Fairy tale wedding for Portsmouth child TV star Bessie

So the last thing the former child star was going to do on her own wedding day was turn up late for her fairy tale celebration.

Bessie and paramedic Ashley Carter were among the first couples to wed with an unlimited number of guests after Covid restrictions were eased.

The couple from Portsmouth tied the knot on July 29 at Horsley Towers, near Guildford, with 70 guests during the day and approximately 100 in the evening.

Bride Bessie rose to stardom after reaching the final of Britain’s Got Talent aged 11 in 2007, performing that song from the musical My Fair Lady. She now runs Bessie Cursons Theatre and Dance Academy in Portsmouth.

She says: ‘It was an exclusive use venue and because it is large, there was no way we could get more than they could facilitate, so we were very lucky that everyone could come.

‘It was amazing. We had singing waiters that my parents arranged, so that was a good surprise. We had a big flower arch at the top of where we walked down the aisle. There were lots of lanterns lit with candles. It was like a fairy tale.’

On a ‘diabolical’ night out, Bessie, 26, and Ashley, 25, met when they were teenagers at The Farmhouse and Innlodge, Portsmouth, aged 18.

Ashley, originally from Waterlooville, says: ‘It’s kind of an odd one, more of a night out. I was there with my old work, and Bessie was there with her work, and we just met on the dance floor.

‘I was very shy. I managed to get Bessie’s number, and we met up a couple of days later when we had our first date.’

Bessie adds: ‘I liked how timid he was, and he was a gentleman. He’d open the car door and things like that. It made you feel special.’

The adventurous pair have holidayed together and been on various dates, from ice skating and cinema trips to a cruise to the Bahamas, swimming with dolphins and stingrays.

They planned their July 2021 wedding after Ashley got down on one knee in Amsterdam in May 2019 on a city break for Bessie’s birthday present.

The weekend was action-packed with canal cruises and dinner at a Celsius restaurant, which served courses at different temperatures - starting from zero degrees.

Ashley says: ‘The night before we flew over, I went round to see Bessie’s mum and dad while she was out. The proposal was a couple of months in the planning.’

‘We bought our house together, and then it fell together as the next step, really.’

Bessie says: ‘I was quite shocked (when he proposed) but happy because I’d been dropping hints for a long time. It wasn’t out of the ordinary or anything that we were on a city break. But it was a good surprise when he proposed.’

The nerves didn’t kick in for Bessie on the big day. But Ashley felt nervous on seeing friends and family crying while he was standing at the altar.

He says: ‘The day was perfect with friends and family all coming. There wasn’t anything I’d change.’

The one-time teenage sweethearts plan to honeymoon in Antigua.

Bessie and Ashley would like to thank local businesses Pam’s Artistic Florist, New Road; Carla Mortimer Photography; Lilly Faithfull from the Glam Parlour, and Michelle at the Hair Boutique, Hilsea.

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