'THE FINLAYSONS': Jeremy Finlayson and Kellie Gardner get married amid model's Stage 4 cancer battle
TENNYSON, AUSTRALIA: Jeremy Finlayson and Kallie Gardner are officially husband and wife now. The Port Adelaide star and the love of his life tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in South Australia's Tennyson Beach on Sunday, March 5, with only 21 close friends and family in attendance.
Gardner walked down the aisle in a gorgeous gown by Made with Love Bridal while Finlayson waited for her in a dashing black tuxedo. The delighted couple penned their wedding vows separately as they wanted to surprise one another. After they tied the knot, they beamed for pictures showing off their rings. The couple shared the happy image on Instagram with the caption, “THE FINLAYSONS." Gardner shared another post that captured the couple sharing a kiss, with their friends cheering for them. “Feeling all of the love as we wake up as HUSBAND & WIFE this morning," she wrote in a long caption.
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Kellie Gardner was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2021
The newlyweds had initially planned to tie the knot in October, but the ceremony took place early because of Gardner’s cancer diagnosis. The model recently revealed that she had Stage 4 lung cancer and will start a new round of treatment for the terminal disease. She was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2021, just three months after she gave birth to her daughter, Sophia. After a year of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgeries, Gardner and her physicians believed that she was cancer-free.
'It was always stage four, but now it's terminal'
In January, the Finlayson family received the heartbreaking news that Gardner's cancer had metastasized and spread to her lungs. She said on the 'Soda Room' podcast that her CT scan revealed a tennis ball-sized lump in her chest cavity, and a subsequent bronchoscopy confirmed that the cancer had metastasized. "It was always stage four, but now it's terminal. Obviously, life expectancy can be longer, like they haven't given me a 'like you've got six months to live make the most of it' sort of thing. But obviously, it's spread to a new main function of your body, rather than just in the lymph nodes," she said.
As per Daily Mail, the newlyweds are planning to have a bigger celebration in October, with Gardner promising to overcome her diagnosis and support her husband and their daughter. Finlayson and Gardner are also determined to help raise awareness of the dangers of bowel cancer for young people, as it is often an illness thought of as something older people get.