Unconditional True-Life
I’ve had the same wish since I was just seven years old, dedicating my life to an Aussie, blue-eyed boy…
Emma Charlesworth, 43, from Sittingbourne, Kent
Watching on as the Aussie boy-next-door flooded my TV screen, I was besotted by his blond hair and blue eyes. I’m going to marry that man one day, I muttered.
And even though I may have only been seven, it was a promise I had vowed to myself.
Jason Donovan was going to be mine one day.
Watching Neighbours religiously every single night while I had my dinner, I never missed an episode.
On screen, Jason played Kylie Minogue’s hubby – and I loved them both.
Something that continued into my teens, too.
Even though my sister Amy, now 38, gravitated towards Boyzone, I wasn’t going to leave Jason behind that easily.
Especially when he launched his music career as well.
Going to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, where Jason played Joseph, I was completely beside myself.
I even dressed up in merch.
At 17, me and my bestie from secondary school, Charlotte, watched The Rocky Horror Show together, too.
I wasn’t going to leave Jason
We were lucky enough to meet Jason at the stage door.
They say never to meet your favourite celebrities, but Jason was everything that I had imagined.
Only, not long after that special moment, I met someone else who halted my dreams of marrying my childhood crush.
Charlie – he was so full of life and one of the good guys.
Tying the knot when I turned 24, I’d managed to keep my Jason obsession under wraps.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t until a year after we got married that Charlie understood my dedication – before that, he was unaware.
‘We’ll record the episodes so that we can watch them when we’re back from New York,’ I insisted to him.
Jason was starring on I’m a Celeb and I didn’t want to miss anything.
Over the years, as life went on for everyone, Jason’s career picked up again.
Which meant that I tried my best to meet him at every opportunity.
From hanging around at stage doors to getting a selfie at an event I attended with work.
My thumb was shaking so much that I couldn’t even take the picture for myself, Jason had to do it.
That poor man, Charlie text when I sent him the snap.
However, despite all of Charlie’s joking around, his life revolved around Jason, too.
Especially when I shared my passion with our daughter Rebekah, now 14.
Taking her to watch Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2019, just like I did as a child, we had an amazing time.
It seemed that no matter where life took us, Jason was there to lift my moo
