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Brian Paddick weds boyfriend
Brian Paddick
Iââ¬â¢m a Celebrityââ¬â¢s Brian Paddick marries boyfriend of two years
"Norway legalised same-sex marriage on 1st January, 2009"
Brian Paddick, the former Deputy Assistant Commissioner for London's Metropolitan Police Service, married his partner of two years, Petter Belsvik, in a ceremony in Oslo at the weekend.
The intimate service was attended by family and close friends, but the couple held a huge party in London last night, with celebrity guests including contestants that the 50 year-old Paddick befriended during his recent stint on reality television show, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.
The pair decided to tie the knot in Belsvik’s homeland of Norway since the country legalised same-sex marriage on 1st January, 2009.
Paddick was previously married to a woman and told The Daily Mail in September of last year:
"My ex-wife Mary had been very kind to me and remains a loyal supporter to this day.
"The 'unreasonable behaviour' she cited in our divorce petition was me being more in love with my job than with her, rather than me being in love with another man.
"And of course, fully realising I was gay meant marriage was never again going to be an option, or so I thought.
"How the world has changed. I no longer have a job to be in love with, having retired from the police after 30 years.
"And from January 1 next year, same-sex couples can actually get married, as opposed to entering a civil partnership, in Norway.
"So, at the age of 50, I am taking the plunge again. This time it's with a man: my Norwegian boyfriend, Petter Belsvik."
Until his retirement in 2007, Brian Paddick was the most senior openly gay police officer in Britain. He since entered politics and ran as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Mayor of London, eventually coming third behind Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson respectively.
Read Pride Life’s Big Interview with Brian Paddick, here.
