TV star Melanie Sykes will marry her toyboy lover next month following a whirlwind romance.
Sykes, 42, hooked up with 27-year-old Jack Cockings last year after the two exchanged a series of flirty messages on Twitter.
The stunning mother-of-two agreed to meet up with the young roofer and they immediately hit it off and got engaged just four months later in August.
They now plan to marry on Saturday, May 18, at 3.30pm at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset, Jack’s home county.
Marriage banns for the couple were read for the third and final time in Sherborne Abbey last week.
Canon Eric Woods, vicar of Sherborne, yesterday confirmed he would be conducting the ceremony in the picturesque market town.
He said: “I’m delighted that they have chosen the Abbey. Jack has a very long connection with Sherborne and he has an entitlement to be married here.
“We have huge numbers of couples who wish to be married here and we treat them all the same.
“We will do our best to ensure that they have the most wonderful and special day.”
It is thought Melanie and Jack will celebrate with friends and family at a reception held in the town later that evening.
Marriage banns for the couple were read for the third and final time in Sherborne Abbey on Sunday morning.
Traditionally the marriage banns are read three times in the parishes of the people who are marrying.
Banns have also been read at St John’s Hampstead, London.
Andrew Johnson, Salisbury diocesan registrar and the bishop’s legal secretary, said members of the public are entitled to attend the wedding.
He said: “Every Church of England parish church is a place of public worship, and the public is entitled to attend weddings in them.
“However, they must sit where directed, not wander around and not attempt to take photographs or make video or audio recordings.”
Canon Woods added: “This has always been the policy at Sherborne Abbey.
“However, the couple also have an entitlement to privacy at a solemn and sacred moment in their lives, and I very much hope that privacy will be respected.”
Former model Miss Sykes is best known for appearances on ITV1’s Loose Women, Today With Des And Mel and as a model for Boddington’s beer adverts.
In 2011 she relaunched her television career on ITV1’s Let’s Do Lunch With Gino And Mel alongside TV chef Gino di Campo and posed naked for men’s magazine Esquire.
Her romance with Mr Cocking quickly hit the headlines after they exchanged flirtatious messages on Twitter.
Miss Sykes is said to have been contacted by Mr Cockings to ask her on a date.
She has two sons from her previous marriage to Italian actor Daniel Caltagirone, while Mr Cockings, a roofer for London-based JC’s Bespoke Leadwork, has a son from a previous relationship who attends school locally.
The couple’s numerous trips to Mr Cockings’ home county, widely publicised on the social networking site, have sparked local interest in the pair’s love life.
