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Waited 10 Days for Help! How Sue Aikens Survived a Bear Attack

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Sue Aikens captured the hearts of viewers of “Life Below Zero”, as she chose to live on her own terms in the Alaskan wilderness. Alone, she manages the Kavik River Camp located over 300kms north of the Arctic Circle. Having bears as neighbors, it was said that an encounter with one was inevitable. True enough, she had a harrowing experience with one that left her seriously injured. Many were intrigued that she survived to tell the tale.

Meet Sue Aikens

Sue Aikens was born in 1963, in Mount Prospect, Chicago, Illinois. She was 12 when her mom left her dad and took her to a small town north of Fairbanks, Alaska, only to abandon her afterwards. Instead of dwelling on why her mother did that, she chose to accept the reality of her situation, and figured out how to live on her own. Fortunately for her, an old resident took pity on her, and gave her a rifle and bullets after telling her that she had to learn how to hunt to survive. She matriculated from high school, having learned how to fly a plane at 13, later saying that back then in Alaska, one could do that at such a young age. Over the years, she acquired skills and wisdom in overcoming adversities that fate threw her way. She had two children with her husband of 17 years; the couple remained friends after going their separate ways. In an interview in 2019, she said that her mother is still alive and in her 80s, while her children are in their 30s, with kids of their own.

Her Kavik River Camp

Sue craved isolation; she might love interacting with people and hearing their stories, but only for a limited time. She was averse to living in the city, and the games that people play in society, and so had a passion for the Arctic and the wilderness, founding the Kavik River Camp to be an ideal place for her. It was over 800km away from the nearest city, Fairbanks, and around 130km West from a road. Her address was a GPS coordinate: 146.54 West by 69.4 North.

The former owners were her friends, and they wanted someone to watch and manage the camp. At that time, she ran a trapline along the Jim River, and so they asked her if she could do it. She said that as long as she could bring her dogs and stay there year-round, she was willing to go there. The site was an old oil exploration camp, and was in a dismal state when she arrived. She had second thoughts about living there, but took on the challenge of putting it to rights.

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Before long, she was the one leasing the camp; she was in her 30s then, and transformed the site into some sort of bed & breakfast for scientific researchers, photographers, hunters and eco-tourists, and provided them with logistical support from June to September. It also served as a refilling and search and rescue station. The Kavik River Camp had a 1.25-mile-long airstrip, fuel shed, trailers and outhouses. There was an internet connection so she could conduct her business, and contact her loved ones.

Alone for most of the year, she didn’t feel lonely as she said that she liked herself and found herself hilarious. She didn’t reveal how much money she was making, but did say that while it certainly wouldn’t make her a millionaire, it was allowing her to live the life that she wanted.

Her home away from home

The camp was 19km from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s eastern border. Sue might own the business and the structures at the camp, but she didn’t own the land. She said that her lease had been taken away by the state and was to be auctioned off, so she was only given a temporary permit. Competing with big corporations in a bidding war, it was likely that she would lose. In preparation for that, she bought a property that had two cabins, one old and one new, in Chena Hot Springs, Alaska. It was closer to town than she would have wanted, but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be happy living there. Through the years, she worked hard to make it her own, and stays there from time to time, but Kavik is still her home.

Background on “Life Below Zero”

National Geographic first aired the reality television series, “Life Below Zero,” in 2013, which documented the day-to-day struggles and triumphs of individuals living in the remote Alaskan Wilderness. While beautiful, the nature of the landscapes of Alaska was also unforgiving and could be deadly. Each day was a matter of survival, and only a determined few thrived there.

Sue Aikens in “Life Below Zero”

Prior to starring in the hit National Geographic series, Sue Aikens appeared on TV shows although not as a cast member or a guest. She had been in an episode of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” in 2010, because Kavik River Camp served as the base camp for a hunting party in the show. The following year, she was in a few episodes of Discovery Channel’s “Flying Wild Alaska” when her airstrip was used by a pilot looking for a landing strip in the area. One of the executive producers, Tommy Baynard, became Sue’s friend. He was intrigued by her unusual lifestyle, so when the show was being conceptualized, he asked her if she would consider being part of it. She valued her privacy, but agreed to do the show because the producers were respectful of her, and didn’t try to change her – what made Sue ‘perfect’ for a reality show was her personality. Joe Litzinger, one of the show’s executive producers, said that Sue was quite vocal about her feelings and inner conflicts.

Right from the beginning, viewers realized the level of isolation and risks involved in Sue’s job. For the first episode, she was in Fairbanks preparing for her return to the Kavik River Camp. It had been several months since she had last seen the place, as she was recovering from surgery to repair her broken bone after she had a bad fall in 2011. It was 40 degrees below zero when the plane landed at the airstrip. She armed herself with a rifle as she walked towards her home and inspected the whole place. She also had a shovel with her to clear the way of snow. As the camp was left unattended for quite some time, she discovered that most of her fuel supply was stolen, so had barrels of fuel delivered as soon as possible.

Living at Kavik, one had to have the means to keep warm and to prepare for the worst in case of a storm. She used ropes as a way to get from one place to another when there was zero visibility. One time, the weather was so bad that the plane couldn’t get close, and dropped off 900lbs of supplies and gear by the perimeter. Sue had to move all that through the frozen ground with a pack of wolves hovering nearby. She divided the load into 20-pound packs that she could throw as far as she could, and then did it again and again until she reached the camp.

No matter the struggles, this was the life that she chose, as she said, ‘I love the life that I lead. There’s some twisted part of me that thinks that this is pretty freaking cool.’

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Living in bear territory

Kavik River Camp was right in the middle of grizzly bear territory, so there was a constant threat of an attack by these lethal creatures especially when provoked. Back in 2014, she said that at least 80 bears lived within 10 miles of the camp, that were being monitored. Part of her routine each day was to check for animal tracks in the surrounding area. She would also go up on the roof of a trailer, and with a pair of binoculars, would scan the horizon to see if there was any bear or wolverine near her camp; if so, Sue would fire some rounds to scare them away.

Encounters with the Grizzlies

The first time she landed on Kavik, a bear came out of the fog at the runway and swung at her, but she somehow got to safety. Bears had an incredible sense of smell, and so she was careful with how she stored her food and burned the garbage. However, there must have been a lingering smell that attracted bears to come to her place. One time, as she was sleeping in her quarters, a bear crashed through the wall of her tent. She moved quickly to put some distance between them, and grabbed her rifle. She shot it, causing it to run away; come morning, she found its ear. Since then, Sue made sure that her handgun was within reach of her bed and she had baseball bats stashed in several places. It didn’t mean that she lived in fear of them, but she respected their ability to sneak up on her.

2007 Bear Attack – How did she survive?

She might have escaped her few encounters with bears, but there was one time that she was left at the mercy of one. In 2007, she noticed a juvenile male bear that continually buried its kills on her helipad every night. She called it an ‘alpha push’, as the bear tried to mark her place as its territory. Naturally, she dug up the caribou carcasses by morning and burned them, but believed that’s what enraged the bear.

One day, she went to the river to get water before it totally froze over. She had to use a water pump, and as she needed two hands for this task, she put down her rifle – some might say that she had gotten careless or wasn’t paying attention that time. She said that she did check her surrounding but the bear must have been hiding near the river bank where she couldn’t see it. Before she knew it, the bear attacked her and dragged her into the tundra somewhere between the river and the dining hall. She felt the bear’s teeth penetrate her skull as its jaws were locked onto her head and throat. As she was being mauled and thrown around, she played dead in the hope that the bear would soon leave her alone and that she didn’t bleed out; she wouldn’t have stood a chance had it been an adult grizzly or a black bear, and if that were the case, one shouldn’t play dead but fight back with everything that one had.

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The bear bluff charged her many times before retreating and going back to the river bank. She escaped its clutches, but knew that she was just given a reprieve, and that she had to make her way to the safety of the dining hall. One could only imagine how she got there considering she was in pretty bad shape, with her head torn and her hips out of their sockets. The first thing she did was to clean her wounds to prevent them from becoming infected, and then stitched them up. She called for help from the troopers, but all she got was their answering machine; she tried other people, but wasn’t able to contact them either.

Sue knew she had to deal with the juvenile bear herself, because unless she left the area, it would come back to assert its claim to the territory. She cinched a gun belt tight to support her hips and grabbed another rifle. From past experience, she knew where the bear was headed, so went there and shot it. Her hips gave out on the way back to the dining hall, so she slowly dragged herself to get inside.

For some reason, it took 10 days before anyone showed up. The whole time she was just lying there, waiting. It was terrifying at night when she could hear the sounds of a bear feasting on another animal, and knowing it was only a tent that separated her from that; she was thinking that a bear could barge in at any moment and have her for its next meal. She said that as she was giving off an odor from being unable to get to a restroom as well as whimpering in pain, she was sure that a bear was aware that she was right there. Help finally came as a pilot friend found her and took her to Fairbanks to receive treatment. She had hip surgery and made a full recovery.

Many compared her experience with that of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, a frontiersman, in the 2015 action-drama movie “The Revenant” in which he survived being mauled by a bear and left for dead. Sue’s friends had seen it, and told her not to look at that brutal bear attack scene. She said that she didn’t want to watch it as she was someone who would want to move on.

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Facing her fears

What Sue experienced was quite traumatic, and many wondered how she coped with that, considering she continued to live with bears as her neighbors, but her fervor for living in the wilderness hadn’t diminished; she wasn’t someone who would hunt or kill just because she was afraid. That said, there were things she had to do to protect herself from animals encroaching on her territory. When a bear got too close to her camp, she had to take care of it before it became a serious threat.

Actively pursuing a bear was a big deal for her; it would only take a few seconds for a predator to become prey, so she had to act fast, especially if one spotted her while she was hunting it. A grizzly could run as fast as 56km/hour according to the National Wildlife Federation, so outrunning one was quite impossible. The first shot was going to make a bear mad so she had to make it count. She hit it twice and was quite shaken afterward. She approached the bear slowly and poked it with the end of her rifle in case it was still alive and only injured. The bear wouldn’t go to waste as she’d use the fur for warmth, and meat for food.

Sue was proud of overcoming her fears, especially as the bear was moving closer to where she was. She said she did this to protect the camp and herself; she wanted her grandkids to still be able to come and visit her. This face-off with a grizzly was just one ‘skirmish’ in what she said was the battle on the Arctic.

In living in a remote place with below-zero temperatures and wild animals abound, Sue said she had to be comfortable with her own death; she’s not seeking it, but isn’t afraid to face it either – everyone has an expiration date, but just doesn’t know when or how it is going to happen. Also, it might take some time before help could arrive, especially during winter. As to whether she planned to stay there forever or retire somewhere else, she said that in having a raven personality, there might come a time when she would be unable to resist something ‘shiny’ on the horizon, and check it out. Until then, she was happy with her life.

As the Managing Editor at The Legit, I direct a dynamic team dedicated to creating rich content that profiles the lives and accomplishments of influential figures. My commitment to detail and storytelling drives the production of biographies that truly engage our audience. I manage all aspects of the editorial process, from conducting thorough research to crafting vivid narratives, all while ensuring the accuracy and quality of our work. At The Legit, our goal is to offer our readers comprehensive profiles that provide deep insights into the realms of business, entertainment, and more. Through diligent research and engaging storytelling, we highlight the exceptional journeys and achievements of those who both inspire and intrigue us.

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Sister Wives’ Revenge: Kody Brown Faces Lawsuits And No Sympathy From His Spouses

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TV star Kody Brown has been in the news non-stop lately, after two of his four wives walked away from him, and he divorced the third. The famous polygamist is deep in the midst of a well-documented family feud, and things are looking nasty for him as it’s been reported that his ex-wives Meri, Christine and Janelle are looking for legal counsel to put him on spousal support.

Since joining the reality TV industry in 2010, Kody – and his family – have made a living out of allowing millions of fascinated viewers a peek into their unusual lifestyle, week after week. With over a dozen seasons of the TLC smash hit “Sister Wives” under his belt, Kody is pretty much a household name these days: but unfortunately for him, not all publicity is good publicity.

Following the failure of his spiritual marriages, Kody has been struggling to keep his public image intact, especially as his ex-wives rally around each other in a display of true sisterhood. It’s more important than ever for the three women to stick together, given that they all share several children with Kody; sadly, he’s often been filmed arguing with his oldest kids, especially when it comes to their opinion of his wife Robyn. For a long time, many of the family members felt that he put Robyn and her children above their needs, and in the end, Kody’s actions proved them right.

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In season 16, Kody decided to uproot the family from Las Vegas to Arizona with little to no explanation. Having bought a plot of land on Coyote Pass in 2018, the patriarch and his wives spent the whole season figuring out how to split up the land in such a way that everyone was happy with the arrangement. Obviously, this was easier said than done, as some of the Browns wanted to move back to Utah.

At first, Kody’s intentions were to build a giant house on the land for everyone to live in. however, the wives wanted their own space and separate homes. The logical solution would’ve been to split the land – which cost a total of $820,000 – evenly between the five adults, leaving each one with 2.8 acres to do as they saw fit. In the end, Meri and Christine lived on the larger parcels while Janelle, Robyn, and Kody lived on the smaller ones.

The Coyote Pass situation became even more complicated when Christine confirmed her separation from the reality TV mogul in November 2021. Kody now had two options: buy her out, or sell her part and split the proceeds. It’s also important to note that none of them could build on the land until it was paid off in full. Nevertheless, Coyote Pass became the least of Kody’s problems, when Janelle walked away months after his separation from Christine.

In December 2022, Meri shockingly confessed that Kody had separated from her and made it clear that there would be no reconciliation. “Sister Wives” fans and followers of the family were stunned, as Kody previously implied that he couldn’t, or wouldn’t leave any of his wives, but they might do so. Since then, Kody has badmouthed his ex-wives in public on several occasions, whereas Robyn is preferring to stay out of the drama.

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If Kody’s ex-wives really were to put him on spousal support, it would spell disaster for him and Robyn. In happier times, Meri and Janelle were the primary breadwinners of the family, whereas Christine had the difficult task of raising Kody’s joint huge brood of children. It soon became noticeable that Kody and Robyn were depending on the other wives’ goodwill to lead comfortable lifestyles, and since Meri, Janelle and Christine have gone, the remaining Browns are feeling the pinch.

Robyn joined the family in 2010, and entered the Brown family unit with three children from her previous relationship. In 2014, Kody divorced his legal wife Meri, after three decades of union, in order to marry Robyn and legally adopt her children. Suddenly, Meri was demoted from her matriarchal position and Robyn took her spot as the only wife with guaranteed legal rights if something were to happen to Kody, or if he wished to divorce her. Unfortunately for Robyn, this is a double-edged sword, as she is now also liable for any spousal support or similar payments that Kody might have to make in the future.

Fans of “Sister Wives” took an immediate disliking to Robyn almost as soon as she joined the Browns, giving her the nickname of “Sobbin’ Robyn” because she often cried when things didn’t go her way, or when she was called out by other members of the family. She was heavily criticized for hiring a nanny for her children, given that Kody already spent almost all his time with them, while ignoring his other sons and daughters. Furthermore, Robyn’s credit card debt had been generously paid off by Meri and Janelle, so that she could qualify for a home loan.

Viewers of the series are hoping that Meri, Janelle and Christine make life difficult for Kody and Robyn, but as all parties involved have already filmed the 18th season of “Sister Wives”, it doesn’t seem that likely. With that said, there have often been rumors of bad blood between Janelle and Kody, especially since he argued with their two eldest sons, Gabriel and Garrison, over their attitude towards Robyn. This, allegedly, was the tipping point in Janelle and Kody’s disastrous spiritual marriage, as she walked away just a few months later.

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Christine and Kody have also argued on- and off-screen over the years, with Kody sensationally claiming that he wasn’t attracted to her even on their wedding day. Meanwhile, the situation between Kody and Meri is much vaguer, but the former couple have also had more than their fair share of ups and downs in the last three decades, and counting.

One of Kody’s many sons recently confirmed that season 18 of “Sister Wives” will air in late 2023, having been filmed in late 2022, meaning that the newest episodes will probably focus on the Browns’ everchanging family dynamics. We’ll possibly find out what’s going to happen to Coyote Pass, and whether or not Christine, Janelle and Meri plan to sue Kody. Make sure to stay tuned!

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What are conjoined twins Krista and Tatiana Hogan doing now?

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Krista and Tatiana Hogan, conjoined twins from British Columbia, Canada, gained much more prominence after the CBC documentary, “Inseparable: Ten Years Joined At The Head,” covered their story in 2017. The cameras captured a year in their life around their 10th birthday and how their family, at the time consisting of parents, grandparents, three siblings, and a dog named Yuna, helped them live a fulfilling life. Here’s what makes the twins distinctive, and how they handled the media spotlight.

Tatiana and Krista are unique

The conjoined twins, or Siamese twins, are joined in utero, and the phenomenon is still not fully explained. The Canadian girls were a rarity through birth alone; about half of the twins with this birth disorder are stillborn, and roughly a third of those who survive die within 24 hours. Moreover, Tatiana and Crista are craniopagus twins, meaning that they are joined at the head, which only happens to one of 2.5 million twins. However, their brain structure makes them the only such twins in Canada and perhaps the world. They can do things that still confuse neurologists, including reading each other’s thoughts, seeing out of each other’s eyes, and sharing some senses. However, they’ve had several medical issues and underwent physical therapy in the show. Besides a reduced quality of life, they will likely have a shorter lifespan.

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Other networks covered their story before CBC

Most people don’t realize that Tatiana and Krista agreed to share their unique experience with the world long before the CBC documentary. They were featured in the Vancouver Sun segment in 2013, and The New York Sun interviewed them a year earlier. ABC media network was one of the first media networks to bring light to their unique lifestyle and medical mystery in June 2010.

All investigations agree on one thing; the sisters have different personalities and are full of life seemingly despite unsurmountable odds of surviving childhood and living a normal life.

Besides different characters, they had distinct body weights from birth on 25 October 2006. Krista was always a bit bigger, quieter, quirkier, and loved telling jokes, while Tatiana was hyperactive, chatty, loud and outgoing. Kristi’s funny side came out at the documentary’s beginning since she jokingly said that she doesn’t like being stuck to her sister because ‘she’s annoying.’ In contrast, their mom called Tatiana ‘a little bully.’ She spoke from experience; the girls have three siblings, a younger sister Shaylee, an older sister Rosa, and an older brother Cristopher “Toad” Hogan.

They are a medical miracle

Doctors who conducted a CT scan of their heads when they were a year and a half old have concluded that they could never separate them because of how their heads are fused. They learned that the girls didn’t have two joined skulls; instead, they had one skull or cranium with four brain hemispheres inside. With that information in mind, trying a separation operation would put them at risk of infection, severe injury, and quite possibly death.

However, the scan also showed that the twins’ connection is unique; they have a bridge that connects their thalami, a gray matter shaped like an egg that controls sensory input and the brain’s motor functions. Because theirs are linked, the sensory input and blood go back and forth, like they are using a switchboard. Therefore, the twins share the senses of taste and touch, and Krista can see out of one of Tatiana’s eyes while Tatiana can see out of both of Krista’s.

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Moreover, they can control each other’s limbs besides self-control; Krista can move three legs and an arm, while Tatiana can control a leg and three arms. Finally, they learned that Tatiana’s heart was working harder and supplying some of its blood to Krista’s brain, which made Krista’s blood pressure higher. Doctors plan to solve this by jumpstarting Krista’s heart to adjust its rhythm, and make it pick up the pace. Yet, their most amazing ability, at least to outsiders, is knowing each other’s thoughts without speaking, which they call ‘talking in their heads.’

Krista and Tatiana don’t let the medical issues stop them

Although it’s uncertain if being conjoined had an effect, the twins have epilepsy and type 1 diabetes. They are on a strict medication regimen, most undergo blood tests to manage their sugar, and require daily insulin injections, and thus often travel to the British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. That was a hit for their finances because the girls live in Vernon, British Columbia, with mom Felicia Simms, dad Brendan Hogan, grandparents Louise ad Doug McKay, and some aunts and uncles.

Despite all the physical problems, the twins travel to school, ride a customized bicycle, and swim. During winter, the twins go down hills on toboggans, and have tried cross-country skiing.

They are pursuing education

Krista and Tatiana had a slightly delayed education path due to their unique situation. They delayed starting kindergarten at Okanagan Landing Elementary to fly to Manhattan and appear on Anderson Cooper’s daytime talk show, “Anderson.” Their mother said that most children around their age were curious, and some befriended them. However, a few parents were uncomfortable seeing them, and forbade their children to play with them, which Felicia openly criticized, prompting her to ensure that her children never shun anyone for being different.

Although their unique congenital disorder slowed their academic progress, the documentary showed that they started attending regular school. The twins spent a few hours per day in Grade 6 as of September 2017, learning to write, read, and do basic arithmetic.

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Twins live their lives away from the public

Sadly, the CBC documentary was the last public update from the twins, and that was seemingly intentional. Chuck Harris, a Hollywood agent, is the only reason they became well-known for several years. He signed the twins for all the media appearances in the late 2000s and early 2010s because he ‘wanted to get a reality show for them so badly, to make big money. For them, anything over $1,000 is big money.’

He explained that the family had fourteen members in one household in 2011. Their mom, known for being protective, agreed to Chuck’s proposal, and told him, ‘We can do interviews and documentaries. Just get the word out. I want people to understand that’s just what they are—they’re just little girls.’

Chuck also represented George and Lori Schappel, the oldest living conjoined twins in the world as of 2022, according to the Guinness World Records notes. He also wanted to find their mom a job, giving parenting lectures and speculated that she could earn CAD$5,000 to $15,000 an hour, talking about ‘how she’s raising the girls, not hiding them, and doesn’t see their condition as a handicap.’

Krista and Tatiana contributed to science

Viewers saw the conjoined twins’ daily life, including all their struggles, which was captivating. However, their media appearances had a real impact on science and medicine. Their mother always knew that her daughters might not reach the average lifespan; the doctors told her that they had a 20% chance of survival at birth and that the danger was not over in the first 24 hours. Upon turning 10 in the documentary, their mother explained, ‘For them to actually be here for 10 years is just a blessing. It just felt so good to see them get to this milestone.’

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However, the documentary also showed how amazed their pediatric neurologist, Dr. Juliette Hukin was, and how much she learned from their unique brainstem connection. Neurosurgeons and other medical professionals they met had a similar reaction.

Ultimately, their mother never wanted fame or preferential treatment for them. At the end of the episode, she said, ‘They’re just little people living their lives like the rest of us. That’s how we see them, and that’s how their siblings see them.’

Moreover, Tatiana and Krista have inspired clinical research. Their case has been cited in many clinical studies, for example, “Craniopagus: Overview and the Implications of Sharing a Brain” by Jordan Squair at the University of British Columbia’s Undergraduate Journal of Psychology in 2012.

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Where are the “Big Fat Gypsy Weddings” cast today?

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“Big Fat Gypsy Weddings” started unexpectedly; a single episode aired on 18 February 2010 as part of the well-known British documentary TV series “Cutting Edge,” which was on-screen from 1990 to 2017. However, after attracting critical acclaim and winning the Cultural Diversity Award for the Most Groundbreaking Show in 2010, the media network decided to commission five episodes of a dedicated show.

That was a success, too; its first episode, aired on 29 January 2011 on Channel 4, had about seven million viewers, and the third was the most-watched, with nearly nine million. However, many people, us included, wondered what happened to the couples after the show went off air in 2015, so we investigated who remains married, has children, or is divorced.

Weddings start early and don’t always last

The show, while it focuses on the rush of preparing for marriage and the splendor of the wedding day with hundreds of Travellers or Gypsies present, shows many controversial traditions. Despite dreaming of the wedding day from a young age, the participants frequently marry, with their family’s blessing, between ages 16 and 18. Additionally, community members are usually only allowed to marry a fellow Traveller or Gypsy, and mustn’t indulge in sex before marriage, talk back to their elders, or divorce. Therefore, some fear rejecting their partner and feel stuck if they realize marrying that person was a mistake.

The parents were also criticized for sexualizing children, putting them in full make-up and dressing them up as if attending a beauty pageant. The concept of grabbing in the show, where a groom pins down and tries to kiss a girl who catches his eye, is also frowned upon; however, many Travellers claim that the show fabricated it. All these factors affect the success rate and the longevity of the marriages shown in “Big Fat Gypsy Wedding,” leaving fans to wonder who said ‘I do’ to their true love.

Paddy Doherty

Paddy Doherty, a bare-knuckle boxer and perhaps the best-known cast member of “Big Fat Gypsy Weddings” because he won “Celebrity Big Brother” in the year the first season aired, has been through a lot. He’s been married to Roseanne for decades, and they’re still together as of 2023. Paddy has 10 children, but most people only know about his three sons. His presumably oldest son, Patrick, died in July 1996, and Paddy said in September 2011, during his “The Late Late Show” appearance, that he drank his son’s blood immediately after he passed away, explaining to the host Ryan Tubridy that it made him feel closer to him.

His second, David, was sentenced to a three-year jail sentence in 2012, for causing death by careless driving, after his friend, James Loveridge, a passenger in his Mitsubishi Shogun SUV was killed. He was then jailed for seven years in November 2018, for burglarizing a home with a gang of criminals.

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His third son, Simey, became known through the news on 22 August 2020, when a 22-year-old criminal attacked him and tried to rip a US$37,500 Rolex watch and diamond ring off him. In the process, the mugger kicked Simey in the head and threw him the ground, leaving him with three brain bleeds and a bloody, muddy face.

Paddy also has several grandchildren he posts about. However, his granddaughter Margaret attracted the most attention by telling the “This Morning” hosts that she wants to leave school at eight, despite Paddy’s efforts to dissuade her.

Paddy faced another family tragedy in April 2017 when his father, Simon Doherty, died. Only a year later, his cart racer nephew, Michael “Mikey” Connors, died in July aged 32, when a BMW hit him from behind while riding Paddy’s champion horse. Almost simultaneously, Paddy was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but only revealed it seven months later in April 2019, when doctors had given him the all-clear. However, the illness left a mark on his mental state, and he stated that he suffered from depression afterward.

Then, in 2020 and 2021, Paddy announced on Facebook that he ended up in the hospital three times because he had severe symptoms of COVID-19. Even worse, his sister died from COVID-19 in January 2021, and he couldn’t attend the funeral because he was ill.

John McFadyen and Cheyenne Pidgley

Cheyenne appeared in the show at 14 and immediately sparked controversy. While grabbing is allegedly a Gypsy tradition, John pinning her against a wall and forcing her to kiss him was something many viewers disliked. Regardless, it worked for them; Cheyenne became engaged to him, but the wedding didn’t happen immediately because her mother had died of cancer. After some time, the couple married in a beautiful wedding ceremony with 200 guests.

However, while the marriage seemed to blossom in private, the couple resurfaced in 2018, but not for a good reason. CCTV footage showed McFadyen and his brother Isaac attempting to rob the neighbor of singer and actress Amanda Holden. John, in particular, threatened to ‘hurt her toddler and take him away’ if she didn’t comply and hand her expensive rings over.

Thankfully, nearby scaffolders heard the commotion and chased the brothers away, saving the mother and her child – Amanda called them ‘scumbags’ after posting the video on social media, and John received two years and eight months in jail while his brother got the same sentence, but in a youth offenders institution. In total, their 12-man gang received 68 years behind bars.

John left the jail ahead of schedule, and started a business, Garden Shed Pubs and Nightclubs UK, in 2019, showcasing his luxury pub shed, which sold alcoholic drinks and had a pool table, a games room including a dart board, and a fireplace. It also featured murals of individuals such as Al Pacino, Conor McGregor, Tyson Fury and Bob Marley. After leaving the jail, John had also became passionate about bodybuilding .

Although little is known about their private life, since Cheyenne made her Instagram profile – @cheyenne_johnx – private, we know that the couple is still together and has two daughters, Julie-Ann and Berry-Marie – some insiders said that they were awaiting a son in April 2018. Cheyenne also stated that if their daughters decide to leave school at 13, as she did, she will approve of it as long as they learn to read and write. Similarly, she would support their decision to marry at 16.

Bill and Joe Smith

Joe and Bill Smith’s tragic ending was a shock to people who tune in to see glorious weddings. The police found the 32-year-old twin brothers, who appeared in season three as landscapers, hanging from a tree in Sevenoaks, Kent County, after 11 AM in December 2019 – they quickly concluded that this was a case of double suicide. According to family sources, Joe was diagnosed with cancer, and Bill, whom the family called “Billy,” told him that he wouldn’t be able to live without him. Although Joe apparently told his family that he was in remission after undergoing chemotherapy, they suspect that he didn’t want to worry them.

A cousin found the suicide note, and the community members stated that they had a suicide pact and would be found ‘in the woods where they played with the family years ago.’ The community also revealed that they may have had depression. Billy was dating and presumably wanted to marry Kristine Davey, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, who posted a heartbreaking update on social media, but didn’t elaborate on the events before his death; Joe left behind a nine-year-old son. Their family organized a beautiful funeral procession, with white horse carriages transporting identical coffins, with flowers arranged to look like a tequila bottle and a Rolex watch.

Chantelle Kielly and Jim

Chantelle Kielly was heavily criticized for what can be considered incest, after marrying her first cousin, Jim, when she was 18. She made a spectacle, with the whole of her hometown of Rathkeale attending, including 73 best men and seven bridesmaids. Her dress, designed by Thelma, had over 20,000 crystals, and her family allegedly paid a $50,000 to $125,000 dowry to Jim’s family for their engagement. While they seem absent from social media, the lack of updates from the family or insiders, especially after such a high-profile wedding, suggests that the cousins are still happily married.

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Danielle Maughan and Brendan Joyce

Brendan and Danielle attracted much attention for marrying a day after her 16th birthday, the youngest legal age to marry in the UK. Brendan was 21, and the public suggested that she was too young to consent; moreover, they thought she was pressured into it; the celebration cost over £50,000 or US$62,500, and she wore a 6ft or 1.8m wide dress, neither of which she could pay for herself at that age. Luckily, the couple defied all odds and proved their doubters wrong; they are still married and have two children as of 2023.

Sam Norton and Pat Lee

Sam Norton, a 17-year-old “gorger”, a person outside of the Traveller community, was trying to adjust to the Gypsy lifestyle when she married Pat Lee in 2011. Most viewers remember her extensive dress that had lights and moving butterflies, and her pregnant belly during the BAFTA TV Awards red carpet event that year. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out between them, and they divorced for unknown reasons. Sam remarried, but took someone outside the Traveller community this time, while Pat doesn’t have a social media presence. However, they continue to co-parent their son.

Patrick Ward and Joan Furey

Most people remember Joan for wearing a luxurious dress with a 20ft or 6m train, and arriving at church in her Cinderella-inspired carriage. However, despite saying that she would never divorce Patrick, a part-time laborer, she did so in 2011, the year her season premiered. She revealed to Sunday Express, ‘I’ll always regret marrying him… I’ve torn up my wedding photos and sold my dress.’ An insider disclosed that she never destroyed her dress, but said that she did out of anger.

Regardless, the court granted her a divorce for Patrick’s unreasonable behavior, including control and jealousy. Joan was eight months pregnant when the divorce was finalized, and admitted in 2012 that they lost contact after the split, suggesting that Patrick doesn’t even know their son’s name, Roman. She also mentioned hearing that he’d married a younger Irish Traveller bride after they went their separate ways.

Josie McFadyen and Swanley Smith

Josephine “Josie” McFadyen, sister to Isaac and John and six confirmed siblings, and her then-boyfriend, Swanley Smith, were among the most memorable couples. While their family dynamic was interesting, since they married after only five months of dating, what remains in most viewers’ memories was their splendid pink wedding with a Spanish theme. The couple also started a family early; she gave birth to a daughter, also named Josie, at 16, when Swanley was 19, making her the first of her siblings to do so.

However, things quickly turned sour, and she became the show’s first divorcee around May 2012. She stated that life with Swanley no longer made her happy, and she wanted to focus on being a good mother. Besides her brief run-in with the law, when she caused a commotion at another gypsy wedding, and received an electronic police tag for three months, her life was mostly quiet.

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That changed in 2019 during Swanley’s birthday, when she was caught physically and verbally attacking two sisters, Margaret and Eileen Doyle; her mother, Josie Doherty, siblings Barbara and Isaac, and cousin Charlie Collins were also the perpetrators. Although all five denied the attack, bystanders reported that one stomped Margaret’s head and stomach and shouted, ‘Go on, kick the baby out of her!’ Moreover, it was revealed that Margaret was eight months pregnant and partially blind and that the two groups had a family feud.

Barbara, who made brief appearances in her sister’s episodes, was caught on 13 April 2019 trying to smuggle a small mobile phone to her ex-boyfriend, Shane Warburton, by hiding it in her children’s diaper and received a six-month sentence. However, it was unclear if Shane was one of the attackers,.

Josephine has an Instagram account today – @josie_mcfadyen28 – on which she announced on 27 January 2022 that she’d found a new boyfriend. However, insiders have revealed that she’s been dating Richard since early 2020, and that they were expecting a boy in June 2020. Josie also showed a pregnant stomach in June 2022, indirectly revealing that they are expecting their second child. One person, allegedly close to the family, commented in a Facebook fan group that it was her fourth. Josie also posted about a previous relationship with an unnamed English Traveller in early 2018. Finally, one fan mentioned that Josie’s mother gave birth to her 10th child after the show stopped filming.

Ina and Michael

Ina and Michael didn’t have such a prominent marriage, but many fans remember her secret relationship and piercing sky-blue eyes. She was 15 when she met Ian who was 17, and the family forced them to go through a typical courtship after her uncle told on her to her mom. However, she was convinced that she ‘only had to kiss one frog to find her forever prince.’

While she was undoubtedly happy, and things looked good when she said Ian was “the one” for her, there was some doubt because of her age. However, Ina is still married to Michael and has two children, a boy and a girl, as of May 2023.

Noreen and Tony

Viewers may recall Noreen as the Irish Traveller who focused on her independence instead of finding a husband. Although she helped design most cakes for other women’s weddings, Noreen transitioned from working in a cake shop to owning a hair salon, Noreen’s Lavish Locks, after the show.

While there were no indications that she plans to marry as of 2016, updates from two years later showed that she began dating someone. Then, social media posts revealed that she married Tony in April 2018, and a year and a half later on 1 January, news surfaced that the couple had recently welcomed a daughter named Josie. Additionally, before and after pregnancy, Noreen displayed a taste for elegant fashion, and possibly designed some dresses.

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Thelma Madine and Leanne Alexandra

Thelma Madine was at the forefront during the show’s run as the primary wedding dressmaker. Her creativity was so beloved that she earned a spin-off TV show, “Thelma’s Gypsy Girls,” allowing her to showcase her fabulous, over-the-top dress designs.

However, a prolonged court case with Leanne Phillips, her former head designer, mainly occupied her post-show life. Although Thelma called her ‘a major creative force’ at her Liverpool Traveller design shop, Nico, she let her go in 2012.

Leanne promptly set up a design shop under her own name, Leanne Alexandra, in the same city, taking away some of Thelma’s customers and eventually stealing her designs. Thelma won one court case for a design theft and accused Leanne of stealing and using her designs for a Crystal Princess Figurine range of porcelain girl figurines. In an interview with ECHO, she said that the two-and-a-half-year court battle harmed her mental health more than her prison sentence for benefits fraud in 2001. That was largely because Leanne was allegedly bankrupt, making it hard for Thelma to collect money from her wages.

After her legal battle concluded, she used the lower level of her fashion shop to open a cafe, Cafe Nico, in late 2019. Thelma has a daughter named Margaret, a teenager in 2020 who was occasionally active on social media. According to some fans, Leanne has a daughter and was expecting a second child in June 2020.

There are no guarantees

Learning about the history and post-show events of the couples in “Big Fat Gypsy Weddings” made it clear that neither fans nor the cast members and their families could foresee the success of the marriages. Some, like Danielle and Brendan, married early, developed their romantic bond, and are now parents; Ina and Michael had a similar story. In contrast, Josie and Joan seemed enamored with Swanley and Patrick, respectively, and viewers predicted a bright future after they became pregnant. Yet, both women left their marriage within a year and found new partners, in the case of Josie, or are presumably single, like Joan.

Most couples aren’t sharing their post-marriage life

Although weddings seem to be at the forefront, some episodes showed dishonesty, such as when they booked a venue but didn’t tell the owners that a Gypsy wedding would occur until the last minute. Others display illegal activities, for example, when one Gypsy family started building infrastructure on land where laws forbid doing so. Many families also regret their appearance, usually because their lifestyle was stereotyped or they decided not to let viewers judge their traditions.

All these reasons make learning what happened to the couples difficult, and fans must rely on periodic updates from sources close to the family.

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