They surprised fans last month, by announcing they had secretly tied the knot in a small ceremony before Christmas.
And now, Oliver Proudlock, 32, has revealed he finally met wife Emma Louise Connolly, 29, face-to-face after they spent FOUR YEARS messaging each other as he explained the great lengths he went to in order to bag a first date with the model.
Speaking on the Dangerous Dinners Podcast, the Made In Chelsea star admitted he cried ‘tears of joy’ as gushed about their ‘crazy emotional’ wedding day.
Persistent! Oliver Proudlock, 32, has revealed he finally met wife Emma Louise Connolly, 29, face-to-face after they spent FOUR YEARS messaging each other
Oliver explained that he had been in Scotland for five days to do Personal Appearances and go partying, back in his Made In Chelsea days.
He said: ‘I hadn’t seen any culture and I became good mates with these guys there and they said look ‘you should go and check out this art gallery called Kelvin Grove.
‘So I was like “ok cool”, so I went down there and I was on the ground floor and I came into the central room and there was this long catwalk.
‘It was this graduate fashion show, and so I’m standing there at the front and this model walks down and it’s Emma. And I’m like “oh my gosh, this chick is out of control.” And we catch eyes and then after she’s doing her show, doing her thing.
Loved-up: Speaking on the Dangerous Dinners Podcast , the Made In Chelsea star admitted he cried ‘tears of joy’ as gushed about their ‘crazy emotional’ wedding day
‘I went back to my buddies and I said “guys, I saw this girl, described what she looked like, she was just insane!
‘And they were like “sounds like this girl Emma Louise.” So I was like “show me”. So they showed me a picture and I was like “oh my god that’s her.” I was probably just like ‘I’ll probably never see her again.’
The Made In Chelsea star admitted: ‘Had I not decided to go to this particular place on that day I don’t think we’d be together now and I always look back on that moment.’
But, a few weeks later, when Oliver returned to Edinburgh for another PA, he saw a photograph of Emma modelling jewellery.
‘I’m standing at the baggage reclaim and I look up and there’s this huge billboard for this jewelry company, and it was Emma modelling this jewellery on this billboard.
‘And I was like “oh my god” and it was the same guys from Glasgow who picked me up and I was like “guys I just saw her on this billboard, it’s a sign. I need to get her number or find her or whatever it is.” And I ended up finding her on Facebook.’
First sight: Oliver revealed he first laid eyes on Emma by chance, as she strolled down a catwalk at an art gallery in Edinburgh
Proudlock sent a friend request, which spurred Emma to drop him a message, and their communication began.
He explained: ‘We ended up talking on Facebook for, I don’t know, two or three months maybe and then she was in Glasgow this time.
‘I was down in London and then about a year in she moved down to London with modelling, we got each other’s number.
It’s a sign! A few weeks later, when Oliver returned to Edinburgh for another PA, he saw a photograph of Emma modelling jewellery and so he sent her a friend request on Facebook
‘We then messaged for three years. But we never met, and it was a weird one. She was seeing someone at the time, nothing serious but we would just message just like harmless stuff.’
After messaging for years without ever having met, Oliver decided to go to the commonwealth games in Glasgow, after hearing that Emma would be there and knowing that they were both single.
‘I was like “I have got to go.” I messaged my buddies, same guys from all those years back, and I’m like “guys, I found her four years later. Guys, it’s time. I need your help.”‘
Three years! ‘We then messaged for three years. But we never met, and it was a weird one’ explained Proudlock who then travelled to Glasgow years later when they were both single
After travelling up to Glasgow, Proudlock messaged Emma to let he know he was there.
‘She was like “I live in London now so why don’t we hang out when we get back to London?” And I was like “well why don’t we get the train from Glasgow to London?”
‘And then on the day that we were meant to get the train she was like “I’m so sorry I have just got a last minute job come up, I can’t get the train now.”
‘So I was like “don’t worry, I’ll stay here another night and we’ll get the train tomorrow.” I was persistent. And do you know what man, I just knew, it sounds weird, but I just knew she was the one.’
Finally! After travelling up to Glasgow, Proudlock messaged Emma to let he know he was there and, after one cancellation, they ended up getting the train back to London together
Oliver explained that Emma made the train with about a minute to spare, running down the platform carrying numerous bags.
He admitted: ‘I was just like “oh my god” I just remember that moment so well, and that was the first time we actually met, on a train journey from Glasgow to London.’
And, it appears that Emma was definitely worth the wait, because not only did their train ride lead to a date the next evening, the couple are now happily married.
Speaking of their first date, Oliver revealed: I kept it low key, I took her to this place called Bob Bob Ricard. That’s where we had our first date.
‘They do these insane cucumber Martinis and they have got these cosy little booths right, and that was where we had our first date.’
Long Term love: The couple went on their first date the next night and have been together ever since, and Oliver insisted: ‘I just knew she was the one’ (Pictured in August 2014)
Four years later, the couple announced their engagement in August 2018 after Oliver got down on one knee during a romantic trip to Gothenburg, Sweden.
Oliver and Emma originally planned to host 200 guests at Cowdray Park, West Sussex, for a wedding in April 2020, however their grand plans were reduced to just 15 people.
Their fourth attempt to tie the knot was almost thwarted when Boris Johnson announced plans to plunge London into Tier 4, meaning that all wedding receptions were banned, but Proudlock managed to pull together a last-minute wedding.
Forever: Four years later, the couple announced their engagement in August 2018 after Oliver got down on one knee during a romantic trip to Gothenburg, Sweden
He said: ‘Cut to, yeah December 15th. Finally getting married. You know we’d moved plans three times. But you know everyone has been going through it and in the end we were just like “you know what we just want to get married” and let’s just do a small thing.
‘And we had 15 people, and the build up to that was pretty hilarious because we were meant to get married on the 17th which was the Thursday, and then Boris made the announcement on the Monday which meant we couldn’t go ahead on the Thursday.
‘Emma was out having a facial and I knew I had an hour to just make something work. And so I moved the whole wedding to the next day, I called the church, the priest, the flourist, we had dinner planned at The Ned so I called the guy there who was incredible.
‘He managed to move everything, so Ems came back, opened the door and I was like “don’t worry we are getting married tomorrow.” So we literally, it was like 6pm and then boom, we got married on the 15th.
Last minute: The couple got married on December 15th after Oliver rearranged their wedding to ensure they could tire the knot before lockdown made weddings illegal
‘Which is kind of funny because our rings on the inside are engraved with the date, and the date obviously says the 17th. We could change it but we will keep it because we love it.’
Because the day was pulled together in less than 24 hours, a lot of Oliver’s family and some of Emma’s family couldn’t be there, and so they had a private YouTube link set up so their loved-ones around the world could watch the ceremony.
‘So all of our family, my mum was dressed up and they were all kind of there drinking champagne and watching it on the computers or on the laptop so yeah it was really special. Different, but so special.
‘Everything that has been going on last year, with all the changes and the last minute, just everything, the things that went right and the things that went wrong just made it that much more special.
What a day! ‘It was crazy emotional… it was just tears of joy and appreciation and just a whirlwind’ said Proudlock of their special day
‘And it just made me realise what really matters in life and that is your loved one, your family, your friends and it was just the most…. especially when you have a small wedding like that, just 15 of you it’s so intimate, you’re so present.
‘You’re in that moment, and obviously I’m a pretty emotional dude right. And I knew as soon as I looked back and I saw her walk in for the first time in her dress, her dad by her side. Even thinking about it now gets me emotional.
‘It was crazy emotional and even afterwards when I made my speech as well I think “I have got so much love man for everyone in that room”, and for Emma especially and dude it was just tears of joy and appreciation and just a whirlwind.
Oliver Proudlock is on episode 2 of Dangerous Dinners Podcast with DJ host, Tom Green.