2006/7

2006

T'Pau Star Carol Decker's Argos Wedding

2006 was the year that Carol and Richard were to tie the knot and get married. Here is an interview that I found online where Carol discusses the wedding.

She's sold millions of records around the world, but pop star Carol Decker didn't want to waste any money on her wedding.

Far from being an over-the-top , glamerous showbiz event, the T'Pau star celebrated with a barbecue in her back garden, under gazebos she bought from Argos and in a £120 Debenham's dress.

Carol, who grew up in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, revealed the details on what was then, a forthcoming TV show, Celebrity Brides Unveiled.

She married restaurateur Richard Coates alongside their children Scarlett and Dylan. Carol says "I'm a bargain Betty. If I can cheat, I will, always.

"I thought it was horrific what even an average wedding can cost you. One of my band members was still paying off £10,000 they borrowed for their wedding five years previously, but I refused to plunge myself into debt for it.

"So we had the reception in the garden, with a couple of gazebos I got from Argos. I hired the furniture, glassware and cutlery and got all the booze from Majestic wine warehouse, while Richard got all the food at cost. Everyone was expecting me to wear cowboy boots and a hat, not a frock! But I tried a dress on in Debenham's and it looked beautiful. It only cost £120, but I felt a million dollars.

"We had 80 guests and told everyone to bring their swimming costumes. It was very informal, with no speeches, and after a couple of hours everybody was in the pool.

"We didn't go showbiz. We didn't want to sell it to a magazine because then it gets taken out of your control.

It was intimate and the best day. Considering I was a girl who couldn't care less whether I got married, I was so happy!

"The best part was having our children hand us our rings. I can highly recommend waiting until you've had children before getting married, because to have them involved in the ceremony was so moving.

The perfect day, and the perfect couple. Carol looks stunning! Don't they look happy!

Carol on "The Wright Stuff" in 2009 where, amongst other things, she talks about her wedding.

Created by Deano Hollett July 2012

2007

Just The Two Of Us

Just The Two Of Us began in the beginning of January 2007 it was hosted by husband and wife teamVernon Kay (who Carol had worked with previously on Hit Me Baby One More Time) and Tess Daly.

The premise of the show was there were eight couples; comprising of eight professional singers and eight celebrities, and it was all about each couple making it through to the next round.

The eight couples consisted of :

Casualty's Luke Bailey and Natasha Hamilton
Strictley's Brendon Cole and Beverley Knight
Eastenders' Hannah Waterman and Marti Pellow
Watchdog's Julia Bradbury & Tony Cristie
Eastenders' John Bardon and Jocelyn Brown
Cricket's Mark Butcher and Sarah Brightman
Masterchef's Greg Wallace and Carol Decker
Former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis and Alexander O'Neal

Greg Wallace

Unfortunately, Greg's singing wasn't up to his culenary skills, and just in episode one, Gregg and Carol were to be voted off, after singing "Blame It On The Boogie".

However, Carol did stick around for the series and dueted three times with the other singers, including :

Tony Cristie "Your Song". Carol's vocals were amazing!!
Beverley Knight "Satisfaction". All I can say is T'Wow!! Girl power!!

Here is Carol and Beverley Knight singing Satisfaction.

The winners of the competition were Hannah Waterman and Marti Pellow from Wet Wet Wet.

PG Tips Commercial

I was out the front of my house one night back in 2007 having a cigarette and I heard "China" coming from my living room?! I thought "I'm not playing T'Pau at the moment!?", so I quickly stubbed my cigarette out and went back indoors to investigate!!

The song was being played on a PG Tips commercial. The premise was that monkey had returned and that Johnny Vegas had rented out his spare room to Carol, who sang "China" all of the time!!

Here is the video

It's definitely not the single or album version of "China". I am wondering if carol recorded it especially for the advert.

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Carol appeared in Peter Kay and Mat Lucas's song of the above title. There are endless celebrities in it. See if you can spot Carol!! They all look as though they are enjoying themselves!!

Just Dream

Carol and Ron were working on a new project; it had been twenty years since T'Pau had blasted onto the scene, and I don't know if it was officially intended to be a 'twenty-year-anniversary' release, but that is what a lot of people were calling it.

It was to be a single titled 'Just Dream' and was to be released early September as a download-only track.

Here is the foootage Carol and Ron posted to the official T'Pau site and to You Tube, which included a short interview. It was a little 'teaser' to the song, as you could hear parts of it during the video.

The song reminded me of Carol and Ron's version of 'Beautiful Dreamer' they recorded in 1993.

It was a slow ballad and you could feel yourself getting 'lost' in the beautiful lyrics and vocals.

Carol described the song as that moment when you are *just falling asleep" and "just waking up".

The song was very catchy and the vocals were 'haunting'.

There is no official video to it so here is one I have made.

Carol appeared on This Morning with Eaamon and Ruth to promote the single, and she was on the whole of the show. Not only was she interviewed, she was their chef of the day cooking a green Thai curry and she also performed the single. This was towards the end of August. Carols 'pins' (legs) were complemented by Eaamon in the short dress she was wearing!!

Here is her performance of "Just Dream" :