Beaming and very much in love, Rio and Kate Ferdinand could not have looked happier on their sun-kissed wedding day last October.
But behind the smiles were months of hard work to create a loving and happy home for Rio's three children, who lost their mum when his first wife, Rebecca, passed away from breast cancer.
The couple will now reveal their journey from dating to co-parenting and setting up their happy home in the emotional BBC documentary, Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily.
Rio and Rebecca had been together for 15 years when she lost her battle against breast cancer in 2015.
The former Manchester United star had to learn to raise their three children, Lorenz, Tate and Tia, alone.
He documented how he coped in the powerful and BAFTA-winning documentary, Being Mum and Dad.
Them, in October 2016, Rio finally found happieness when he met TOWIE star, Kate Wright.
However, their romance didn't happen as the couple bumped into each other while Kate was on a break from her TOWIE boyfriend, Dan Edgar.
Thir turbulent relationship was regularly off and then on again and when she was on a break from filming Kate made the decision to go on a girlie break to Dubai.
It looked like she was having a blast, soaking up the sun with a pal - and then she met Rio.
The football pundit was also in Dubai at the same time as Kate with his good pals, Lee Westwood and Anthony Joshua.
He shared a snap of him enjoying the fireworks - and it seems he also bumped into Kate through their mutual friends.
The rest, they say, is history with the couple returning to Dubai just a few months later while their relationship was still top secret.
But, six months after their fateful first meeting, Kate made a dramatic announcement about her future on TOWIE.
She said: "I’m taking a step back from the public eye, I want to keep my life private as I lived my previous relationship on TOWIE, my priority right now is Rio and the family.”
It showed just how committed the couple had become and they were pictured enjoying a family break in Portugal shortly afterwards.
Rio and Kate returned to Dubai for a third time, this time taking his three children from his marriage to Rebecca.
This time it was for a very special reason as Rio asked Kate to be his wife on a Dubai rooftop with his kids, Lorenz, Tate and Tia, proudly watching on.
The lovebirds tied the knot in last year in Turkey, with Lorenz and Tate walking Kate down the aisle while Tia was her maid of honour.
But Kate admits she struggled with becoming a step-parent to three young chilren and was often very hard on herself.
The couple also had to deal with mixed emotions from both Rio and Rebecca's families.
But Kate now says: "A lot of people have come around. But also, we’ve become stronger and we’re much more focused on us as a five – other peoples’ opinions don’t matter as much.
“We’re moving forward, our relationships with everyone have healed. I think the kids are happier and that’s a really big factor – everyone can see how happy the children are.”
- Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily is on BBC One at 9pm tonight.
