THE most expensive gypsy wedding is said to have cost £250,000. Louise Durant, 21, said "I do" to Billy Maguire, 22, at the famous Dorchester Hotel in London, in December. The bride had 12 bridesmaids who matched her in all-white designer dresses of their own, complete with fur draped over their shoulders, a lavish three-course meal, before jetting off for a honeymoon that lasted nearly a month. This isn't the first time parties problem the traveller community have made headlines, as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding shocked the nation with every single episode that aired.

From controversial scenes of “grabbing”, to jaw-dropping wedding dresses, and strong community rules, lots happened off screen too. The show first aired on Channel 4 with a one-off episode in 2010 but it was so groundbreaking that it ran for five years followed, along with spin-offs and a US version. But what happened to the stars of the show?. The show was centered around Paddy and his family, so it’s no surprise that he went on to be the biggest success story from the reality show having appeared in series eight of Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, which he won.

The Irish personality then took part in a two-part television documentary, When Paddy Met Sally, a year later, alongside former Speaker of The House of Commons, Sally Bercow, in a Wife Swap-style reality show. But following several successful TV appearances, Paddy’s life took an unexpected turn when he experienced several health issues and tragic deaths of those closest to him. In 2014, the CBB winner lost his 22-month-old great nephew David McDonagh when he was run over and killed by a van.

Three years later, Paddy’s nephew - talented boxer Tom Doherty - died aged 17 after a car crash. And in the same year, his own father Simon also slipped away - leaving him head of the family. In 2018, Paddy’s mother Queenie died from dementia and he turned to alcohol saying he was “unable to handle it”. And a year later, the TV gypsy revealed exclusively to The Sun that he was battling prostate cancer.

Paddy, who was 60 years old at the time, spent seven months in agony, adding: “The pain got so bad that I actually thought about taking my own life on two occasions. But I just couldn’t do that to my family - and instead I just drank myself into oblivion.”. After high-powered steroids didn’t treat the cancer, Paddy underwent two operations; one to remove his prostrate and the other to rectify blood loss.

A couple of years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paddy contracted Covid which left him chronically ill and struggling to breathe in hospital. Then a year later, in April 2022, Paddy shared on social media that he had suffered a heart attack. Paddy vowed to give up drinking alcohol and embark on a healthier lifestyle. In a video posted to his official Instagram account last month, Paddy, who had just returned from a run, said: “Everyone takes fitness for granted...the brain can do everything but the body can’t do it. That’s what’s called getting old.

“I’ve only ran a few mile, but it’s knocked the stuffing right out of me.”. When the gypsy girls attended dances or got married, there was only one dress shop they went to for an outfit - Nico, owned by Thelma Madine’s, and she quickly made a name for herself as the Queen of over-the-top dresses. After the Channel 4 show ended, Thelma starred in her spin-off show, Thelma’s Gypsy Girls. But, shortly after filming concluded, she became involved in a court case with former head designer, Leanne Phillips.

Leanne claimed she was unfairly dismissed after a shouting match between her and Thelma ended in her calling Thelma a “horrible b***h”. Despite the row, the court favoured Leanne and argued the decision to sack her had been “unreasonable” and based on personal, not business reasons. Leanne went on to set up her own dress shop, Leanne Alexandra, and it wasn’t long before she was being sued by Thelma for “copying” one of her most famous designs.

Thelma also claimed Leanne had robbed designs and asked Leanne to pay £20,000 in damages, as well as £90,000 in legal costs. Despite winning the court case in 2017, the ordeal was painful for Thelma, who even compared it to her time in prison in 2001 following a case of benefit fraud. Since then, Thelma has kept a rather low profile until her daughter’s wedding earlier this year. Now 73, Thelma is said to have made three custom wedding dresses worth £32,000 for her daughter’s big day.

She, alongside 22 staff members, spent over 300 hours making a dress for the ceremony, the evening party, and another for comfort later in the evening. Danielle starred in season two of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding when she married cage-fighter, Tony Giles. The glamour and page 3 model is the younger sister of EastEnders actress Jessie Wallace and is not originally from the traveller community. Instead, she lived the high life jetting off across the world and reportedly earning as much as £10,000 per modelling shoot.