An awkward joke about step-cousins, the VERY famous guest who was a no-show and a 'boozed up to the boots' reception that would put the Rivals to shame! What REALLY happened at Emily Atack's 'second' wedding in Spain

As they strolled hand-in-hand through London’s Chinatown one brisk September evening three years ago, Emily Atack and Dr Alistair Garner knew they were taking a big step.

Their relationship was in its early stages and going public was always going to be a challenge.

But even Emily – a well-known face thanks to her role in The Inbetweeners and success on I’m A Celebrity – could not have predicted the adverse reaction from fans when the identity of her mystery man was revealed... because Alistair is her step-cousin.

The pair have known each other since they were children after Alistair’s late father, Stephen, married Emily’s aunt, Jane Garner, in the early 1990s.

And, although the couple are not blood relations, their fans did not respond well to news of their relationship.

‘Saying I was “dating my cousin”,’ Emily told OK magazine a year on from those pictures, ‘was very damaging, very awful. We’re not related in any way. I think some family members found that [scrutiny] very tough.’

Three years on and now married, the Daily Mail can reveal what really happened at their star-studded second wedding in the whitewashed Spanish town of Mojacar last weekend.

Just under 200 family and friends jetted into Almeria airport last Friday to celebrate the nuptials – among them several famous faces who've become close friends with 36-year-old Emily throughout her two decades in the industry.

The congregation, crammed into the courtyard of a 16th-century church, included her castmates from the Disney+ sensation, Rivals, such as Doctor Who star David Tennant, Alex Hassell who played Rupert Campbell-Black, Bella Maclean (Taggie), Victoria Smurfit (Maud) and Rufus Jones, Emily's on-screen husband.

Tennant, 55, spent the day chatting with the Devil Wears Prada star, Stanley Tucci, who was invited to the wedding as a plus-one to his wife, Felicity Blunt, a lead producer on Rivals.

Notably, the EastEnders star, Danny Dyer, was not in attendance despite working with Emily, they are lovers on the show Rivals, and co-hosting a Traitors-esque ITV gameshow, Nobody’s Fool, (which it was announced last week had been discontinued by the broadcaster.)

Comedian Katherine Ryan made the journey with her husband, Bobby Kootstra, and they chatted to Iain Stirling, famous for doing the voiceovers for ITV’s hit dating series, Love Island.

Emily was driven up the winding road to the hill-top town in a 1950s red Cadillac, while her guests spent two hours before arrival knocking back Cava and oysters.

She was met by her musician father, Keith Atack, who walked his daughter up the aisle in a pair of flip-flops.

But that wasn’t the joke of the day.

The registrar, a friend of the family, told guests: ‘As I’m sure you all know, Emily and Alistair first met some time before the end of the last century.

‘In fact, it might have been said that they were occasional childhood sweethearts,’ which was met with a cheer from the audience.

Then he added: ‘Which just goes to show what a snog behind the garden shed can lead to!’ He explained the families were aware of their childhood dalliances the whole time.

One British fan who was watching the wedding from the street below later said: ‘It was the elephant in the room. If they were going to address the step-cousin thing, and it went down really well - it was handled with elegance and class, as was the rest of the wedding.’

Much to the delight of everyone at the party, Rufus Jones was introduced by the host. 

‘Ladies and gentlemen lovely Rufus Jones is among us, those of you who have enjoyed the television sensation, Rivals, will understand that Rufus knows only too well what it is like to be married to Emily.’

The 51-year-old actor then recited the poem, I have Fallen in Love With My Wife, by John Cooper Clarke, in which he paid tribute to his co-star by changing several words, calling her the ‘Queen of TV’ and describing the newlyweds as ‘Barbie marrying Oppenheimer’ in reference to Dr Garner’s background as a scientist.

After securing his undergraduate degree in Astrophysics and Computer Science at Keele University, he obtained a Masters in Nuclear Science and Technology and a PhD in Materials Science from The University of Manchester, where he continues to work as a visiting lecturer. 

Alongside his academic career, the 40-year-old is a senior consultant at Cheshire-based sustainable-technology firm, Jacobs.

Before meeting her match in Alistair, Emily had an impressive celebrity dating history, including a fling with Harry Styles in 2013, a five-year relationship with the Hollister model Jack Vacher shortly after, a brief romance with McFly’s Dougie Poynter in 2018 and ‘meet-ups’ with the footballer Jack Grealish in 2021 and Strictly’s Giovanni Pernice in 2022.

But in 2023 she reconnected with Dr Garner – or ‘Al’ as the family affectionately call him – and they began secretly dating. A year later she gave birth to their son, Barney.

Earlier this year, the new parents bought their ‘dream’ home in Bedfordshire, where they both grew up, and are currently renovating the property.

In February, she joyously posted she was moving out of her ‘single girl flat’ in Camden, north London, to the leafy county.

For the lavish second day of their Spanish wedding, the pair rented two courtyards in the centre of the town, ensuring security was tight.

So tight that two wedding guests were seemingly not allowed back into the venue, while one onlooker became visibly frustrated when not allowed to walk through a passage occupied by the wedding planners.

‘It’s all a bit much, isn’t it?’ the Inbetweeners star Emily shouted out apologetically to nearby tourists as she posed for pictures behind the church in the Cadillac with her husband and their toddler.

Afterwards, they walked through the cobbled town together and met their 197 guests, who were sitting at trestle tables awaiting a three-course dinner, followed by dancing and a DJ set.

Every table on the seating chart bore the word ‘Love’ in different languages, including German, Scottish Gaelic, Hawaiian, Greek, Swahili, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Indonesian, Fijian and Filipino.

Underneath the umbrella-shaped canopy of a century-old Ficus Benjamina tree laden with fairy lights, the group dined on cod risotto, mandarin sorbet, shredded suckling pig and roasted apples, followed by mango mousse and raspberry coulis.

Onlookers later told me how they ran into the wedding party on the streets of Mojacar who were ‘boozed up to their boots’ after an evening of revelling.

Three weeks earlier, the couple had officially wed in a church ceremony in Bedfordshire before heading back for a party in their back garden which included McDonald’s catering.

One insider said: ‘They really wanted an abroad wedding as well. I think there was talk of Fiji, which would have been dreamy, but they accepted it was too far to fly for everyone and Mojacar holds such a special place in her family’s heart, it was just perfect.

‘Plus, they were worried they had invited too many people, thank God some dropped out!’

For decades, Emily’s father owned a property in the Spanish town and the young actress spent most childhood summers there.

After the house was sold in 2018, she continued to visit and took her newborn son there last year for a first holiday away as a family. She later said in an interview it was her ‘favourite place on earth’.

So in love with the destination, her close family have only just left the British tourist hotspot after a week of partying.

Indeed, the third day of the wedding, the Atack family were back on the dancefloor in their favourite beach bar, Tito’s.

The newlyweds had rented the venue out for a day party which proved to be the envy of nosey tourists.

Enclosed by high walls, guests were able to dance free from the gaze of onlookers.

The afterparty went on until the early hours of Monday morning with reports of karaoke.

This proved to be too much for Emily’s Rivals co-stars, who were seen departing Mojacar on Sunday morning before the third day of non-stop drinking commenced.

‘If there’s one thing those Atacks can do,’ said one bystander who was watching the beach party, ‘it’s party. They were going the entire day, she looked beautiful all day of course, a picture of bliss.’