A couple who matched on Married at First Sight and went on to have a baby girl say the new pairings should "take a chance" to find love.
Ally Acklan, 38, and Paul Todd, 35, were put together by experts on the reality TV show but had their wedding cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in the UK.
Paul, a train driver, took matters into his own hands and begged the producers to give him Ally's details - and reached out to her.
The pair quickly hit it off, and got engaged in June 2021, before welcoming their first baby together, Penelope, now three, in July 2021.
Ally, a medical insurance manager, and Paul have now set a date for their wedding in 2024 and "can't wait" to have their daughter as their flower girl.
Experts Paul C Brunson, Gen Gresset and Dr Angela Smith - who matched the couple - are even invited to the big day.
The family, who live in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset gave their advice to the couples on this season's show - and say they should "embrace it".
Ally said: "Be open-minded.
"Think deep down why you are matched.
"Take a chance.
"There are lots of ways to find love these days.
"Putting trust in experts is not a bad thing to do.
"That's why I applied - because I was picking the wrong men."
Paul added: "Embrace it.
"Trust that the experts have your best interests at heart.
"It can work if you are there for the right reasons."
Ally and Paul were due to appear on the popular TV show Married at First Sight but had their wedding cancelled three days before it was due to take place - because of a strict lockdown in the UK.
Desperate to find out if Ally was the one, Paul pressed the producers to let him know who she was, and the couple met and fell for each other instantly - after connecting over Skype.
They met up in person when restrictions eased in June 2020 and went from strength to strength - revealing they were expecting a baby in February 2021.
The couple welcomed little Penelope on July 3, YEAR, weighing 8lbs 1oz at St Michael's Hospital, Bristol.
They have set a date for their wedding - June 2024 - and have the day mostly planned already.
Ally said: "I would have liked to have a free wedding [on MAFS] but we get to do it exactly how we want to.
"I get to wear the wedding dress I picked out in 2020.
"Paul, Gen and Angela - who matched us - should all be coming."
Paul added: "Penelope is going to be the flower girl - hopefully with a lot of sass.
"She likes an audience."
The couple introduced Penelope to the experts, and they said Paul C Brunson said it was 'surreal to feel you can play a small part in creating a life'.
Ally says people are still surprised when they hear their love story for the first time.
She said: "Part of me forgets that is how we got together.
"When I tell people how we met they don't believe me.
"People say 'oh my god, you are so brave'."
Paul said this year's cast or future applicants should be "fully open with the experts" on the show.
Ally Acklan, 38, and Paul Todd, 35, were put together by experts on the reality TV show but had their wedding cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in the UK.
Paul, a train driver, took matters into his own hands and begged the producers to give him Ally's details - and reached out to her.
The pair quickly hit it off, and got engaged in June 2021, before welcoming their first baby together, Penelope, now three, in July 2021.
Ally, a medical insurance manager, and Paul have now set a date for their wedding in 2024 and "can't wait" to have their daughter as their flower girl.
Experts Paul C Brunson, Gen Gresset and Dr Angela Smith - who matched the couple - are even invited to the big day.
The family, who live in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset gave their advice to the couples on this season's show - and say they should "embrace it".
Ally said: "Be open-minded.
"Think deep down why you are matched.
"Take a chance.
"There are lots of ways to find love these days.
"Putting trust in experts is not a bad thing to do.
"That's why I applied - because I was picking the wrong men."
Paul added: "Embrace it.
"Trust that the experts have your best interests at heart.
"It can work if you are there for the right reasons."
Ally and Paul were due to appear on the popular TV show Married at First Sight but had their wedding cancelled three days before it was due to take place - because of a strict lockdown in the UK.
Desperate to find out if Ally was the one, Paul pressed the producers to let him know who she was, and the couple met and fell for each other instantly - after connecting over Skype.
They met up in person when restrictions eased in June 2020 and went from strength to strength - revealing they were expecting a baby in February 2021.
The couple welcomed little Penelope on July 3, YEAR, weighing 8lbs 1oz at St Michael's Hospital, Bristol.
They have set a date for their wedding - June 2024 - and have the day mostly planned already.
Ally said: "I would have liked to have a free wedding [on MAFS] but we get to do it exactly how we want to.
"I get to wear the wedding dress I picked out in 2020.
"Paul, Gen and Angela - who matched us - should all be coming."
Paul added: "Penelope is going to be the flower girl - hopefully with a lot of sass.
"She likes an audience."
The couple introduced Penelope to the experts, and they said Paul C Brunson said it was 'surreal to feel you can play a small part in creating a life'.
Ally says people are still surprised when they hear their love story for the first time.
She said: "Part of me forgets that is how we got together.
"When I tell people how we met they don't believe me.
"People say 'oh my god, you are so brave'."
Paul said this year's cast or future applicants should be "fully open with the experts" on the show.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Hello everyone. You might have noticed that we've not been around for a little bit.
00:04 It's been a while. It's been a bit of a whirlwind adventure that we've been on.
00:10 And we have someone to introduce you to.
00:14 I'm gonna... She's kind of a bit sleepy.
00:18 She's a bit asleep at the moment.
00:20 And it's so hot she's half naked.
00:26 Yes, live at 30 something degrees.
00:31 A bit hot. So hot.
00:34 Here she comes, everybody.
00:36 This is our precious cargo.
00:40 This is Penelope.
00:43 Oh, oh dear.
00:46 Here she is.
00:48 Penelope Carroll.
00:50 Penelope Carroll.
00:52 Are you alright baby?
00:53 Meet everybody.
00:55 So, yeah, she's here. She's in the wild.
01:00 Both Fadley and Penelope are doing really well.
01:03 And we are 100 million percent totally in love with her.
01:08 Smitten, aren't we?
01:09 Yeah, can't keep my eyes off of her. I've wasted so many hours looking at her.
01:13 But yeah, both...
01:15 And she's a mini Paul?
01:17 Yeah, she's pretty much a mini version of me.
01:19 I'll whack up a picture of both of us as babies next to each other.
01:24 Poor girl.
01:25 When she's older, no one will even know I'm her mum.
01:28 I'll be walking around and I'll be like, "Oh, that's just a friend or a neighbour or someone babysitting her."
01:35 She's definitely not her mum.
01:37 She's got her little top lip, hasn't she?
01:39 Yeah, let's go and get her.
01:41 She's a little bit sleepy. It's the heat at the moment.
01:45 It is the heat at the moment.
01:47 Poor little girl.
01:49 So tired.
01:51 Do you want to see the top of her head?
01:53 Turn her and move her gently.
01:55 Yeah, gently, gently.
01:57 Gently, gently. There we are.
01:59 There we are.
02:01 Okay, I'm going to put her back.
02:03 Yeah, yeah, we'll put her back.
02:04 She's like a little hot box as well at the moment.
02:07 She's a little hot water bottle.
02:09 There she is.
02:11 Can never be Carol.
02:13 Let's get you in there, darling.
02:15 We'll be... Obviously, post loads of pictures of her as she grows up.
02:18 But you know what?
02:21 Thanks for all the love and the lovely messages that we've had from all of our followers.
02:27 It's been absolutely amazing to feel the love coming to us.
02:32 And yeah, we're very lucky.
02:34 So thank you so much.
02:37 We're definitely enjoying being parents right now.
02:40 And we've got a very happy and content little angel.
02:43 Yeah, we've been quite lucky.
02:46 And she's beautiful.
02:48 She's beautiful.
02:50 She kind of sleeps okay sometimes.
02:52 She's doing pretty well.
02:54 We have had a few nights where she's cried a lot, but we're doing well.
02:59 I think we're doing well.
03:01 And we're working as a team as well.
03:04 So we're doing what we can to help the other person out.
03:09 Usually, you'll do the nights.
03:12 Get up early and look after her so Ali can catch up on some sleep.
03:16 But no, she's working really well.
03:19 So today, we thought we would just briefly go through the birth story.
03:22 We're not going to go into depth or anything like that.
03:26 Just briefly.
03:28 It was a difficult birth to the point where we're now thinking we don't want to go through that again.
03:37 I don't want to go through that again.
03:39 So if we do get pregnant again, then it's definitely going to be an elective C-section after the birth that I've had.
03:47 But we did roughly, roughly go through it.
03:51 And then he was what, seven days late?
03:54 Seven days late. We went into hospital.
03:56 And they induced us because they said that her movements weren't as frequent.
04:06 And they just said the risk is high when you don't pass your due date.
04:10 So it was beneficial to be induced.
04:13 So we did that and we ended up being in hospital for six days.
04:18 Yeah.
04:19 Yeah.
04:20 I'm just like, I don't know if I can say it was quite traumatic.
04:27 And I'm really proud of you for getting through all the pain and everything that you were in.
04:35 Childbirth is really hard.
04:37 Even if you have a good childbirth, it's really hard.
04:40 It is hard.
04:41 And yeah, I was just happy that I was actually allowed to be there to support you.
04:45 Because I've heard stories from friends who had babies in lockdown and everything that the birthing partner wasn't even allowed to be there until you're in active labour.
04:55 And there's a lot that goes on before you're in active labour.
04:58 But Paul was the best birthing partner ever.
05:01 He really helped me with the gas and air because he's a qualified scuba diving instructor.
05:06 So you help massively with that and just being so loving and supportive, which is what every woman dreams of.
05:14 Then what happened is after being induced, we went to the delivery suite and I was contracting like the clappers apparently.
05:24 And I had quite a trauma with the cannula epidural.
05:29 And then my heart rate went up and they needed an emergency to get her out.
05:35 So we ended up going to the theatre and having an emergency forceps delivery within the paediatomy.
05:43 And sadly I caught an infection and they weren't sure if it was sepsis.
05:49 And I went downhill pretty quickly and that's the scary part for Paul really.
05:55 I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that Ali was on the right and something was really, really wrong.
06:03 And I was really worried because I was thinking I can't cope with a baby on my own.
06:12 And I don't want to lose...
06:13 Oh great, now she has that thought going in her mind.
06:15 Yeah, I did. I didn't want to lose the love of my life. So yeah, I was proper scared.
06:20 There was about 20 people in the theatre at the moment. They were all really like padded around me.
06:26 And I kept vomiting and I remember shaking uncontrollably. It wasn't tight.
06:32 It was like you were in shock or had a fever. It was really scary to watch.
06:37 Nothing I could do. I was just kind of sat there like I'm in the way here. I don't know what the hell I'm doing.
06:43 I wasn't really with it then actually. I don't really remember a lot.
06:47 I remember a few things but they're pretty graphic so I won't put you through that.
06:53 And then afterwards, we were in hospital recovering because we had the cannula, saline with the IV antibiotics, a catheter and all of that.
07:03 So we were in hospital near Penelope for about three days after.
07:07 And you were a bit sad because you can visit two hours a day.
07:11 And Penelope, you can tell straight away Penelope's a killer.
07:16 Yeah, because they thought Ali had sepsis, they had to put Ali on an IV antibiotic drip thing.
07:23 And they had to do the same to Penelope.
07:26 So two hours after she was born, she was having her cannula put in which was really hard to watch.
07:33 Her hands are still bruised. She's 16 days old at the moment and her hands are still bruised from it.
07:38 It must have been awful for her.
07:40 Yeah, it took, there was two baby doctors in the neonatal unit who tried to do it and they couldn't get it in.
07:49 So they had to get a consultant off the ward to come and do it for us.
07:54 And I tell you what, I could never do that.
07:57 I could never ever have a steady enough hand to put a cannula in a newborn baby.
08:03 What they can do is amazing.
08:05 And the midwives as well. The midwives that we had on the delivery suite, wow.
08:09 They were amazing.
08:11 Wow, like honest to God, they are superhuman. They are incredible.
08:16 And shout out to St Michael's Hospital in Bristol and the two lovely midwives, Jasmine and Kirri.
08:24 They were honestly, they were such a blessing.
08:27 They were amazing, yeah.
08:29 You felt so looked after.
08:32 And now we're still healing in our little love bubble with our little angel.
08:38 Adapting to being parents.
08:40 She's a really happy and content baby and I think we're doing alright.
08:45 Yeah, we are doing alright.
08:47 Not worried about anything.
08:49 That's lovely. Ozzy's been great too.
08:52 Ozzy's been amazing. Ozzy's totally in love with her.
08:55 She wants to be around all the time.
08:57 You know, he's going to be her best friend I think.
09:01 How are you feeling about being a pops?
09:03 I'm feeling really good about being a dad to a little girl.
09:07 I wanted a boy but I think I'm, she's already got me around her little finger and she's been alive for 16 days.
09:16 A lot of girls are getting girls.
09:18 Anything she wants, anything she wants, she can have it.
09:21 Apart from a boyfriend.
09:23 We're looking at her past the camera and she's currently smiling away.
09:27 No boyfriends though, can happen.
09:29 She is beautiful and everyone that we know loves and adores her.
09:34 And okay, the birth wasn't easy but a million times worth it.
09:40 Yeah.
09:41 A million times and we will be trying to show you as much as we possibly can throughout our little journey together.
09:49 Yeah, so thanks for watching.
09:51 Give it a like, subscribe, share, actually friends and we'll see you soon.
09:56 Cheers.
09:57 Bye.
09:58 Bye.