EastEnders icon Sid Owen and a glamour model turned TV star were engaged for three years before she ended up marrying a Premier League legend.
Owen, 53, is best known for playing Ricky Butcher in the hit BBC soap, who had a tumultuous relationship with Patsy Palmer's Bianca, who would famously yell "Rickaaaaaaay" - especially when he upset her. But away from Albert Square, the actor's real love life also had its fair share of ups and downs.
In October 2006, the then 34-year-old began dating Polly Parsons, then 22 and the star of Nickelodeon UK sitcoms Genie in the House and Disastrous, after they appeared together in a panto performance of Snow White.
They were engaged in 2009 and planned to marry in September 2010, with Polly modelling some wedding lingerie she intended to wear in a photoshoot with the Daily Star. But they separated for two months after preparations "became too much", before they later reunited and rescheduled their wedding.
The couple, who early in their relationship were pictured brawling in the street outside an Essex nightclub, when security had to hold Polly back as she hit Owen with her handbag after a woman in the club reportedly chatted him up, argued over where their wedding should be held.
The Bristol-born beauty wanted to return to Barbados where Owen had proposed, after swimming out to a raft with a ring he said a man on the beach had made out of beads in "reggae colours", which Polly described as "really romantic".
But he told the then face of consumer rights TV show Don't Get Screwed that preferred a 600-year-old French farmhouse as the venue for their big day.
Their off-on relationship was permanently called off in 2012 - shortly before Polly started presenting BBC Three's hidden camera scam stunt show The Real Hustle.
Owen, who had said they slept in separate beds because she couldn't stand his "rhino-like snoring", revealed they had split in April 2012, when he told the Sunday Mirror: "We're still good friends but we are not together anymore. I'm single."
Later that same year, Polly found love again, this time with former Arsenal star Thomas Vermaelen.
Polly, now 41, and FA Cup winner Vermaelen, who turned 40 yesterday, (Friday, November 14), are thought to have met at a house party hosted by his former team-mate Robin van Persie in 2012.
Vermaelen, who began his career with Ajax in the Netherlands, before he was signed by Arsene Wenger for the Gunners in a £10m move in 2009, was clearly smitten with the stunning TV presenter.
He had previously dated Dutch model Aimee van Ommen, but fell head over heels for Polly, who was even crowned 'Queen WAG' by FHM in 2014, narrowly seeing off German World Cup winner Sami Khedira's fashion model partner Lena Gercke.
Vermaelen was eventually named Arsenal captain, but was dislodged by the first-choice defensive partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.
He won his only trophy with Arsenal as an unused substitute in the 3–2 win over Hull City in the 2014 FA Cup Final.
Vermaelen left Arsenal for Barcelona in a £15m deal in the summer of 2014. He said: "This is one of the biggest clubs in the world so it was not a difficult decision to make. Everyone wants to play here and I'm not an exception."
Sadly for the Belgian star, he struggled for playing time amid injuries, playing just 34 times across five seasons, during which the Catalans clinched four La Liga title wins.
He married Polly in 2017, after a failed loan spell at Roma. The ceremony took place in Italy in front of a host of football stars, including Van Persie. Their two children, Ace and Raff, were also present at the wedding.
Despite his club career fizzling out, ending with three years with Japanese side Vissel Kobe, Vermaelen starred in Belgium's brilliant World Cup run in 2018, when they finished third in the tournament.
