World Exclusive: Carol and Mark are married!
Best columnist Carol McGiffin finally admits to the world that she and her now husband Mark Cassidy married secretly this time last year in Thailand. Happy 1st anniversary, Mr & Mrs Cassidy…
It was the moment she’s been teasing us all about for ages. The moment she would finally get married again to a gorgeous man 22 years younger (take heart all single ladies out there). best even picked out three of the six possible dresses with her for what she insisted would be a small affair. In the end, it was VERY small – just the two of them. But that makes it all the more romantic. Here, in a world exclusive, is how they finally tied the knot…
At last, Carol! When did it happen?
Are you sitting down? [Laughs] Almost exactly a year ago, 8 February 2018. It was our third attempt. We’d booked at a register office in London for 19 January 2017, but sadly my sister died five days earlier so, of course, we cancelled it. We rebooked it but then changed our minds because it still didn’t feel right – it was too soon.
So, how on earth did you manage to keep it secret?
It wasn’t difficult, we just didn’t tell you!
So nobody knew?
No one knew we were going to do it, but we’ve basically spent the last year having separate celebrations with different friends and family, telling them all in person. Now they all know, we’re ready for it to come out.
Were they all shocked? Surprised? Even annoyed?
No! At least I don’t think so. And I hope we have told everyone because we kept telling people twice, thinking we hadn’t told them. It was a minefield. Apologies to anyone we forgot to tell, doesn’t mean we don’t love you!
Where did you do it?
Bangkok! In fact I’m in Bangkok now, we’re celebrating our first
anniversary and doing all the same things and going to all the same places. We plan to do the same thing every year.
Why Bangkok?
Because it’s our special place and we knew we could be anonymous there.
Is it legal?
Yes! Of course it is!
How many guests did you have?
None! We tried to organise it all ourselves, but it’s not easy with all the translations and the language, so in the end we hired an agency to do all the running around for us. We just turned up at the office and signed the papers.
What about witnesses?
They were just two local people who probably do it all the time.
How did your friends and family feel about that?
Well, if anyone was upset or annoyed they didn’t show it. Everyone was very happy for us and not even a bit surprised that we did it that way. Anyway, part of the reason it took us so long to get married was because every time we discussed having a traditional wedding day with guests, it ran out of control and became too much. We have a lot of friends which is why it’s taken a year to get around to telling everyone.
What did you wear?
Mmmm, well, we didn’t actually dress up. Partly because I had a bandage on my leg and couldn’t really wear a dress or normal trousers, only baggy ones. On the morning Mark dressed up smart then realised I couldn’t so he dressed down so I wouldn’t feel too bad.
But you had six dresses?
Over the years I’ve probably bought six dresses yes, but
‘The past year we’ve had separate celebrations with different friends’
they weren’t ‘wedding’ dresses, just dresses from the high street. Most of them I just wear now but I’m saving a couple for when we get around to organising a proper party for everyone closer to home.
Why the bandage?
Two days before we left for Bangkok we were on a fitness drive and Mark was trying to teach me how to run. I mean run further than 100 feet, and a big dog started trying to break through its guard fence and so we had to run really fast and I tripped over, knee-capped myself and sprained my ankle. I had to go to hospital.
How about a photographer?
Nope. We’ve got our own pictures, that’s enough for us! We will have some proper photographs done but that’ll be later at the party we haven’t organised yet!
So was it a party for two afterwards then?
Sort of. We went for dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. We had a few drinks and some great food then went back to our favourite bar, the Happy Beer Garden near Patpong Market.
Did you have a honeymoon?
Yes, but because of the accident we had to change some of our plans and one of them was the honeymoon. We were determined not to let the injury stop us from getting married again so we made do with a few days at a beach close to the city, at Hua Hin. We went by car so I didn’t have to do too much walking. Most of our time was spent at the hospital though! I had to go every day to get my dressings changed. It wasn’t ideal to say the least. We’re hoping to have a proper honeymoon this year, somewhere like the Maldives.
Have you ever nearly been rumbled?
Not as far as I know. The closest anyone came to guessing was Nadia at Loose Women, when they were quizzing me about wedding plans. She said, ‘I bet they’re already married!’ But she’s the only one to ever have said it or even suspected it.
What’s next?
Hopefully a party if we can decide where to do it. Then next February is my big birthday so maybe we’ll just have loads of small parties with different groups again. It felt more special that way and is much less of a pain in the bum to organise – lol!
‘I tripped over, knee-capped myself and sprained my ankle’