Our love’s a reality

Apr 20 2008 by Eleanor Gregson, Sunday Sun

THEIR stint as reality TV stars may now be over, but Anthony Hutton and Zoe Birkett say their love is going the distance.

And the North couple have revealed all about the moment they declared their love for each other . . . and how their intimate first kiss left Pop Idol finalist Zoe’s heart racing.

Despite getting together after they found fame on TV, the pair said they had known each other for years before they became celebrities.

Big Brother 6 winner Anthony and Pop Idol contestant Zoe returned to the region last week to help support the North’s own X Factor-style event, Music Means Life, in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear.

It was after Zoe — who came fourth in the 2002 talent show aged just 16 — and former dancer Anthony starred together in the North production of Beauty and the Beast that the couple embarked on their own fairytale romance.

However, Anthony said he first spotted Zoe, 22, when they were just youngsters in their home town of Consett, in County Durham.

The 26-year-old, who spent almost two years gracing the cover of magazines and making public appearances following his BB win, said: “Our families have known each other for years so we always knew of each other.

“I can remember seeing Zoe around and asking my mum who she was as she stood out from the rest of the people who lived in Consett.

“And then, when she went on Pop Idol, we were all behind her as she was a local lass.”

Zoe, who jetted off to Las Vegas in 2006 to host a show there, added: “It was really weird when we started dating because our families knew each other.

“We started off as mates really and didn’t think anything of it and, at first, when people asked us if we liked each other I would say ‘Hutton? No way!’”

The pair say that, after two years of dating, they have already discussed spending the rest of their lives together . . . and that we could even hear the sound of wedding bells in the not too distant future.

“We have talked about marriage,” said Zoe who, before Pop Idol, was asked to sing for Tony Blair’s son Leo’s christening.

“But at the minute we’re both working so much and I’m down in London and Anthony is up here. But we know that we want to be with each other.”

Anthony added: “I think if you’re going out with a girl and you can’t see yourself marrying her then there’s just no point.”

And despite the “laddish” behaviour that Hutton displayed to the nation during his stint on Big Brother three years ago, including a saucy scene in the hot tub with fellow BB contestant Makosi Musambasi, Zoe insists he has a romantic side.

She said: “The first time Anthony told me he loved me, we were in a hotel in London and, when he left in the morning, I woke up to find a little note saying ‘I love you’. I think I probably rang him straight away to say it back!”

And Zoe, who now lives in Darlington, revealed that, moments before the pair shared their first kiss, her heart was “pounding”.

She said: “We had been out for a few drinks in London and then went back to my hotel.

“He beckoned me towards him with his finger and my heart was pounding.”

The couple turn to each other and burst into a fit of giggles when asked if they argue. “We constantly bicker,” laughed Zoe. “We’re both very competitive and we always end up arguing over card games.

“And there was a time when I was winning at a game of bowling and Anthony shook my hand to say well done and squeezed it so hard so that I wouldn’t be able to throw the bowling ball!”

Page 2: Zoe blown away by talented kids