Ex-Rangers star Jermain Defoe has tied the knot with Glaswegian fiancé Donna Tierney in a star-studded stunning ceremony at Cliveden House.
The couple, who are currently on honeymoon in the Maldives, gushed over the details of their fairytale wedding to OK! Magazine. Despite being tight lipped about their romance, the newlyweds have shared all about the moment they came into each other’s lives, as the former Rangers striker called his move to the Scottish club 'fate'.
Speaking to the publication, Jermain said: “I never planned to get married by a certain age, but because I’ve been focused on my career for the past 22 years, it’s always been go, go, go. I always knew at some stage I was going to meet the right one and at the back end of my career, I go to Glasgow, play for Rangers and meet my future wife.”
This encounter was not the first time that Jermain and Donna had met. The couple’s romance timeline dates back to his time playing for Sunderland FC in 2016, when he reached out to the beautiful brunette on social media. "We met years ago when I was playing for Sunderland and I messaged her on Instagram,” reveals Jermain. “I sent her DM. We had a general chit-chat but hadn’t spoken for ages.
“When I started playing for Rangers in 2019 I remembered Donna was from Glasgow and touched base with her again – I kept looking at her sexy pictures on Instagram. But we didn’t meet until January 2021 when Donna asked if I could give her a signed football shirt for a charity do.”
Donna, who owns her own natural skincare business, Marinical.com, smiles, “It took a couple of years because I was playing hard to get!”
Jermain, 39, and Donna, 40, describe their big day as “like a movie”. But she hadn’t always planned on having an extravagant wedding. “I’ve always been very independent and business focused,” she says. “I was taken by surprise, but obviously it took all these years to meet the right person and it all just felt right.”
Jermain says he knew Donna was the one when he met her family in Glasgow. He said: “When she took me to her mum and dad’s house, just to see how she was with Olivia, and how she was with her mum, how close she was with her dad and her sister Charlene, just to see the love she gives her family and the love she gets back, it reminded me of the relationship I have with my family. When I saw that, and knowing how affectionate and loving she is anyway, that was it for me.”
While Donna confessed: “It was the same for me. I’m a big family person and seeing the way he loved his mum and sister – he goes above and beyond for them and always has. I connect with people on a mental level and with Jermain I connected with his mind more than anything else.”
Jermain is now a proud step-dad to Donna’s 12-year-old daughter Olivia, who the football ace paid a beautiful tribute to in his speech at their wedding.
“Everyone keeps talking about how special Jermain’s speech was,” says Donna. “They said it showed how much he appreciates me. The bit that got me was when he spoke about my daughter, who means the world to me. That made me feel extra-special. My daughter loves Jermain so much, he’s such a good stepdad. He’s amazing. I couldn’t have asked or wished for anything better than the way he treats Olivia.”
Jermain proposed at Glasgow’s plush Blythswood Square Hotel last August. He hired the penthouse and kitted it out with heart-shaped balloons, the words “Marry Me” in lights and rose petals scattered on the floor. “If I’m going to do something I’m going to do it the right way or I’m not going to do it at all,” he admits. “You’re only meant to do it once and it’s got to be with somebody that’s so special.”
Donna added: “Even as he was asking me, I was getting down on one knee, too, saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes’.” Jermain laughs: “I was on one knee, and there was a heart shape on the floor, then she started getting down on one knee. I was like, ‘What are you doing?’”
The couple jetted off for a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives. Jermain says: “When I’m like, ‘This is my wife, Donna,’ it’s still weird but amazing. I feel like a proper grown-up.”
While Donna admits: “It hasn’t sunk in yet. It still feels like a dream.”
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