A COUPLE paired together on Married At First Sight who got engaged after their episode was cancelled have welcomed a baby girl.
Ally Acklan, from Worth, and Paul Todd were due to appear of the reality TV show in March 2020.
But their nuptials were cancelled due to the outbreak of Covid and subsequent lockdown in the UK.
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Taking matters into his own hands, Paul, a 33-year-old train driver, begged the show’s producers for Ally’s details – determined to meet the woman he had been matched with.
He eventually reached out to Ally, a 36-year-old medical insurance manager, and the pair quickly hit it off.
In September 2020, Ally relocated from Worth in West Sussex to Weston-Super-Mare to move in with Paul.
The following month Ally fell pregnant, and the couple welcomed their first child - Penelope – on July 3, 2021, at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol. The baby weighed 8lbs 1oz.
In June this year, Paul also proposed to Ally during a picnic at their local beach with plans to tie the knot in 2023 with their daughter as the flower girl.
Ally said the Married At First Sight team got the pairing “spot on”.
“Paul and I were made for each other,” she said. "From the moment we started chatting to each other it was obvious we were a perfect match.
"It's all been a bit of a whirlwind - meeting, falling in love, getting engaged and falling pregnant - but we are just so happy. Having our little girl, Penelope, has just been the icing on the cake.”
Ally and Paul’s original planned on-screen wedding was cancelled three days before it was due to take place.
Fast forward to now and the happy couple say they are on cloud nine after a “traumatic birth”.
"After she was born, I got an infection, and it was hard because then Paul could only come in a couple of hours a day,” Ally said.
"But as soon as I saw her, I was in love.”
The family have now begun to settle into their new life, with Penelope bonding with their miniature labradoodle Ozzy.
"Everyone who sees her [Penelope] just says she looks like a mini-Paul," Ally said. "But I'm happy with that because he's handsome.
"She's a prettier Paul and doesn't have a beard."
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