Ben Ofoedu takes aim at ex Vanessa Feltz during wedding to parter 23 years his junior

Vanessa Feltz's ex fiancé Ben Ofoedu has finally tied the knot with his new bride Vanessa Brown, in a lavish ceremony surrounded by celeb pals and family.

The 52 year old Phats and Small singer married in an opulent castle in Carlisle to Vanessa, who is 23 years his junior. Despite appearing to move on from his failed romance with TV star Vanessa, 63, he couldn't help but take aim at her when speaking about his new love.

The music artist, who had been engaged to Vanessa Feltz for 16 years, revealed: "I know what true love is now."

Back in February 2023, the This Morning star took to social media to shared with fans that her 16 year relationship with Ben was over. At the time, the TV and radio presenter had hinted at Ben's infidelity but also mentioned in another interview a month earlier that her age gap became a subject of concern.

Meanwhile, Ben's main heartbreak was that he felt he had missed out on an opportunity to become a father. And so with his new bride being younger than his years, it looks as though Ben's dreams of being a husband and a father in the future could quite easily be a possibility.

The couple's wedding is believed to cost an estimated £100,000 and during his wedding speech, he told guests, according toThe Sun: "I knew the first time I met Vanessa, I’m going to fall in love with this girl."

He added: "It sounds crazy, but I told her that, I knew I was giving her attention, but I had intentions with this girl. So on the second date I told her I wanted to marry her and have children because I thought that by saying it, it separates the wheat from the chaff."

But his emotional speech was interrupted by his close pal and Another Level singer Dane Bowers, who shouted out: "That, and you're really old." Dane's outburst made everyone in the wedding reception burst out laughing.

After meeting his new bride following the end of his relationship with Vanessa, Ben now firmly believes that his split happened for a reason. He said: "Everything happens for a reason. I understand that now."

It's perhaps uncommon to speak of an ex during his wedding to another woman but Ben did just that. He told the wedding party: "It’s no secret that I went through a really hard two years. Not everyone knew how difficult a place I was in because I was putting up a brave front, but I was quite down behind the scenes."

Despite grieving the loss of his relationship, Ben was going through further turmoil as his younger brother had died suddenly at the age of 47. Digging down into his faith, Ben explained to his guests the conversation he had with God, which resulted in his landing a music gig and meeting his new wife.

He explained: "I broke down in tears, I was crying uncontrollably. So I got down on my knees and prayed. I asked God, ‘is it true? Are you still in business? Will you take a customer like me?"

He went on to say: "I know it sounds funny, but it’s the truth. Two days later I got a call that changed my life." And then Ben received a phone call to be part of Boyz on Block and perform at the last minute at the Elite Awards in Carlisle. He then meet Vanessa in April last year.

This came after Keith Duffy from Boyzone and Brian McFadden from Westlife, were forced to pull out.

Ben seized the opportunity to seal his relationship with Vanessa and proposed while in New York on Valentines Day this year - just 15 months after they first met.

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