‘Dan proposed when I was hungover!’
Big Brother’s Chanelle Hayes and her fiancé Dan Bingham talk about how they found love in lockdown
As Chanelle Hayes poses hand-in-hand with her fiancé Dan Bingham on our engagement shoot, we can feel a real sense of romance in the air. The couple, who met 18 months ago, appear completely smitten. At the time they got together, the country was in the winter 2020 lockdown, which meant that rather than being wined and dined on glamorous dates, Chanelle and Dan stayed at home eating takeaways and playing music quizzes online.
“This is the first time I’ve seen her without her pyjamas on,” jokes Dan, as they pose for pictures.
Despite their unconventional start, Chanelle, 34, and Dan, 40, quickly fell for each other and in April he proposed. Without hesitation, Chanelle accepted. “Everyone’s got ‘a person’ and Dan is mine,” she says.
Since finding fame on Big Brother in 2007, Chanelle has turned her attention away from the celeb circuit and is currently studying nursing. She has two sons, Blakely, 11, and Frankie, four, with ex-partners, while Dan has a daughter, Amelia, 14.
Here, the couple share the details of Dan’s proposal, their plans for the big day and why Chanelle has put her dress shopping on hold…
Congratulations! Let’s start from the beginning, how did you first meet?
Chanelle: Through a mutual friend and we just got on really well. I know that’s such a boring story. Should we make something else up? We met at a fetish club – ha!
Dan: It was all quite relaxed, wasn’t it? Because we met just before the winter lockdown.
Chanelle: We didn’t have a choice but to hang out, as we couldn’t go out and do normal dates.
How were those first few dates?
Chanelle: We’d hang out at each other’s houses and order in from restaurants, set up in front of the telly and have movie nights, play music quizzes.There was no room for awkwardness and we both put each other at ease from the get-go. Dan: The strange circumstances meant we were able to get to know each other on a deeper level a lot quicker than we expected. When you’re spending 24/7 with someone, you love them warts and all from the very beginning. Who else can say they saw their future wife picking up her dog’s poop on the second date?
How did Dan propose?
Chanelle: I was in my dressing gown, hungover, looking like a dog’s dinner. Dan: I had plans to take her away, but we just couldn’t get the timing right with studies, work and the kids. It was the day after my 40th birthday and I came downstairs to 40 different presents all lined up. Then I grabbed the ring so there was one extra surprise – just for her.
Chanelle: He said, “They say life begins at 40 and I want to spend the rest of mine with you.” It was perfect.
Did you have any idea that an engagement was coming?
Chanelle: I’ve always known we’d get married. We’d chatted about it before but I had no idea I’d get proposed to while chilling in my aqua blue velour pyjamas, with a strip lash hanging off my face like a moustache, feeling shaky from the night before. I did not foresee that, but I always knew it would happen one day.
Dan, how was the process of choosing a ring?
Dan: I had no idea what ring size to order so I did what any selfrespecting man would do and fished one out of her make-up drawer. But what I’d not taken into account was that Chanelle had a gastric sleeve operation and lost quite a lot of weight, so…
Chanelle: The ring fitted me like a bracelet!
Dan: She could have used it as a belt. The actual ring I chose was an 18 carat and one carat diamond oval solitaire ring from Samara James. Chanelle: I don’t want to know how much it cost as I’d probably be mad at him for spending so much money.
How do you get on with each other’s children?
Dan: I get on really well with Chanelle’s kids. They’ve been so supportive and welcoming of me into their home.
Chanelle: Blakely absolutely loves you, which is nice because he doesn’t really see his dad at all, while Frankie just uses you as a punching bag. He’s always jumping on him and showing off his dance moves.
Dan: And I don’t get a word in edgeways when Chanelle and Amelia are together.
Chanelle: She’s my little best friend.
Will your children have roles in the big day?
Chanelle: I’d like to have Blakely and Frankie as page boys, but Blakely will be like, “No, I’m too cool for this!” He did ask me last week whether he could write a speech though, so you never know.
Would you like to have more children together?
Chanelle: There’s absolutely not a chance in hell that I would ever have another kid.
Dan: Luckily for me, I’m fully on board with that.
How’s the wedding planning going?
Chanelle: I’ve always had a Pinterest mood board of what I would like my wedding to be – including venue ideas, dress inspo, decoration – but when you finally sit down to talk about it, it’s all so extravagant. I’m quite a low-key, casual person, but I’ll figure it out eventually. We haven’t even decided on a time of year yet. We thought about doing it in autumn next year, but we’ll just have to see how we go. I definitely want to get married in the UK, but we haven’t decided on where just yet. Luckily, a girl I went to school with is now a wedding planner, so maybe I’ll hit her up.
Have you been dress shopping?
Chanelle: Not yet because I’m getting my boobs done in January and until then I don’t even want to look at a wedding gown. I’m also considering a tummy tuck to get rid of some of the loose skin I’ve developed since losing so much weight. I feel like nothing would fit properly until those two things are done and that would get me down. I don’t know whether I would have wanted to get married if I was still bigger. But I am excited because I feel confident as I am now. I know I definitely don’t want a big meringuestyle dress and will go for something quite simple, but I’m not deciding anything for certain just yet.
How do you look back on your time on
Big Brother?
Chanelle: I block it out mentally. It’s not on purpose – I just don’t seem to remember a thing from being on it. I was so young, almost half the age that I am now. The only person from the show that I’ve spoken to in the last couple of years has been [her ex-boyfriend] Ziggy – we’ve caught up a couple of times in the last few years.
How do you feel about being in the spotlight, Dan?
Dan: The whole ‘fame’ thing isn’t really my bag and the trolling I’ve seen Chanelle subjected to has put me off even further.
Chanelle: I won’t let him read anything about us because of the comments. There’s always something not very nice that someone can’t keep to themselves. Dan: I’m glad Chanelle feels she can open up about the trolling, because I’d hate the thought of her seeing it all and then bottling it up – but the fact is, it shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
Could we see you reappearing on TV anytime soon, Chanelle?
Chanelle: I was invited to take part in Coach Trip a few months ago, which I’d absolutely love to get involved with, but I get awful travel sickness. My dream TV show to take part in would be Strictly, but I don’t imagine I’ll get invited on to that, sadly. The one series that I will never get involved with is I’m A Celebrity… I have a severe irrational fear of snakes – so much so that I once dropped my phone and smashed the screen when a snake video came on.
‘I was so young on Big Brother, almost half the age that I am now’