside burgers, and cared for my lovely mother, Betty, who had dementia. But after her passing, my world changed. I was deeply uneasy and in the middle of my menopause.
I had been chasing my dad all my life, but I needed to learn to make myself happy instead of rely on a man, so Ian and I split up. Although my best friend has always been my best friend, I was overcome by grief because I had learned so much about dementia from watching her, so I sold up my burger van and trained again as a carer.
At 5′ 7″ tall and weighing 13 stone 8 pounds, I also realized I had let myself go. I’d consumed takeaways and champagne, which had cost me my health.
I ate less food and ate less fizz, reducing my current 9st 4lbs and size 10 weight. With her new £20, 000-a-year career almost complete and her transition into her pre-60s almost complete. In Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, Michelle decided it was time to settle in and find her forever home. She claims, “I saw the caravan going for £52,000 and bought it.” One of my happiest days of my life was spent there, with the animals and moving in.
You can’t spend 365 days a year at the holiday park, but I’m fortunate to have a room at Steve’s, so I can go there if I ever feel lonely. However, I’m usually relieved to return to my own four walls after a challenging day of caring for the elderly.
“I miss the exotic vacations, and money is tight, too. However, I work for Steve’s burger van to pay for my annual trip to Egypt because I’m a grafter. I purchase all of my clothing from Primark or TikTok and get my favorite lipstick for only £2.
Now Michelle loves nothing more than snuggling up in the caravan after a hard day’s work, but admits she does sometimes find herself giggling that her entire 36ftx12ft home is the same size as her old front room. She says: “I know people must think it’s weird and they must think I’ve had such a downturn in fortune – it’s like rags to riches…and back to rags – but I really don’t see it like that.
If you’re unhappy within yourself and have a man, money doesn’t actually mean anything. I must admit that I’ve divorced five times and married once. “With that said, I don’t regret any of my choices because life has been a rollercoaster and definitely a fun one, even though it’s sad that I turned 60 before realizing what truly makes me happy.
“I look at the tattoos I’ve had done on my arms to remind myself never to forget the important things in life again. One reads, ‘‘Even on my darkest day, I will stand tall and find sunshine”. The other says, ‘Never let your past define your future’. “I live by those mottos. For some, life might be about diamonds. But, for me, I am genuinely happiest sitting on my deck with the dogs leading a simple life.
“Admittedly, I might still enjoy getting my nails done and occasionally enjoying a glass of pink champagne,” I said. “That’s one thing I haven’t quite given up spending money on, and that’s the occasional lottery ticket.”
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