Former Special Forces soldier and SAS: Who Dares Wins TV star Ollie Ollerton has married his fiancée Laura Gander in a secret ceremony in Scotland.
The couple had planned to wed in a Bond-themed extravaganza last July until their dreams were dashed by the pandemic.
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But now HELLO! can exclusively reveal that the couple eloped to Gretna Green and celebrated their first days as newlyweds in the breathtaking landscape of Lake Windermere.
"We defied all the odds and it was an absolute mission to pull it off. It was the year when it looked like we wouldn't be able to marry, and then we did," says the delighted groom of the wedding on 27 December – which was also his 50th birthday. "We did it on that day so I'll never forget our anniversary," he jokes.
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It was certainly the perfect example of who dares wins as the couple worked within all the Covid-19 restrictions to become husband and wife.
© Photo: HELLO!The happy couple tied the knot in Scotland. Photo: Catherine Bradley
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"It was quite surreal, and stressful in the lead up as literally the week before the wedding everything was changing again in both England and Scotland," says 40-year-old Laura. "I was straight on to the Scottish government website checking out the restrictions, but we found out that you could cross the border into Scotland if you were going there for a wedding."
© Photo: HELLO!The pair married on 27 December. Photo: Catherine Bradley
Laura wore a stunning silver full-length dress by Ghost, a design she saw when looking for inspiration for a bespoke wedding gown for their original big day. "I'd seen the style of dress I wanted – Léa Seydoux wore it on the film poster for Spectre – and then found the actual dress was by Ghost. So when we decided to get married at Gretna, I went on the website, found it again and bought it, so our day was even more Bond-esque."
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"We've said that time and time again; our day had real character," adds Ollie. "It was more than just a wedding as we worked within all the tier rules when we could have just said: 'Oh this is too hard.' It really made it about us."
Read the full interview and see more exclusive photos in the new issue of HELLO! out on Monday 10 January.
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