When celeb weddings go wrong
AS celebrity weddings go, few have been more scandal-hit than the nuptials of Adam Peaty and Holly Ramsay.
From the bride not inviting her future mother-in-law to her hen do and the Olympian uninviting his family, to Adam’s aunt posting her feelings about the whole tawdry affair online, it has been the showbiz gossip gift that keeps on giving.
And to top it all off, the groom went the full Brooklyn Beckham by changing his name to Adam Ramsay Peaty,
But the marriage of swimmer Adam to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Holly isn’t the first celeb wedding to be filled with scandal.
From Hollywood bigamy and a bride having to pee in a bucket, to stag do misdemeanours, celebrity weddings have more drama than an Eastenders Christmas special.
Here we take a look at some of the wedding scandals that engulfed some of showbiz’s biggest stars.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
The world was thrilled when Prince Harry and American actress Meghan announced their engagement.
But things quickly soured with allegations that Meghan had made Princess Catherine cry over Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress and that the bride was demanding to wear a particular Royal tiara on her big day.
And it was going to go from bad to worse as Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle started to speak to the press.
He was then promptly cut off by his daughter.
In the end the only member of the bride’s family to attend the Royal wedding was Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland – with all the Markles crossed off the guest list.
The King then ended up giving his future daughter-in-law away.
But as we all know the wedding wasn’t the last scandal to hit the newlyweds as they chose to step away from Royal life, flee the UK, and appear to have a strained relationship with the rest of the Royal family.
Brian McFadden and Kerry Katona
Westlife star Brian and Atomic Kitten Kerry seemed like a match made in pop heaven.
The showbiz couple said ‘I do” in a grand ceremony at Slane Castle, Ireland, in 2002.
But behind their glitzy bash, which was said to have cost £100,000, Brian was keeping a secret.
Newlywed Kerry later discovered that her husband had cheated on her with a stripper on his stag do.
The couple divorced after two years together and Kerry later said she was ‘mortified’ by Brian’s infidelity.
“I only found out after we got married. The girl he had cheated on me with was a lap dancer and he had made her sign an NDA and paid her 15 grand to keep her mouth shut,” she explained.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
It wasn’t long after tying the knot with Ryan Reynolds that actress Blake Lively found herself having to avert disaster – but not the romantic kind.
Distracted by Florence Welch singing at her reception, it took some time for her to notice that a sparkler had burnt a hole into the front of her one of a kind Marchesa silk gown.
“I look down and my wedding dress has a big burn mark from one of the sparklers. Right on the front! And it was just so heartbreaking to me,” she told Vogue.
But new hubby Ryan turned it into a positive, later telling her the burn was “beautiful” adding: “You’ll always remember that moment with Florence singing and the sparklers. You have that forever, right there, preserved.”
She told Vogue: “Now that’s my favourite part of the dress.”
Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith
When the former Rolling Stone first met Mandy she was just 13 years old and he was 47.
Wyman wrote in his 1990 autobiography: “She took my breath away…she was a woman at thirteen.”
The relationship only became public two-and-a-half years later, when she reached the age of 16.
Despite the controversy around their relationship they wed in 1989 when Mandy was 18.
But she moved out just weeks after the wedding and they divorced two years later.
Even so, the scandal kept on rolling. In 1993, in a bizarre twist, Wyman’s 30-year-old son from his first marriage, Stephen, married Mandy’s mother, Patsy, who was then aged 46. However, they split after two years.
Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy
When you gotta go, you gotta go. And during her 2010 wedding to Jason Hoppy, entrepreneur and TV star Bethenny Frankel got the call of nature that just could not wait.
Frankel, who was seven and a half months pregnant at the time, was wearing a form-fitting gown and could not easily make the trek to a proper bathroom without being seen by guests.
Her wedding planner, Shawn Rabideau, retrieved a silver champagne bucket for her to use.
So Frankel peed in the bucket while her assistant and her wedding planner held up the dress.
And the special moment was captured for posterity by the TV cameras for her reality show Bethenny Getting Married.
Britney Spears and Jason Alexander
Fans were shocked when Britney and her childhood friend Jason Alexander tied the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in 2004.
Britney later said she was just ‘drunk and bored’ after a while night out with Alexander.
The horrified Spears team quickly arranged for an annulment, claiming she lacked understanding of her actions, which was granted within 55 hours.
But the drama would come back to haunt her years later.
On the day of Britney’s 2022 wedding to Sam Asghari, Alexander showed up at her home, livestreaming on Instagram as he tried to “crash” the event.
He was arrested, charged with trespassing, battery, and vandalism, and received a restraining order from Spears. He served around two months in jail.
Liz Taylor and Eddie Fisher
Where do we start with Liz? She is the undisputed queen of weddings having walked down the aisle no less than eight times.
But her most scandalous is undoubtedly her 1959 union with Eddie Fisher who she began an affair with after the death of her husband Mike Todd.
The only problem was that Fisher was still married to Debbie Reynolds.
Then in 1962 Taylor started having an affair with Richard Burton – while still married to Fisher.
Andy Carroll and Billi Mucklow
The footballer was all set to marry TOWIE star Billi in 2022 when photos emerged of Carroll passed out with two women in a Dubai hotel room on his stag do.
Heartbroken Billi promptly whipped off her engagement ring and moved out.
But the two women involved came forward to say that nothing sexual had occurred and in fact Andy had been a complete gent.
So Billi forgave Andy and they wed at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire.
But their happiness was short-lived and they split in 2024.
Olivier Sarkozy & Mary Kate Olsen
Most brides spend months agonising over the perfect theme, colour scheme and decorations for their big day.
But it seems Mary-Kate Olsen wanted to keep it simple for her wedding to Olivier Sarkozy.
According to the New York Post, the couple opted to adorn their reception room with “bowls and bowls filled with cigarettes”.
How romantic.
Shania Twain’s ultimate revenge
When country star Shania’s first husband Mutt Lange had an affair with her best friend and assistant Marie-Anne Thiebaud she was understandably devastated.
It was Marie-Anne’s husband Frédéric who first discovered the affair.
According to the Daily Mail, he found strange hotel receipts, phone bills, and even a lingerie set in his wife’s suitcase.
Shania and Frederic turned to each other for support during their marriage breakdowns – and ended up falling in love themselves.
They married on New Year’s Day 2011 – in the ultimate revenge act.
