'Abandoned at the Altar: How My Heartbreak Led Me to True Love' - OK! Magazine

When Kayley Stead’s fiancé vanished hours before her nuptials she was devastated – but she bravely went ahead with the reception and now says it was a lucky escape, which led her to the love of her life. Here she tells OK! her story...

'If someone had told me on 16 September 2022 that I’d one day be happier than ever, I’m not sure I would have believed them. That day should have been my wedding day. The day before, I’d kissed my fiancé goodbye and the last thing he said was,“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow” and I’d joked back, “I’ll be the one wearing white.”

But that morning, at 7.30am, as I was getting my make-up done, one of the grooms men called and told me Kallum had disappeared and they had no clue where he’d gone.

I burst into tears, but I refused to believe he’d leave like that. For the next four hours I veered between despair and hope. I didn’t tell anyone except my bridal party, so he wouldn’t be judged if he turned up.

But at 11.30am his dad phoned and told me Kallum was in Portsmouth, over four hours’ drive away. There was no way he was going to make it for 1.30pm. I collapsed then.

We’d been together since we met in a karaoke bar in November 2018. I’d thought it was going to be a one-night stand as he lived in Portsmouth and was just visiting friends in Swansea, but as we laughed and joked over breakfast the next morning it was clear it was more.

We had a long-distance relationship for the first four months, then he moved into my flat in March 2019. I was settled in my job as an insurance clerk and was looking after my disabled mum, so it made sense for him to be the one that moved.

In August 2020, he proposed. He’d messaged me saying he wanted to take me for a walk by the sea, and when we got there he gave me a beautiful diamond ring, telling me he’d had it customised especially for me. I was overwhelmed with the thought he’d put into it and said yes immediately.

We found the perfect venue in The Gower – a hotel overlooking the sea – and started planning for our 150 guests. I have looked back in forensic detail at those months between his romantic proposal and our wedding day, and I still can’t find any clues that he was anything other than committed to our marriage. The only thing that makes me feel better is that no one else spotted any signs either.

But there we were, on the morning, with no groom. I had my nine bridesmaids with me when we found out and through my floods of tears an idea came to me. That it was stupid to waste all that money – we’d spent around £12,000 – and we should go ahead with the party aspect of the wedding anyway.

I asked them if it would be embarrassing and every single one of them encouraged me. So my make-up was reapplied and we did it.

We went to the hotel. I couldn’t bring myself to go into the ceremony room, but my brother and nephews came out. They were crying and gave me the biggest hug. Then they walked me round to the courtyard where the marquee was.

I went over to the groomsmen and the best man. They were all so upset too, but I invited them to stay. And they, along with my bridesmaids, walked me into the marquee to Lizzo’s Good As Hell.

I’ve never felt so much support and love in one room. I couldn’t eat, but I could drink! And we punched the cake instead of cutting it.

His side of the family didn’t stay, but all of mine did and it was an amazing party. I veered between laughing and sobbing. A tiny bit of me went ahead in the hope that perhaps he’d see sense and turn up.

That night, my two best friends slept with me in the bridal suite. The next morning it hit me – he really hadn’t come, and perhaps worst of all he had been too cowardly to contact me. To this day he hasn’t, bar a text asking me to do the right thing and return some of his possessions! That’s what I find unforgivable and it made it harder to move on. I can’t understand why he decided not to marry me, but most of all why he felt so little for me that he didn’t explain in person.

The next few weeks passed in a blur of packing his stuff up, anger and sorrow. Two months after our wedding day I decided to sell my ring. My friend took it to a jeweller and it transpired it was as fake as him – and worth only £30.

The whole thing felt like a sham. I didn’t care about the worth, but I do care that he made a big song and dance about having been to a jeweller to have it altered for me. It was all lies – the diamonds were fake. It helped me to recover though. If a man could tell me such a big bare-faced lie, then I’d had a lucky escape.

I’m glad of everything I’ve been through because it has led me to Richard – and a much happier future.'