EastEnders legend Rita Simons has married her “best friend”, partner Ben Harlow in a beautiful ceremony. The EastEnders star, 48, was surrounded by her celebrity family and friends as she and Ben tied the knot.
Posting on social media, Rita shared a stunning snap from her special day, showing off her incredible bridal look, as she wrote: “Well this happened yesterday! I married my best friend @benjyharlow… Just a little teaser before I have the good stuff from @the.event.editor content creator.
“I can’t even put into words how special our day was…mostly because we have the most incredible bunch of humans who love us unconditionally and who were prepared to travel to @hiddenriverbarn from all over the world to share our day. We love you all. You know who you are …sorry there’s gonna be a ton of pics to follow!”
Rita proceeded to gush about her two children for being the “stars” of the day before expressing gratitude to her wedding planners, dress designers and makeup artist, reports the Mirror. She also gave a special shout-out to the band who performed at her wedding celebration.
Duncan James, from Blue, also stepped in for a particularly meaningful role. Rita wrote: “Thank you my darling @mrduncanjames for giving me away, I love you forever,” she penned in an affectionate tribute to her famous pal.
Duncan was swift to reply to her post, commenting: “Thankyou to you and ben for such a wonderful wedding,” accompanied by a series of red heart emojis.
Some of Rita’s famous pals also flocked to the comments section to offer their congratulations, including Ellie Dadd, who portrays her on-screen daughter Amy Mitchell in EastEnders. She commented: “Congratulations Rita and Ben.”
Former EastEnders star Ricky Norwood wrote: “Congratulations Reeeett. Wishing you nothing but happiness, joy and a beautiful future together”, while Cheryl Ferguson said: “Congratulations Rita.”
On EastEnders, Rita’s character Roxy Mitchell was killed off alongside sister Ronnie in dramatic scenes back in 2017, and the actress previously shared her hope that some of her co-stars could come to her wedding.
“We’re getting married in September, but I’m not going to say dates or where, but we’re very excited,” she revealed recently, “Samantha Womack will be there, and I think Larry Lamb and Glynis Barber. Larry was my dad in the show, Glynis played my mum, and Samantha was my on-screen sister, Ronnie.”
Her twin daughters – Jaimee and Maiya – served as her bridesmaids. The 18 year old twins are from her previous marriage to her former husband, hairdresser Theo Silveston, from whom she separated in 2020.
Discussing her daughters’ involvement, she continued: “Yes, they will. It will be a very glitzy wedding.”