Reality star with soap actress sister reveals heartbreaking split from gardener fiance – 12 months after getting engaged
DANIELLE Mason has revealed she's split from her gardener fiance, Lee Dopson, just 12 months after the pair got engaged.
Reality star Danielle, 42, whose sister is EastEnders actress Jessie Wallace, 53, announced the heartbreaking news in a Thursday Instagram Story.
She wrote against a plain background: "I'm entering a new chapter and no longer in a relationship with Lee.
"Grateful for the past, focused on the future. Appreciate your understanding and kindness."
The break-up comes exactly a year after the My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star gave an exclusive interview to The Sun’s Fabulous magazine - describing Lee as her "soulmate".
She revealed the pair met by chance in their local Co-op, where he helped her pick up some dropped change.
read more on DANIELLE Mason
They soon struck up a romance that culminated in a Greek holiday proposal.
Danielle said at the time: “I feel as though I’ve met my soulmate.
“He proposed a week ago while we were on holiday in Greece and I can’t wait to marry him. We’re thinking about having a big white wedding – but we might end up eloping to Vegas if the planning all gets too much.”
Danielle had spoken candidly about her turbulent romantic history, including a volatile nine-year relationship with traveller and MMA fighter Tony Giles - father of her two children, Rudy, 13, and Delilah, 11 - and a brief fling with reformed criminal and ex-Broadmoor inmate Ben Hatchett.
Most read in Reality
“It lasted for months and all I can say is that it was a mistake,” she admitted of the 2021 relationship.
“I look back on it and wonder what the hell I was doing.”
At the time of their engagement, Danielle said she felt finally ready to settle down with a "kind, considerate" man.
She praised Lee for everything from packing her lunches to helping with her car and bonding with her children, who both have autism and ADHD.
The former glamour model said: “He treats me so well. He’ll make me sandwiches for a packed lunch when I’m working and buys me flowers constantly…
"It’s the first relationship where I’ve felt safe and secure.”
Dnaielle, who previously earned up to £10,000 per glamour shoot and rubbed shoulders with stars like Orlando Bloom, now runs a cleaning business and social media brand, Miss Mason Cleaning.
She also works as a TV presenter and entrepreneur.
In last year’s interview, she reflected on her past with humour and honesty: “I was cra**ing myself with the thought of getting my tits out, but the money was really good.”
Danielle Mason's very normal job
She is the little sister of EastEnders star Jessie Wallace who became one of the hottest stars of the cult TV series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding after appearing in season two in 2012.
And for eight years before that, Danielle Mason had already enjoyed a lucrative career as a Page 3 pin-up who jetted across the world for glamorous photoshoots earning as much as £10,000 a pop.
But since appearing in the 2019 Channel 5 documentary The Gypsies Next Door, the 40 year-old has swapped reality TV and topless modelling to become a full-time cleaning expert.
The mum-of-two now has regular clients she does cleaning and housekeeping for.
She also films cleaning hacks under the brand name Miss Mason Cleaning (MMC) on Instagram and TikTok - and it has led to influencer partnerships with brands including Dyson.
