How does it feel now Second Chance Dresses is about to air?
It feels amazing. I’ve been filming it for so long it didn’t feel like it was really happening. But now I’m talking to you about it.
It’s quite a big thing for me as it’s my first presenting role. I’m quite nervous.
There are plenty of dramas in the series. What happens if one of the brides-to-be criticises a dress in front of the owner who is giving their precious wedding gown a second life?
It can be very awkward. You’ve got the owner standing there as this other lady is judging your best dress you’ve ever bought in your whole life. I can’t even tell you some of the tension that we’ve had.
The moment when one of them calls the dress a drag queen dress, I honestly stood there for a good 30 seconds not knowing what to say.
The lady who owned the dress was so mortified but it’s great.
It shows you how different everyone’s tastes are. Every wedding dress will not please everyone.
I love that part of the show. Having the seller there is probably my favourite bit.
Would you want anyone else to wear your wedding dress?
I think all the women that come on the show are absolutely incredible.
Some of the stories I’ve heard have been heart-breaking. Others have been inspiring.
So for them to bring their dress in when it has a huge story behind it is so sweet.
Before I filmed this programme I thought I could never do that with my wedding dress but now it makes me want to at some point in my life.
I’d like to give my dress another chance.
So if I can pass it down with a story I think that would be lovely.
Maybe you’d want to hand it down to your next generation…
My mum wanted to do that. She wanted to give me her wedding dress from when she married my dad 20 years ago. But God, I was not wearing that. (laughs) It was the worst.
I think style changes so much and it’s also too much of an expensive thing to hold onto for that long.
If you can get the money and give someone else the chance to wear it and have a beautiful day then that’s what it’s all about.
Were you surprised that Claire from Inverness in the first ep had bought two wedding dresses?
You’d be surprised at the number of people who have bought wedding dresses and then thought: ‘Oh, I don’t want that one. I’m just going to buy another one.’
It’s actually crazy the depths that women will go to for the perfect dress. Women just want that bridal moment.
Whose advice did you take when it came to your own wedding dress?
I struggled. I think that’s what makes me so relatable to all the ladies that came into me for this show.
I didn’t know what to go for. I knew my body shape and I knew what I liked but you never put this kind of dress on and it’s so expensive.
I think I tried on a total of 40 dresses but then I ended up going for what I knew and what I thought I’d like in the first place.
It’s that feeling of going for what’s you rather than what you think you should wear.
That’s what my mum told me: ‘You need something that is you.’
Did any of the other brides give you pre-wedding advice?
Oh yeah, for sure. One of the brides actually made me get wedding insurance.
Her story, which I won’t spoil here, made me get wedding insurance because it was one of the most shocking stories I’ve ever heard.
My mum went out and did it for me while I was still filming.
What are your favourite moments in the first episode?
One of the brides-to-be brings her step sister with her and she was hilarious.
She had me in stitches with her facial expressions.
She was one of the best people we had on the show. She was so honest.
She couldn’t hide how she felt.
But it’s great when you get that dynamic from the entourage and someone doesn’t agree with the bride.
It’s not a happy time!
Are there moments in the rest of the series that have made you cry?
Oh my God, I have cried so much.
I think this programme has made me realise how emotional I actually am.
I’ve had a few brides come in who are low on confidence, not liking their bodies, wanting to hide things and somehow by the end of filming they have this light that’s now switched on in them.
Just to see that and think that I might have helped them find their body confidence makes me emotional.
There was one elder lady called Myra who was an absolute gem.
When she came in she wasn’t too confident but when she left she was looking at herself like she had the sass. Moments like that, for me, have been the icing on the cake.
Second Chance Dresses airs Fridays at 8pm on TLC
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