Chris Evans walks the daughter he shunned for 21 years down the aisle
USUALLY he is only too happy to be the one in the spotlight. But this time, Chris Evans wanted nothing more than to take a supporting role.
The Radio 2 DJ could not hide his delight as he walked his daughter down the aisle, putting the pair’s 21-year estrangement well and truly behind them.
Evans arrived arm-in-arm with Jade at St Michael’s Church in Ascot, Berkshire, for her wedding to car mechanic Callum Hewitt.
Jade, now 26, was born to Evans’ former lover Alison Ward when the presenter was 21 and trying to make a name for himself on Piccadilly Radio in Manchester. Though Evans supported his daughter financially, he played no part in her childhood.
But after being reunited with Jade five years ago, the former Big Breakfast star expressed his regret at missing out on so much of her life.
On Saturday, the father- of-three helped make up for lost time as he drove the bride and four bridesmaids to the wedding in a classic Aston Martin. Evans, 47, admitted to onlookers that he was more nervous than he is when going on air andjoked he was even more jittery than the bride herself, who wore a strapless white gown and pearl necklace.
One bystander said: ‘He looked scared and was shaking slightly. Someone commented that he looked terrified. He replied, “Yes I am. I’m really in a panic”.’
Evans was joined at the wedding by third wife Natasha Shishmanian, 33, their sons Noah, four, and Eli, one, and Jade’s mother.
After emerging from the church to a round of applause, the newlyweds drove away in the pink ‘FAB1’ RollsRoyce Ghost owned by Evans.
In his 2009 autobiography, Evans admitted he was ‘selfish’ for abandoning his baby daughter in pursuit of fame.
He wrote: ‘I had decided to leave rather than look after her. It was unforgivable.’
When Jade was 17, her mother arranged several meetings with Evans at her request but, in Evans’ words, they ‘didn’t work out’.
He said: ‘We gave it a really good go, in that we saw each other, we went out for lunch, we went out for drinks, and then a couple of weeks later she came to stay.
‘It wasn’t a terrible weekend but it was like force-feeding, so we left it again.’
It was Miss Shishmanian who suggested another meeting in 2008, which marked a new phase in the pair’s relationship. Last year, Jade moved into the gatehouse on Evans’ Ascot estate.
He said recently: ‘ Jade being back in my life… it doesn’t get bigger than that.’
Evans now entertains around 10million listeners every morning on his Radio 2 show and co-hosts The One Show on BBC1 on Fridays.