A FORMER soldier from Middlewich has tied the knot with model Jodie Kidd with an extravagant Hello! magazine wedding. 


David Blakeley, 34, and Jodie, 35, married in the Holy Trinity church in Plaistow, West Sussex, on Saturday, August 23, after the former soldier proposed to the model on the shores of a lake in Rajasthan in April.


The ex-soldier who lived on Heaton Close, Middlewich, until he was 16 and went to Middlewich Primary School, became the army’s youngest captain since Sir Ranulph Fiennes.


David was involved in several death defying situations while fighting in Iraq and has now turned his hand to writing, publishing two ‘real life black ops’ books, telling the tales of his war experiences.


“I'm the luckiest guy in the world,” David said, speaking to Hello! magazine.


“With my parents being childhood sweethearts, I wanted to get married but I did wonder if I was going to ever meet someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”


David was celebrated for his bravery in Iraq in 2003 with Prince Charles sending him whiskey to ‘raise his spirits’.


The newly-weds only met in November last year and Jodie, who has previously been divorced, says the Middlewich man helped her restore faith in matrimony. 


Jodie told Hello! Magazine: “As soon as David and I met, I went through a huge 360 in my mind and thought, "that's it, we're going to spend the rest of our lives together.”


“Everything has changed in my life, he has given me the confidence to go and conquer the world.”