Vicky Pattison knows how to laugh at herself. ‘The definition of insanity,’ she says, ‘is doing the same thing again and hoping for a different outcome.’ The author, podcaster and reality show star has invited a camera crew to follow her marriage to Ercan Ramadan, even though the last time she tried something like this it ended in disaster.
‘I was heartbroken,’ she admits. ‘This time is very different.’
The deal was signed, the cameras were rolling in 2018 and the wedding was only a few months away when she found out her then fiancé John Noble had been kissing other women. ‘I felt in some way inadequate, unlovable. I threw myself into work and tried to portray an image of strength, but inside I was crumbling.’
Friends and family rallied round but there was nowhere to hide, she says. ‘I remember the TV crew being with us and not knowing 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 again and hoping for a different outcome.’ Photos: ELISABETH HOFF
Vicky had found fame through Geordie Shore, a reality show about the wild lives of a bunch of lads and lasses by the banks of the Tyne. Vicky was the loudest, smartest and funniest. She then won I’m A Celebrity, revealing a warm, empathetic side that viewers loved.
Her memoir Nothing But The Truth was a No 1 bestseller followed by another hit, The Secret To Happy. So even when she faced the public humiliation of an engagement broken on camera six years ago, she found a way forward.
‘We turned the wedding documentary into a break-up show. It showed young women you don’t have to stay with the wrong person. I got loads of lovely messages off lasses saying, “Thank you for helping me see that I could walk away.”’
And now she’s very happy again, having actually already married her new man in a civil ceremony at Marylebone Town Hall in August. A lavish formal celebration is to follow at a medieval castle in Italy, with all of it caught on camera for the two-part E4 series Vicky Pattison: My Big Fat Geordie Wedding.
When I ask how they met, she says it was three or four months after the break-up with John. Vicky was on Instagram, where she has 5.5 million followers. ‘Ercan popped up on my Explore page with his top off,’ she says, describing the screen that comes up when you’re idly flicking through the social site, based on what you’ve previously liked. ‘I recall thinking, “Oh God, he’s a lovely bit of kit.” So I followed him.’
The wedding was only a few months away when Vicky Pattison found out her then fiancé John Noble had been kissing other women
Ercan Ramadan is a good-looking lad from Essex, five years her junior, who described himself on Insta as working on a building site. ‘We liked each other’s pictures for a while, both playing it cool. Then Ercan slid into my DMs, as the kids say.’ He sent her a direct message, in other words. What did it say? ‘I’m cringing. I think it was flame emojis. He’s not William Wordsworth, is he? But there’s no flowery language in dating these days. It’s all just emojis and d*** pics.’
She laughs at the idea of him sending her an intimate photo, then stresses, ‘He didn’t do that though!’
Vicky was almost put off when a mutual friend told her Ercan had appeared briefly on reality show The Only Way Is Essex. ‘I’d built up this idea of someone normal and nice, so I had a wobble.’ She was going to cry off the date until a different friend challenged her to get out there and get on with life.
‘Ercan handled the evening with such grace. He broached the subject of how my last relationship had broken down and I got a bit tearful. He just reached across the table and held my hand,’ she says, emotional again. ‘It was such a simple gesture but I’ll never forget it. He was so kind. I texted my mates in a group chat saying, “This is it, lasses, buy a hat. I’m gonna marry this man.”’
Five years on, they’ve bought a house together in Essex and live with rescue labradors Max and Milo. The plan was to get the legal bit done quietly in London before the grand civil celebration in Italy but their mates, her Geordie crew and his big Turkish Cypriot family, had other ideas. ‘Things kind of spiralled out of control, everyone got invited and it became a real event in itself, but I loved that.’
When Vicky married Ercan Ramadan, the plan was to get the legal bit done quietly in London before the grand civil celebration in Italy – but their mates, her Geordie crew and his big Turkish Cypriot family had other ideas
Their dogs were ring-bearers. ‘They wore little tuxedos. I’m not good at discipline, so the minute they were off the lead they just ran in. They’re very cute but hopeless, a bit like their dad. Ha!’
That night there was a party at their home with a DJ and a vintage Greggs van serving steak bakes and sausage rolls. But why do this all so publicly when it went so wrong before? ‘It wasn’t a decision that I or Ercan made lightly,’ says Vicky. ‘Weddings are really expensive. If a TV channel wants to help pay for it, I’d be a fool to say no.’ The broadcaster is meeting nearly half the cost of the two events.
She adds, ‘Secondly, I’ve lived my whole life pretty much in front of cameras.’ Vicky was working as a nightclub hostess in her native Newcastle after university when producers came casting for a new reality show about young Geordies. ‘Being on TV has given me security, pride and things I and the family never would have had without it.’
The third reason Vicky is happy trying this again is that she loves and trusts her man. ‘Ercan is different from anyone I’ve ever gone out with. That’s why we work.’ She’s tempestuous, he’s calm. ‘I think our relationship is quite progressive. Ercan at the moment is like a stay-at-home dog dad. He looks after the house. He does bits and pieces of work. He’s content to support me and let me shine. I’ve never had that before.’
She leans over and says in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘Also, wouldn’t it be nice to say to our kids in ten or 20 years, “Come and watch the wedding. Look how fit your mam used to be!”’
Vicky won I’m A Celebrity, revealing a warm, empathetic side that viewers loved
Vicky relishes the sound of her new name. ‘Mrs Pattison-Ramadan. We call ourselves the Patty-Rams.’ The wedding planner suggested Puglia for the grander event. ‘We fell in love with the region, and the venue makes me feel like a princess.’
Weekend has seen footage of the pair sampling a silver service taster menu in the medieval Castello Monaci. ‘I feel like Posh and Becks,’ says Vicky in the clip, before arguing with Ercan about when they’ll have their first dance. He wants to relax after the five-course wedding banquet but she won’t have it. ‘This isn’t like Sunday lunch at a Toby Carvery, this is our f****** wedding. Straight after your meal you’ll get up and dance.’
Guests can also look forward to a pool party the following day. Is there a pressure to go big if a broadcaster is involved? ‘Luckily, we were always going 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 it was something I was going to get,’ she says. ‘Then I found Ercan. I realised that working out who you want to be and getting married slightly later are beautiful things. And if I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it right!’
She’s even managed to book the wedding band of her teenage dreams, hip hop veterans Blazin’ Squad who had a No 1 with Crossroads in 2002. ‘They were part of my sexual awakening at 15 or 16. My lasses are all bringing extra knickers to throw!’
Vicky’s mother Caroll will be there and her father John will take 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 of his addiction on her. She admits drinking hard in her early twenties when it was difficult to cope with her first rush of fame, largely because of vicious personal attacks on social media. ‘My coping mechanism had always been alcohol. It’s what I grew up with. You drank and then you shouted. That was my home life. So it was toxic.’
How is her relationship with drink now? ‘I drink a bit, but I have an addictive nature. I’ll allow myself three drinks, because then I become that nice, relaxed version of me. Any more and I could go too far. That’s what people saw on Geordie Shore. But I don’t miss partying with random people or waking up in places I don’t know, not knowing what I’ve done. Life’s much better now.’
If fame is a pressure, has she ever considered walking away? ‘No. Fame is a by-product of what I actually want – which is money,’ she says. ‘I want to be wealthy. I don’t feel any shame in saying that. I want to be able to look after myself and my family and this is the route I’ve chosen. I just had to find the right person who would put up with that.’
People ask if she’s planning to have kids, but Vicky froze eggs and fertilised embryos last year and is clear about focusing on her career for now. ‘I’m not ready to take a year off. If I’m going to be a presenter, I want to give that my all. If I’m going to be a mam I want to be the best mam I can be. But I have to achieve certain things first.’
There’s a glint in her eye, though, as her fairytale wedding day approaches. ‘Ercan wasn’t ready in terms of maturity and I wasn’t where I wanted to be career wise, but taking this step to get married has really helped. I feel like we’re a little family now: me, Ercan and the two dogs. Are “skin puppies” next? I’d like to think so…’
- Vicky Pattison: My Big Fat Geordie Wedding, next month, E4.