Vicky Pattison knows how to laugh at herself. “The definition of insanity,” she says, “is doing the same thing again and expecting a different result.” The author, podcaster and reality TV star has invited a camera crew to follow her wedding to Ercan Ramadan, even though the last time she tried something like this it ended in disaster.
“I felt really bad,” he admits. “This time it’s very different.”
The deal was signed, cameras were rolling in 2018 and she was just months away from the wedding when she discovered that her then fiancé John Noble had been kissing other women. “I felt somehow inadequate, unworthy of being loved. I threw myself into work and tried to put on an image of strength, but inside I was falling apart.”
Friends and family rushed to her aid, but there was nowhere to hide, she says. “I remember the TV crew was with us and I didn’t know what to do. I basically broke down.”
Vicky Pattison knows how to laugh at herself. “The definition of insanity,” she says, “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Photos: ELISABETH HOFF
Vicky had risen to fame thanks to Geordie Shore, a reality show about the crazy lives of a group of boys and girls on the banks of the River Tyne. Vicky was the loudest, the smartest and the funniest. She then won the contest I’m A Celebrity, where she revealed a warm and empathetic side that delighted viewers.
Her memoir Nothing But The Truth was a number one bestseller, followed by another hit, The Secret To Happy. So even when she faced the public humiliation of a broken engagement in front of the cameras six years ago, she found a way to move on.
‘We turned the wedding documentary into a break-up show. It showed young women that they don’t have to stay with the wrong person. I got lots of lovely messages from girls saying, “Thank you for helping me see that I could walk away.”
And now she’s very happy again, having already tied the knot with her new beau in a civil ceremony at Marylebone Town Hall in August. A lavish formal celebration will follow in a medieval castle in Italy, all captured on camera for E4’s two-part series Vicky Pattison: My Big Fat Geordie Wedding.
When I ask how they met, she tells me it was three or four months after her breakup with John. Vicky was on Instagram, where she has 5.5 million followers. “Ercan came up on my Explore page shirtless,” she says, describing the screen that pops up when you’re absentmindedly scrolling through the social network, based on what you’ve previously liked. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh God, he’s a lovely guy. ’ So I followed him.”
The wedding was just a few months away when Vicky Pattison discovered that her then-fiancé John Noble had been kissing other women.
Ercan Ramadan is a handsome lad from Essex, five years her junior, who described himself on Instagram as someone who worked on a building site. “We liked each other’s pictures for a while, we were both taking it easy. Then Ercan DM’d me, as the young people say.” In other words, he DM’d her. What did it say? “I’m embarrassed. I think it was flame emojis. It’s not William Wordsworth, is it? But there’s no flowery language in dating these days. It’s all emojis and dick pics.”
She laughs at the idea of him sending her an intimate photo, then emphasizes: “But he didn’t!”
Vicky was almost disheartened when a mutual friend told her that Ercan had briefly appeared on the reality show The Only Way Is Essex. “I had gotten the idea of him being normal and nice so I was hesitant.” She was about to cancel the date until another friend challenged her to get out and move on with her life.
“Ercan was so nice about the evening. He brought up the subject of how my last relationship had broken up and I was in tears. He just came up to me and took my hand,” she says, emotional again. “It was a very simple gesture, but I will never forget it. He was so kind. I texted my friends in a group chat saying, ‘That’s it, girls, buy a hat. I’m going to marry this man.’”
Five years later, they have bought a house together in Essex and live with rescued Labradors Max and Milo. The plan was to discreetly complete the legal formalities in London before the big civil celebration in Italy, but their friends – her Geordie gang and his large Turkish Cypriot family – had other ideas. “Things got out of hand, they invited everyone and it became a real event in itself, but I loved it.”
When Vicky married Ercan Ramadan, the plan was to sort out the legalities quietly in London before the big civil celebration in Italy, but her friends, her Geordie group and her extended Turkish Cypriot family had other ideas.
Her dogs were the ring bearers. ‘They were wearing little tuxedos. I’m not good with discipline, so as soon as we let them out, they ran in. They’re very cute but useless, a bit like their dad. Ha!’
That night there was a party at her house with a DJ and a vintage Greggs van serving up roast steaks and sausage rolls. But why do all this so publicly when it had already gone so wrong? “It wasn’t a decision Ercan or I made lightly,” says Vicky. “Weddings are very expensive. If a TV channel wants to help pay for them, I’d be a fool to say no.” The broadcaster is covering almost half the cost of the two events.
She adds: “Secondly, I’ve lived my whole life in front of the cameras.” Vicky was working as a nightclub hostess in her native Newcastle after university when producers came to cast her for a new reality show about young Geordies. “Being on TV has given me confidence, pride and things that my family and I would never have had without it.”
The third reason Vicky is happy to try again is that she loves and trusts her man. “Ercan is unlike anyone else I’ve ever dated. That’s why we work.” She’s tempestuous, he’s calm. “I think our relationship is pretty progressive. Ercan right now is like a stay-at-home dog dad. He takes care of the house. He does some jobs. He’s happy to support me and let me shine. I’ve never had that before.”
She leans in and says in a conspiratorial whisper, “Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to say to our kids in ten or twenty years, ‘Come see the wedding. Look how fit your mother was!'”
Vicky won I’m A Celebrity, revealing a warm and empathetic side that viewers loved
Vicky loves hearing her new name. “Mrs Pattison-Ramadan. We call ourselves Patty-Rams.” The wedding planner suggested Puglia for the big event. “We fell in love with the region and the place makes me feel like a princess.”
Over the weekend, footage emerged of the couple sampling a silver-plated tasting menu at the medieval Castello Monaci. “I feel like Posh and Becks,” Vicky says in the video, before arguing with Ercan about when they will have their first dance. He wants to relax after the five-course wedding feast, but she doesn’t want to. “This isn’t like Sunday lunch at a Toby Carvery, this is our f***ing wedding. Straight after your meal you’re going to get up and dance.”
Guests will also be treated to a pool party the following day. Is there pressure to go big if there’s a presenter involved? “Luckily, we always went big. I’m 37 this year. I’ve been engaged three times and I’m totally obsessed with romance and the idea of a happy ending.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” she says. “Then I found Ercan. I realized that deciding who you want to be and getting married a little later are beautiful things. And if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right!”
He’s even managed to hire the wedding band of his teenage dreams, hip-hop veterans Blazin’ Squad, who had a number one hit with Crossroads in 2002. “They were part of my sexual awakening at 15 or 16. My girls bring extra panties to throw away!”
Vicky’s mother Caroll will be there and her father John will hold her arm as he did in London. Father and daughter made a moving documentary two years ago called Alcohol, Dad And Me, in which they explored the impact his addiction had on her. She admits to drinking heavily in her early twenties, when she found it difficult to cope with her first wave of fame, largely because of cruel personal attacks on social media. “My coping mechanism had always been alcohol. It’s what I grew up with. You’d drink and then you’d scream. That was my family life. So it was toxic.”
What is your relationship with drink like now? ‘I drink a little bit, but I have an addictive nature. I allow myself three drinks, because then I become this nice, relaxed version of myself. If I drink more, I might go too far. That’s what people saw on Geordie Shore. But I don’t miss going out partying with strangers or waking up in places I don’t know, not knowing what I’ve done. Life is so much better now.’
If fame is a pressure, has she ever considered quitting? “No. Fame is a byproduct of what I really want, which is money,” she says. “I want to be rich. I’m not ashamed to say that. I want to be able to take care of myself and my family and that’s the path I’ve chosen. I just had to find the right person to support it.”
People ask her if she plans to have children, but Vicky froze her eggs and fertilised embryos last year and is clear that for now she will focus on her career. “I’m not ready to take a sabbatical. If I’m going to be a presenter, I want to give it my all. If I’m going to be a mother, I want to be the best mother I can be. But I have to achieve certain things first.”
However, there is a twinkle in her eye as her fairytale wedding day approaches. ‘Ercan wasn’t ready in terms of maturity and I wasn’t where I wanted to be in terms of career, but taking this step to get married really helped me. I feel like we’re a little family now – me, Ercan and the two dogs. Will they be the next ‘fur puppies’? I’d like to think so…’
- Vicky Pattison: My Big Fat Geordie Wedding, next month, E4.
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