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Kerry and Greig are now engaged
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Kerry Beacon as she appeared on Take Me Out
Lisburn couple Kerry Beacon and Greig Senior found love after they both appeared on hit dating show Take Me Out separately in 2011.
Now after their rollercoaster romance the pair are planning to get married after getting engaged on a Caribbean holiday.
Veterinary student Kerry applied for the dating show hosted by Paddy McGuinness after she found herself single for the first time in seven years.
“I was newly single after a total dating disaster; my friend told me to apply and I did.
“The application process was such fun but when they asked me to take part in the entire series I couldn’t take the time off university.
“I was able to make the last show though. I was the last new girl on that series.”
Kerry narrowly missed out on keeping her light on for her beau Greig as he had appeared two shows earlier, and had already sailed off into the night to Fernandos with his date Laura.
“But love didn’t blossom and 30-year-old Greig describes his onscreen date as less than romantic.
“Fernandos in 2011 was in Cyprus and it really wasn’t romantic. Don’t get me wrong – parts of it were fun but it was exhausting having cameras in your face for 92 hours and having no sleep.
“Thankfully fate intervened and I found Kerry shortly after.”
Kerry first locked eyes and lips with her dream man at a Take Me Out after-party set in a Welsh mansion which hit the headlines in January 2012.
“It was described by the press as one large sex party where the dating contestants trashed the grade two listed building.
“But 26-year-old Kerry says this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The party was not an orgy like it had been reported. When I saw the papers I was so scared as I thought it would affect my career. Sure there were a lot of hook ups but I genuinely only saw people kissing.
“It was the morning after the first party of the weekend that I first saw Greig.
“I was hungover and eating cold pizza and he had just returned from the gym eating an apple. It was later that night when we got chatting that I knew we had something special. Our connection was instant,” says Kerry.
The couple bonded over their love for boxer dogs and over the next few years embarked on a long distance relationship between London where Greig was working, Dublin where Kerry was studying at the University College of Dublin and Lisburn where the couple would meet in the middle.
“Our first conversation was about our love for dogs. We have two boxers Kiwi and Fabio who will play an important role in our wedding, as the ring bearers.
“Our one stipulation when booking the Clandeboye Lodge for our wedding was that they must allow the dogs in, and they will.
“We foster dogs at our Lisburn home from animal cruelty cases. It was definitely our love for dogs which cemented our own love,” adds Greig.
The business owner proposed to Kerry just before Christmas on a dream holiday in the Dominican Republic, which started like a scene from a fairy-tale but ended in disaster.
“On the second night of the holiday we went to the edge of a cliff and watched the sunset. He was asking me did I want to be engaged, and did I mind not being engaged when he produced the most beautiful ring that he had been saving up for six months to buy,” reveals Kerry.
She was delighted with her diamond and white gold ring, but after a tropical storm the couple decided to take a romantic boat ride when a wave crashed against the boat, smacked Kerry up the side of her face, knocked her over and her new sparkler fell into the sea.
“I was screaming my head off. Locals started jumping into the sea and Greig was shouting ‘If you find it, I will give you a lot more money than you will get if you sell it’.
“The locals were like sharks around the boat, they were even kicking me in the face to see if they could find it.”
After ten minutes of frantic searching the locals then left the area while Kerry and Greig continued searching.
“The couple enlisted the help of hotel staff who used underwater metal detectors for two and a half days but the ring was never found.
“One of the locals had taken the ring, that’s why they had left after ten minutes of searching, I was constantly crying and my initial thought was that Greig would never forgive me as he saved for six months for it, but he did.”
In Grieg’s eyes he had nothing to forgive after what was merely an accident.
“I didn’t lose Kerry in the sea did I? Obviously it stings a little bit but it’s a material object.”
Kerry was able to get an exact replica of her engagement ring when she returned home and admits she will not be wearing it into the sea anytime soon.
The pair describes their relationship as one long rollercoaster and are hoping their nuptials will be accident free when they tie the knot in 2015.