Former EastEnders stalwart Lorraine Stanley – who played Karen Taylor, the lovable yet perpetually dishevelled mum on the BBC soap from 2017 to 2024 has lost 6½st over two years, and has never looked better, as she opens up about tying the knot this month. Lorraine, who has nine-year-old daughter Nancy with her fiancé Mark Perez, shares her excitement about her Big Day with her partner of 12 years after a two-year engagement, including a very special guest – and the adorable role for her daughter, 9.
Opening up excitedly about her impending nuptials, the telly star says: “Yes, it’s very exciting! I’m getting married to my partner in a ceremony local to where we live in Hertfordshire. It’s going to be low-key. From my EastEnders gang, Danny Walters is coming. I wanted them all to come, but we’re just having a small, intimate wedding at a church, then a pub with a tepee and barbecue.”
The happy couple have been together for 12 years(Image: lorraine_stanley_/instagram)
The couple’s daughter Nancy could well be the one making the jaw-dropping entrance to the ceremony, too – as Lorraine admits: “She’s the one wearing the big white wedding dress – well, the flower girl dress. Mine’s modest, really. But I’m so excited. Mark and I have been together for 12 years, it just felt like time.”
Revealing why after so many years together the pair decided to make it official, she adds: “We’re just in a really good place. You know, every couple goes through their ups and downs, but it feels right, we’re happy. Nancy wanted us to get married, I wanted his surname – I know some women don’t want that but I do. I want to be Mrs Perez. I’ve been abroad a few times with Nancy and was asked if she’s my daughter as we have different surnames on our passports. But it’s not just practicalities, it’s love.”
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Eplaining their special chemistry, she confesses: “We’ve got an understanding, we respect each other. We give each other space, we’ve got our own lives. He’s the best father. He’s in marketing, so nothing to do with my world, though I think he could be an actor – he can be quite dramatic at times!”
It’s not the only big event coming up, though. Lorraine turns the big 50 next year, but says she won’t be doing anything crazy to celebrate the milestone. I have the wedding this year so…. no, I won’t have a big showbiz bash. We might go to Disney World Florida. We’ll see.”
