Former glamour model Alicia Douvall, 47, has married business leader David Anstiss, marking a significant personal transformation after a decade of celibacy and extensive cosmetic surgery.
The couple exchanged vows earlier this month in a church ceremony attended by 90 friends and family. Douvall, who previously stated she had given up on love and was not seeking a relationship, described her new husband as someone who "swept me away."
"I'd switched off, I'd been celibate for 10 years and wasn't looking for anymore," Douvall told OK! Magazine. "I've always been the runaway bride who never wanted to get married. But when I finally did, it was the most amazing thing ever. Neither of us had been in love before which made it really special."
Anstiss, director of Solution Engineering, courted Douvall with dinners at Michelin-star restaurants and stays at boutique hotels. Six months into their relationship, he proposed at sunset in the Maldives. The couple then began planning their wedding upon returning to the UK.
Douvall's wedding dress plans encountered a last-minute hurdle when she fell out with the bridal team five weeks before the ceremony, leading her to design her own strapless satin gown with a five-metre veil. She also had to have her dress altered after losing a stone in weight.
Despite these challenges, the wedding proceeded smoothly. Douvall's daughters, Georgia, 31, and Papaya, 14, who she raised as a single mother, served as bridesmaids and have developed a close bond with Anstiss.
The reception featured line dancing and concluded with a minimoon in Spain. The couple plans to honeymoon in the Seychelles next year.
Douvall, who has documented over 400 cosmetic procedures throughout her life, including numerous breast augmentations, nose adjustments, and bum implants, stated that finding love has helped her move away from surgery. She has since focused on her successful skincare brand, Douvall's, which promotes natural anti-aging.
"I'm so proud of what I've done to put that chapter behind me, it's a scary world with so much fakeness, we need more honesty about self-acceptance and mental health," she said.
Douvall's journey has involved a significant pivot from her past ambitions, including a desire to have the largest breasts in Britain. Her early life, marked by attending boarding school at nine, contributed to confidence issues and an obsession with her appearance, for which she was later diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder.
In 2011, she and her daughter Georgia launched Douvall's beauty brand, inspired by the benefits of cold-pressed argan oil. The brand, which initially used Douvall's £20,000 savings, is now stocked in retailers such as Sephora, Superdrug, and Walmart.