Russell Watson, 47, to wed his girlfriend aged 25: Opera star met fiancée in restaurant when her cousin asked for autograph
Classical singer Russell Watson is to marry his 25-year-old girlfriend who is almost half his age.The 47-year-old tenor met former office receptionist Louise Harris four years ago when her cousin asked him for an autograph at a restaurant.
Mr Watson, 47, was quick to play down the age gap between him and his fiancée.
He said: ‘On our first night out, it didn’t pass me by that there’s an age gap between us. I thought, "What will we talk about?" But we didn’t stop talking from the minute we met and haven’t since.’
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Opera singer Russel Watson and receptionist Louise Harris, 25, are to marry after four years together
The first date between the pair took place shortly after Miss Harris was introduced to Mr Watson in a restaurant in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Miss Harris recalls: ‘Loads of people were asking him for photos and my cousin said: "Ooh, let’s go over" so we did and I took a picture of her with Russell and went to sit back down. He got his assistant Gary to come over and ask if he could take me out for dinner. I said yes.’
Miss Harris is only too aware that she is close in age to Mr Watson’s eldest daughter Rebecca, 19, from his first marriage but in the interview for Hello! magazine also stresses that it is not an issue saying: ‘As far as we’re concerned, there isn’t an age gap. Anyway, he’s like a big kid a lot of the time – five in his head…’
Mr Watson, who has performed in front of the Queen and the Pope, got down on one knee and proposed to Miss Harris in front of a giant ancient oak tree decorated in fairy lights on the village green in the picturesque Cheshire village of Astbury.
Miss Harris is reported to have gasped and shouted ‘yes’ as he slipped a vintage diamond and platinum ring onto her finger.
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In an interview with Hello! magazine, the pair revealed they were yet to set a date for the wedding
Mr Watson said he picked the tree because he had the ‘idea’ it would make the perfect backdrop for a photo. His close friends Steve and Jackie who were sat in the back of his car at the time he stopped off in front of the tree took the snaps for the album.
No wedding date has been announced but Mr Watson, who also has a second daughter Hannah, 13, from his 13 year marriage to Helen, said he was keen to start a family with Miss Harris. He said: ‘It’s a huge commitment having children, but I genuinely believe that I still have something to offer on the front as a father.’
Miss Harris moved into Mr Watson’s £1.2 Cheshire mansion two years after she began dating him but enjoyed a far more humble childhood growing up in nearby Stoke-on-Trent.
Miss Harris is believed to have attended Maryhill High School where her mother Julie, who works as a doctor’s receptionist, said she obtained five GCSEs in Mathematics, English, Healthcare, IT and Media.
Miss Harris left school at 16 and began an apprenticeship with a holiday company before leaving to take a number of administration roles.
Yesterday her father Ian, a former spray-painter for toilet makers who now buys and sells antiques part-time, said: 'Russell did the honourable thing and came to ask me for Louise’s hand.
'He didn’t seem nervous but if you’ve ever met Russell that won’t come as a surprise. He’s a very confident lad.
'I said to him: "Well you’ve been looking after her for the last four years just carry on. He makes her very happy and we’re all thrilled.
'Russell asked me on Christmas Eve so it was a fantastic present. There were quite a few tears of joy.'
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Russell Watson has been married before - and has a 19-year-old daughter called Rebecca
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The full interview is in the new issue of Hello! magazine, on sale now
Mr Watson was working 12-hour shifts sporting out nuts and bolts in a factory when he was discovered in a pub in Manchester.
He was dubbed ‘the people’s tenor’ and launched to fame in 2001 with his debut album titled The Voice winning him Album of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards.
However his success was rocked by a life threatening illness when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006.
Mr Watson was working on his album ‘That’s Life’ in LA when he returned to the UK and underwent the five hour gruelling surgery to remove the eight-centimetre lump which was pressing on the potentially fatal optic nerve.
After the delayed release of the album in 2007, while in the studio working on his album Outside, the singer was left stunned when MRI scans showed a regrowth of his tumour and life threatening bleeding on his brain.
He once again underwent an emergency operation but was this time left in a critical condition in Alexandra Hospital, Greater Manchester Intensive Therapy Unit.
He was later discharged and underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme including radio therapy which he completed in 2008.
In 2010 the opera star marvelled doctors by releasing a comeback album La Voce.
In his career to date he has sold more than seven million albums worldwide, performing at the Classical Brit Awards and for the Queen.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2551251/Russell-Watson-wed-girlfriend-Louise-Harris-aged-25.html#ixzz2sLx7KgF8
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