Carol McGiffin surprised her fans and Loose Women co-stars this week after revealing that she had secretly tied the knot to long-term partner Mark Cassidy a year ago. And on Thursday's episode of the ITV daytime show, the TV presenter was forced to come face to face with her work colleagues for the first time since she made the announcement. During the show, Jane Moore told Carol that she had "fundamentally lied" to them, as she had been asked on a number of times when she was going to get married. Defending herself, Carol explained the reason why she kept it quiet, telling the panel: "It wasn’t a lie. I never said 'no' ever. We just kept it a secret. We did it on our own, just us two, nobody at all. It had to be like that – all or nothing."
Loose Women's Carol McGiffin and Mark Cassidy tied the knot last year
The TV star continued: "We thought 'we won't tell anyone just yet'. We liked having a secret. Then the secret carried on." Carol also admitted that a lot of her close friends and members of their families knew about their marriage, as they later had a small celebration. Carol apologised to the panel for not inviting them, saying that they "probably missed a few out – so sorry about that." Carol and Mark got married in Bangkok, and she told the panel that the ceremony had been "special" but a little bit tricky too, as they had to sign a lot of paperwork. Revealing why they chose Bangkok to get married in, Carol said that it was a place both she and Mark loved.
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Carol and Mark got engaged in 2008
Carol first announced the news about her secret wedding on Wednesday in an interview with Best magazine. Carol explained that they married in a low-key ceremony with no family or friends present, after two previous failed attempts at tying the knot. "No one knew we were going to do it, but we've basically spent the past year having separate celebrations with different friends and family, telling them all in person. Now they all know, we're ready for it to come out," she said.
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The couple had been engaged since 2008, and originally planned to marry in January 2017, but were forced to cancel after Carol's sister sadly died a few days before. She also said that they decided to marry abroad as it "ran out of control and became too much" when they tried to plan a traditional wedding. Carol and Mark recently returned to Bangkok to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, before travelling on to Phuket, where the 58-year-old shared photos of herself and her partner dancing together on a night out.
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