'I'm the registrar on Married At First Sight - I have one unbreakable rule'

As a registrar Cynthia Green has wed more than 20,000 couples, including those who tied the knot on this summer's Netflix smash hit Love is Blind and previous series of popular Channel 4 show Married at First Sight UK.

But while she's not phased by a camera or two, Cynthia has one unbreakable rule when it comes to weddings and TV shows - everyone must take it seriously. As Cynthia explains: "The weddings were legal and real and I asked that once the ceremony started it went the whole way through. [The producers] couldn't shout 'cut' and stop it and start again."

On Married at First Sight matches are made scientifically without seeing each other until the wedding. Cynthia candidly admits: "I initially thought: 'What? No! I can't do this.'" However after reflecting she changed her mind. "When I thought about it, I related it to an arranged marriage. I’ve married lots of people who’ve had arranged marriages, where they’ve never met and their parents have got them together."

READ MORE: Love Island star splits from fiancé and shares 'starting over' video

READ MORE: Charlotte Dawson’s son, 4, lets slip her unborn baby’s name as she moans 'nothing's a secret'

She also stepped in to wed several couples who met while dating through a screen and proposed before they even saw one another's faces on Love Is Blind. "I loved the concept and the fact that you had to connect on an emotional level," Cynthia told the Mirror, sharing her joy that some of the 30 hopefuls found lasting love. "I married Nicole and Benaiah and I'm so happy that they're still together."

With 27 years as a registrar under her belt, among those grandmother Cynthia has wed are several well known faces, including The Crown's Claire Foy. She was also the registrar for David Beckham's dad Ted's second wedding in 2021, remembering her surprise at the event: "I didn't know it was going to be him, I just went along to the venue in the city of London and Victoria walked in and I went: 'ooh!'" And she recalls: "David was his best man and he was so lovely. He came up and hugged me afterwards and said: 'thank you so much.'".

Cynthia also fondly recalls registering celebrities babies. "I also registered the birth of Jude Law's son and Jodie Whittaker's baby. Another time I did a wedding and Simon Callow was one of the guests. He came up to me out of the blue afterwards and said: 'have you ever thought of being an actress? ' I said no and he said: 'well I think you should.'".

Her TV career was kicked off by the Channel 4 programme The Wedding House in 2010, with incredible themed 'dos. "Another was 101 Dalmatians. There weren't 101 in the room, but there was about 30! " she says, chuckling about the unique wedding themes, before adding: "The most incredible was a Superheroes-themed ceremony, where the bride dressed as Storm from X Men, the groom dressed as The Riddler from Batman, I wore a gold gown and the 120 guests all dressed as either a villain or a hero."

Cynthia, who is not only a wedding officiant but also a celebrant for naming and welcoming ceremonies, vow renewals, and commitment celebrations, most cherishes the memory of conducting her twin sister Paula's marriage ceremony. She fondly recalls, "That was amazing and I bawled my eyes out," adding with a smile, "Out of 20,000 weddings it was my favourite above everything else until my own of course! ".

But despite her genuine joy over being with couples in their happiest moment, for years the 60-year-old wondered if she'd missed out on her own chance of a big day. Cynthia explains: "There were times when I'd think: 'forget it. I'll just have holidays with my friends, enjoy my job and enjoy my grandkids.' I put it to one side in my mind and convinced myself that I was fine; I didn't need or want to be married."

Yet, being surrounded by love-struck pairs made it tough to ignore her own desires. "Trying not to think about it wasn't always easy when I was marrying people every day. And seeing all those couples in love and gazing into each other's eyes as they exchanged their vows, I did wonder when it was going to be my turn," she confesses. Witnessing the joy of others up close, Cynthia couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness now and then. "I was looking at them close up on the happiest day of their lives and yes, from time to time I'd feel sad. I'd think: 'So when am I going to meet my person and get married? When was it going to be my turn?"

Cynthia's life took a fairytale turn two years ago when she unexpectedly met maintenance worker Milo James, 46, at a party. Fast forward to now, and she's buzzing with excitement as she plans her dream wedding in Japan for next year.

"I'm a true romantic and deep down I always thought it would come to me one day. I just needed to meet the right person and now I have," Cynthia says. "Now, since I got engaged myself, whenever I conduct a wedding, I'm smiling inside and thinking: 'Yay! I'm with you!".

She recalls of their meeting: "We started talking and realised that we both worked for Islington Council, but we'd never come across each other at all. I knew there was something about him that I liked. I did question the 14-year age gap, but it wasn't an issue for him and since then it never has been a problem for either of us."

The lovebirds set up a shared home nine months later, and after ten months, Milo popped the question. Overwhelmed with happiness, Cynthia shares: "I jumped into his arms and just thought: 'Oh my gosh, I'm actually going to get married mum and Dad,' They'd already passed away and it was the one thing they would have loved.

"I was so happy. For me getting married is the full commitment and saying those vows to each other is a big deal. For the first few days, I was in shock and then afterwards it was a case of getting my head around the fact that I would actually be arranging my own wedding for a change, not someone else's."

Cynthia, who hails from Lancashire, had previously been in a long-term relationship of 17 years with the father of her children, Aaron, 38, and Alacia, 30, but they never made it down the aisle.

"We were engaged briefly, but nothing ever came of it," she reflects. "I did mention it one day and he said: 'Yeah, yeah, it'll happen, don't rush me.' But it never materialised. Eventually, we split up and that was that."

At 36, Cynthia found herself single and decided to move to London to be closer to her twin sister Paula. As a working single mum, her life revolved around her children. "I had a couple of relationships, but they weren't right," she recalls. "When you're older you know what you want. My tolerance level wasn't great and none of them were marriage material."

"Now I'm so pleased that I waited because I'm getting married to the right man. I've always thought that marriage is important. I've always taken my job seriously and the vows that people repeat after me are significant it's a public declaration of love in front of your friends and family."