In an exclusive interview and photoshoot in HELLO! magazine at their Greater Manchester home, actress Jorgie Porter has spoken for the first time about the romantic treasure trail of clues that led to her engagement to Ollie Piotrowski.
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"We're on another level of love, which I could never have believed was possible," says the Hollyoaks star following the proposal three weeks before Christmas during a weekend at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.
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"Suddenly Ollie was on one knee clutching an open box. I couldn't believe what was happening. I started crying and so did Ollie. He was so emotional he couldn't get his words out, so we hugged, he put the ring on my finger and then he asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes!"
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Ollie's momentous treasure hunt of 12 photo clues documented their love story. Each image was captioned with a handwritten memory from Ollie, and the final clue led Jorgie to an idyllic lakeside chalet.
© Photo: HELLO!The couple got engaged in December
"He'd stuck a Haribo ring on the back of one of pictures and written 'this is the ordinary', that it was leading to a proposal never once entered my head," says Jorgie, whose failed past relationships led her to believe that marriage would never be her fairytale ending.
"Before Ollie, I've never found the right guy or trusted that a man would want to be with me forever but I genuinely feel now like all my past relationships were a learning experience in how to find The One. When Ollie got on one knee, I just thought, 'Oh my god, you've said you love me and you mean it'. Now we want to be together forever - one of those elderly couples on a bench, years later still hopelessly in love," says Jorgie as they reveal plans they are considering for their big day.
"We quite like the idea of Italy or a Greek island. Another idea we’ve got is for a New Year's Eve ceremony, which would be in the UK. We could take residency at Gleneagles!"
© Photo: HELLO!The couple posed together inside their Manchester home
The couple's joy is the "silver lining" to a year of incredible sadness. Last summer they endured a heartbreaking miscarriage. After naturally conceiving quadruplets against extraordinary odds of 700,000-to-1, they discovered at a 14-week scan that there was no sign of life.
"The day we found out, we lost four pieces of our hearts," says Jorgie. "Realising we were expecting four was the biggest surprise and although it took a little while to get our heads around we were so excited about becoming parents. We knew the risks of a multiple pregnancy, but it was impossible not to look forward and plan the future. I had imagined myself being a mum of four and I loved the idea."
"I hope that simply by speaking about the miscarriage I can help other women going through the same thing and perhaps that will be of some comfort, to realise they're not alone."
Jorgie and Ollie are donating their fee to the Smiley Smiley Josh Riley Foundation, visit www.smileysmiley.org.
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