Michael and Rachel
For Michael, life began in Outwood Common estate in Billericay.
Nowadays, though, his roots are firmly in Wales, with his wife of two years Rachel by his side.
Not that Michael would recognise the similarities with their TV counterparts, because he’s never watched Gavin & Stacey.
Michael, 45, said: “I thought I would look for love so I went on a dating website.
“We were chatting and one day I said I would come around for a cup of tea.
“Tea turned to a drink and another drink and I found myself pushing Rachel on the swings in the park at 3am!
“I took Rachel to Billericay a few years ago. She had never really left Barry before and the first thing Rachel experienced was Paddington station.
“We went to London and as soon as we got off at Paddington there was a bomb scare.
“It was the Friday before Christmas and as Rachel has been to Cardiff on a rugby day, I thought I would take her to Oxford Street at 6pm. You couldn’t see the pavement for people.”
Rachel added: “I was born and bred in my beloved Barry and I don’t want to live anywhere else.
“We fell in love straight away. We pretty much knew what we were looking for in each other.”
And now, after being together for seven years and married for two, their love is stronger than ever.
Michael said: “You can take the girl out of Wales but you can’t take Wales out the girl. Nor would I try, she’s absolutely gorgeous.”
For Michael, however, Rachel wasn’t his first love.
After finding himself homeless at 16, the Essex boy found himself aimlessly drifting from place to place before falling head over heels for Barry Island.
The father-of-eight and grandfatherof-four said: “I was spending my first couple of months living in a Ford Capri on the estate and I found myself wandering the width and breath of the UK.
“It was the most difficult time but it taught me to survive.
“By the time I got here after all that drifting, I was seasoned around people.
“Some people go to prison to get that experience but I got it on the streets.
“I randomly drifted into Barry – I had been wandering around the UK