The Shocking True Life of a Gyspy | My Big Fat Gypsy Weddings

Ajouté : 2026-05-23

[00:00:03]Although she lives in a state of [music] constant upheaval, Helen is due to marry her fianceé David in just over a month's time.

[00:00:10]>> Are you ready for me? Yeah.

[00:00:11]>> Yeah. Just give me one second.

[00:00:14]>> I can't wait.

[00:00:16]>> And she's currently juggling the chaos of her lifestyle with the stress of planning [music] a spectacular summer wedding.

[00:00:23]>> Is that big enough for you?

[00:00:24]>> Yeah.

[00:00:25]>> Yeah.

[00:00:26]>> It's lovely. Okay. You can make it smaller if you want to.

[00:00:30]>> No, I want it like that. It's perfect like that.

[00:00:33]>> Very big.

[00:00:34]>> That's the veil. It's the famous veil Mar was on. Yeah, it's really lovely.

[00:00:38]>> It's nicer and white.

[00:00:40]>> You're shaking.

[00:00:40]>> Yeah. Oh god, it really is sunny. I just can't wait to see it later. Look at it.

[00:00:48]>> Now you're ready to see yourself turn [music] it up and tell me what you think. our fathers.

[00:01:02]>> Helen has [music] the dress of her dreams. And for a girl more used to the struggle and hardship of life on the road, it is a rare moment of glamour.

[00:01:13]>> It's like, oh, one one day your life, you can dress like this [music] with a big skirt.

[00:01:23]So, what's going to change after the wedding day?

[00:01:26]>> After the wedding, I'll be married and [snorts] I won't be going to daddy every 5 minutes from here. It'll be David. I won't depend on my daddy. I'll depend on him.

[00:01:37]So, it'll be different change, but in a good way hopefully.

[00:01:49]This one's >> Despite having only known David for 12 weeks, Helen's wedding day is already upon her, and the bridal party are readying themselves for a long day ahead.

[00:02:01]>> Give me sausage and egg and spray.

[00:02:05]>> Such an occasion requires access [music] to reliable power sources and hair straighteners. Luxuries that trailers on the road can't provide. So, the girls have abandoned their caravans in favor of a local hotel. She's getting a little bit nervous now, Lucy. Everything's starting to kick in like a couple of hours. I'm going to be there and get married and it's like well hectic. It's >> magic thing.

[00:02:30]It's >> like Tinker Bell.

[00:02:32]>> It's like Tinker Bell.

[00:02:33]>> Tighten it in a bit maybe. You know, I >> don't know how I'm going to clip this in. Does that feel right?

[00:02:38]>> No, it feels very loose.

[00:02:41]>> I feel like it's going to fall off. I know this. I'm very unlucky and it's going to fall out.

[00:02:49]We fight some super glue. [laughter] >> How many cans of Red Bull have we gone through? [snorts] [clears throat] >> I haven't got a clue. It was like about 10 cases had to be bought this morning and every one of them is gone.

[00:03:01]>> Dress jackasses can't see what they're walking.

[00:03:04]>> Weddings in the traveling community often take place within a few close-knit families. But Helen and Marie's family history meant that their cousins were off limits. It happens a lot in the traveling community where cousins married cousins like my dad and mommy's first cousins. [music] We had to write to Pope John Paul for to get consent for he get married off him and he sent a backet certificate. Now [music] it's framed and it's in me's house in Ireland.

[00:03:32]>> Well, like when we were growing up, my mom and dad was very worried because if any of our cousins grabbed us or we kissed any mommy was like, "Oh no, you can't go on with him." Like if you ever got married a kiss, give it that's how it all starts. No, you can't do that.

[00:03:45]Why not? Because blood's too close.

[00:03:53]Helen is ready to be transported to the church. She spent much of her life on the road, eluding the authorities. But today's journey is proving even more nerve-wracking.

[00:04:04]>> How's it going, Helen? Getting a little nervous.

[00:04:08]It's really happening now. Like, this is it.

[00:04:12]I'm getting really, really nervous.

[00:04:20][music] >> All creatures.

[00:04:32]>> Just 12 weeks after meeting her fianceé, David, it's the day of Irish traveler Helen's wedding.

[00:04:39]The convoy has halted for the big day and they've all turned out in force.

[00:04:45]>> The significance of the moment is not lost on the bride. This is where I live again and the old life ends. How long have you been waiting for the day?

[00:04:58]Couple months.

[00:05:00]>> What? And walk go up the aisle.

[00:05:09]>> [music] >> We are asking God to give his blessing upon Helen and David to be with them in all the years of their life. I live to take thee to be my lawful advice to love and to cherish as it goes.

[00:05:38]>> Now you make a surprise.

[00:05:40]>> Just a small one. [laughter] [cheering] David and Helen are now man and wife.

[00:05:54]>> And at the reception venue, the celebrations can begin.

[00:06:07]>> The dance floor soon fills with friends from across the country.

[00:06:12]But by now, grandmother Maggie is well used to the spectacle of a traveler wedding.

[00:06:18]>> That's a grandson got married today David.

[00:06:22]>> How many grandchildren do you have?

[00:06:23]>> I have a child every year. Every year.

[00:06:25]So, how can I count up for many great grandchild that I have? Cuz the breeds like rabbits, rabbits in the field, >> a life spent on the road is always unpredictable. But having traveled since childhood at the behest of her father, it is now David who [music] will decide Helen's future.

[00:06:46]>> The scariest thing about being married now is having to go [music] with him tomorrow and not with mommy and daddy.

[00:06:52]It's going to be like to move in with him and everything is going to be scary cuz I never done it before. So yeah, it's going to be well hectic.

[00:07:08]Do you know where you're going to be living?

[00:07:11]>> No, I still don't know. [laughter] I'm married now and everything and I don't know where I'm going to go.

[00:07:24]>> [music] >> The month and a half after her wedding, the fairy tale is over and Helen is back with her traveling companions, living alongside her sister and Jimmy on a roadside next to IKEA, but they expect to be moved on at any moment. And Jimmy is becoming increasingly irritated by the constant battles with the council.

[00:07:50]Where where are we going to go? Where can we go?

[00:07:53]>> Some people would say, "Well, you get a house like everyone else."

[00:07:56]>> Of course, we'd love to do that. If the council give you the house, we go in the house. There's no problem. But look at look at the waiting list in the house.

[00:08:01]You can't get one already. They tell you there's a waiting list. You can't go can't get a house.

[00:08:04]>> You know where you're going to go.

[00:08:06]>> We don't. That's the problem because we've already been to a load of places already. And every time we go, the council just puts us off again. Just like you heard me telling them. Every time it's the same process every single time.

[00:08:17]While Jimmy grows frustrated by the endless cycle of invasion and eviction, Helen's world could be about to change forever.

[00:08:28]>> Your result is pregnant and you conceived approximately 2 to 3 weeks ago. I'm 2 to 3 weeks pregnant.

[00:08:36]>> Helen's all grown up and having a baby, married and everything now.

[00:08:39]>> Well, how long is mine? 6 weeks.

[00:08:41]>> How long are you pregnant? Three weeks pregnant or four weeks? How many?

[00:08:45]>> Three. Three weeks pregnant. Took him three weeks though. You know what I mean? To break that bone.

[00:08:51]>> It's too slow. Way too slow.

[00:08:53]>> If I didn't get pregnant straight away, I think there was something wrong with me. Like cuz never got pregnant. There must be something cuz that I think that all girls panic if you don't get pregnant like straight away after they get married.

[00:09:05]>> It's because um they think there'll be something wrong with them or whatever.

[00:09:12]Now heavily pregnant, Helen is taking a break from traveling life, the restbite is much needed. Soon she will give birth to their first baby and their second.

[00:09:28][music] They've nearly got a heart attack when they seen twins. The woman said baby one is um a little girl and he never said that and he just kept quiet.

[00:09:37]Then baby two is little boy. Yes. Cuz he thought he was getting two girls. got a heart attack.

[00:09:42]>> Why would you not want two girls?

[00:09:44]>> Cuz they're too expensive. The girls are very expensive. Two of them come and daddy give me money for some bills that they give me money to get me nails done.

[00:09:52]Then two weddings.

[00:09:54]You have to have two separate bank accounts. Put 30,000 each for the weddings. You nearly got a heart attack over the two girls.

[00:10:04]So everybody's delighted. It's like the perfect little family. A boy and a girl.

[00:10:07]Just can't wait to get them. That's your own child. Like you that's yours to come from you. Oh, it's just I can't wait. I really can't wait.

[00:10:19]Helen [music] plans to remain here until the babies are born. And despite all the pitfalls of the traveling life, unlike [music] Jimmy, she is convinced that her family's future lies on the road.

[00:10:31][music] >> What sort of life do you want for your babies?

[00:10:34]>> They'll travel. Like they live the same life I lived. And I'd like them to to be brought up the way I was brought up and them to bring their children up the way I was brought up because I love traveling. I love it. Loves going different places, meeting different people.

[00:10:47]>> What would ever stop you and your children's traveling?

[00:10:50]>> Nothing. Nothing will ever stop us. It's just the way of life. That's the way we're brought up. That's it. We just travel. That's what we're called travelers. We just travel around. Can't stay in one place.

[00:11:07]>> [music]