'I'm marrying my former PE teacher – my school mates still call her Miss'
When Scott Davies and Helen Booth first met in 2009, she was his teacher. Fast forward 15 years and now they are engaged to be married.
Davies, 33, and Booth, 41, first became acquainted back in 2009, when he was a student at Barclay School sixth form in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, where she taught him PE.
They crossed paths again 13 years later in 2022, but initially neither had an inkling there was any romantic potential.
However, they ended up falling in love, moving in together and getting engaged, in August 2024, on a beach in Ibiza with a 200 strong crowd of people watching on.
"It's a bit of a whirlwind story," Davies, a primary school teacher, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, explains.
"I never would have thought I'd marry my ex teacher, but we are very happy together."
While the couple didn't have a relationship when Davies was at college, they developed a friendship when he was 21, as he’d returned to his old school, where Booth still worked at the time, to coach cricket.
Later they were reunited after Davies moved back to Stevenage from Birmingham, West Midlands, in 2022 and he got back in touch with her to ask her some questions about getting into teaching.
But even then, there was no romantic connection between them.
"At that point it was all professional - we were just touching base," Davies explains.
"I dropped her a message to see how she was, and we decided to meet up for a catch up at a bar.
"We had a drink but then we were like 'is this a date?'"
The pair ended up having a few more drinks and realised they had romantic potential.
"After that, we ended up spending the next four days together," he continues.
"Neither of us had been actively looking for a partner at the time but things just sort of fell into place."
Booth, who now works as special educational needs coordinator at a middle school adds: "It was lovely how well we got on straight away and how natural it was, we both believed it was a ‘catch up’ at first but now know it was our first date."
Davies describes Booth as the one teacher all the boys "had a crush on" when they were at school.
"My mates were excited when they found out - they'd known how lovely Helen was as a person," he explains.
"It's been interesting when friends of mine have met her as they also used to be taught by her.
"Initially some of them would still say 'hi Miss' – it was quite funny - one of them still does!"
Likewise, some of Helen’s friends are also Scott's former teachers.
"They were really happy for us both," she adds.
When the couple first got together, Davies was initially apprehensive to tell his parents Booth used to teach him.
"I let my mum and dad meet her first without mentioning anything, then after, I dropped it in – 'oh, by the way, she used to teach me!" he explains.
"Thankfully they all got on well and my parents were cool with it.
"Obviously it's quite a funny story - we never had any idea all those years ago we'd end up together."
The soon-to-be weds now live together in Shefford, Bedfordshire, are planning to tie the knot next year and hope to also start a family.
"I feel very lucky with what we have in our relationship," Booth adds. "It’s very special and we make each other very happy."
Additional reporting SWNS.
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