TV presenting duo Michelle Ackerley and her mum Mavis have joined HELLO! for an exclusive interview and photoshoot to celebrate Mother's Day and tell us how they're best friends as well as mother and daughter.
"Mum isn't just my parent, she's my best friend too," says Michelle. "I can talk to her about anything, and we speak every day. We always try to do something nice on Mother's Day and this year will probably involve a night out with fizz and dancing. I look forward to spending time with my mum because it's fun. My mates love going out with her too - they call her 'Mave the Rave'. I wish I had her energy."
Mavis adds: "If Michelle wasn't my daughter, she would be my best mate, because I love her to bits; I love everything about her. She's the total opposite of me but she understands me. But I am still a mother, and sometimes I need to say, 'Michelle, no, you're going a bit far now.'"
Working together on TV
Luckily the pair have been able to spend much of the past few years working together on the BBC's Morning Live, where Michelle, 39, is a presenter while Mavis, 67, is a life coach. Two years ago, they co-presented their own docuseries, Dirty Rotten Scammers, which saw them delve into the world of cybercrime.
Their on-screen partnership began a few years ago when Michelle was filming a segment for The One Show about legendary Manchester nightclub Reno. Discovering it was one of her mum's old haunts, she took Mavis along.
While Mavis, a former nurse who retrained as a personal trainer and life coach, has offered Michelle support and advice all her life, Michelle was there for Mavis when Marcus, her husband of 30 years, died from lung cancer in 2018.
Michelle's wedding to fiancé Ben Ryan
"Mum has been such a support through school and my career and it goes both ways; we've got each other's backs," says Michelle, who is marrying Brentford Football Club's performance director Ben Ryan, 50, in May in front of a handful of family members.
"One of the things I love about Ben is that he has such a calm aura about him and I feel safe around him," she says. "He's also great fun; we've also got the same sense of humour and we can just spend all of our time together cracking up laughing at stupid things."t
Her relationship with Ben
It turns out Ben is also something of a superstar in Fiji, where in 2016 he led the national Rugby 7s team to the sport's first ever Olympic gold medal.
"His face is on the banknotes, and the rugby story is being made into a film," Michelle explains. "We went there last year and we had people queuing up outside the hotel rooms; it was surreal. I was taken aback to see a whole nation react to him, but also at how he interacted with them, treating every single person like a friend or family member."
Mavis' love life with partner Tim
Meanwhile, Michelle is delighted that her mum has found love again with retired restauranteur Tim.
"It's so lovely to see her happy with a fantastic partner and to be able to share and enjoy that with them, especially when we have been through such difficult times," she says. "The grief doesn't go away but it's nice to get to a point where you can look back and smile about happy times."
To read the rest of this interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.