I have long known we live in an age of fake news, but I’m depressed to learn the plague of ambiguity has spread to celebrity marriages. A few of you may recall TV presenter Stacey Solomon’s 2022 wedding celebrations, as gushingly covered by Hello! magazine, with the then 32-year-old bride’s meringue gown, dashing groom (Joe Swash, formerly of EastEnders), garden marquee, gussied-up guests and late-night dancing to “garage classics”.
Now we’re told their much-trumpeted union had no legally binding status whatsoever, which makes a mockery of simpering press reports that the couple “exchanged vows” in front of their children, having “postponed their nuptials” after Solomon fell pregnant with their daughter, Rose.
It also gives less impact to the assurance that it was “important to Stacey for her day to uphold her strong Jewish values”. True, if you followed Solomon’s “marital” union in forensic detail, you might have noted a mention that the service was technically a “relaxed private blessing”, since the couple’s home wasn’t licensed for weddings. However, the happy couple did assure well-wishers via Instagram that “we will register our marriage legally afterwards”.
Olivia Attwood, “star” of the reality show, Love Island, issued similarly blithe assurances after “marrying” Blackburn Rovers footballer, Bradley Dack, in a ceremony at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, clad in a £30,000 designer bridal gown, with a £10,000 wedding cake.
The wedding was filmed as part of a 17-part ITV reality series, Olivia Meets Her Match, and TV viewers watched the newlyweds sign a piece of paper in front of their siblings, acting as witnesses. But what did they witness? The marriage was never logged with the General Register Office and has no legal status, while the only lasting ink is the couple’s tattoos: “Till death ” on her arm, and “Do us part” on his wrist.
Olivia Attwood and Bradley Dack’s lavish ceremony was filmed as part of a 17-part ITV reality series – Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock
The tats turned out to be eerily propheti – a shop’s till ringing “kerching” is precisely the point of this union, which fell apart earlier this year. Weddings are huge business for TV stars and social media influencers, who can double their audience and reach by getting hitched. This means bigger sponsorship deals, more freebies and fresh contracts for podcasts and reality series.
Celebs like the Beckhams whetted the taste for matrimony as a cash-raking public spectacle (OK! reportedly paid £1m for exclusive coverage), while the Kardashians regularly ramp up viewing figures for their family TV shows by foregrounding romances that zoom to the altar or the Las Vegas Love Chapel – even if it isn’t strictly legal. Look at Kourtney Kardashian’s “spontaneous” post-Grammy 2022 “first wedding” to Travis Barker!
What we’re seeing is a worrying trend where Insta-weddings focus on the big day and party, but are lacking any long-term commitment. Why should an ersatz marriage last when there’s not even enough intent or moral fibre to give a marriage any legal framework? Long relationships require hard work, compromise and an ability to muddle through less photogenic times, but TikTok and podcasts aren’t about sacrifices or laying foundations for old age. The saddest part is these un-wedded couples don’t even want to create stability for the children they parade on social media.
I can’t help wondering how such duos’ family and friends feel about attending superficial ceremonies. Attending a big wedding increasingly feels like you’re re-mortgaging a friendship, as you count the cost of hen and stag weekends, presents and, increasingly, watching mates tie the knot in some far-flung location. I’d be furious if I’d shelled out hundreds to support a good friend on the path to wedlock, only to find the entire confection wasn’t legally binding. Perhaps publicly calling out these brides and grooms is the one thing that might stop impressionable youngsters from jumping on the bandwagon.
