TOWIE's Junaid Ahmed reveals if parents have responded to his wedding invitation
The Only Way Is Essex stars Junaid Ahmed and Joe Blackman are busy preparing for their huge Bollywood wedding in Essex next July.
The Only Way Is Essex alum Junaid Ahmed has revealed his parents have not responded to his and fiance Joe Blackman's wedding invitation.
The couple's beachside engagement in Albania, which saw Junaid, 31, pop the question to Joe, 27, after two years of dating, aired on ITV2 on August 17, making history as the first multiracial gay engagement to feature on reality TV.
Junaid has previously said he would love his parents to attend their huge Bollywood wedding in Essex next July, despite them not "accepting" him being gay and Muslim, and the pair being estranged since he came out at 18.
Despite the heartache surrounding their relationship, Junaid remains hopeful that his parents will be part of his nuptials.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the National Television Awards at London's The O2 arena on Tuesday night (08.09.26), Junaid said: "No, sadly not.
"But I will reach out to them because I would love to have them at my wedding, 100 per cent."
Last month, Junaid and Joe revealed they are planning what they hope will be the biggest nuptials Essex has ever seen and are exploring whether they can arrive on an elephant to honour Junaid's Pakistani and Indian heritage.
They have also had talks with ITV about having their wedding shown on The Only Way Is Essex.
Joe and Junaid received an "amazing" response to their engagement being shown on the ITV2 reality show in August.
The latter said: "Some people have gone mental, so yeah, it is amazing, and I'm so happy to be engaged, live my best life, and TOWIE viewers get to see it all."
However, not everybody celebrated their happiness.
Asked what had surprised him most about the reaction, Junaid admitted: "Not everyone will be happy for your happiness.
"I'm the type of person to celebrate everyone's successes; sometimes it's not always reciprocated, and that's OK."
Junaid recently said he hopes to celebrate his and Joe's happiness with his parents.
In August, he told The Mirror: "Call me delusional, I would love to have my family there, and I would save them a place at the wedding. Whether they'll attend or not, I don't know. But the invite will definitely go out to my mum 100 per cent.
"Obviously, it's so hard for me that my relationship with my family isn't there, which breaks my heart so much. Because they are the people that brought me into this world, and it's things like monumental moments in my life that they're not a part of, which I just never, ever thought would be the case. But sadly it is."
He added: "I love them. I still do, regardless of what's happened. They don't accept me for being Muslim and being gay, but my love will never go. I'm hurt, and I know they're hurt as well, but I can't just switch that love off."
