TV star John 'Cocksy' Cocks marries sweetheart

Last Tuesday, Dana Coote had yet to write her wedding vows.

Richer. Poorer. Sickness. Health. The clichés were too close to home.

Yesterday, she and the love of her life, cancer-stricken reality TV star John 'Cocksy' Cocks, were married at Tairua Beach surrounded by 100 close friends and family.

"Dana looked radiant ... her dress was stunning and she was beaming," said the lovestruck groom.

Coote was walked down the aisle by her brother to Gin Wigmore's "Under my Skin" - a reminder of when they started dating.

Her "best girl" was schoolfriend Angela Carter and Cocksy's best man was Matt Land.

Photo/NZ Herald

The reception was at the local Tairua Community Hall, where guests ate fish caught by Cocksy and his friends, feasting on smoked kingsfish, sashimi, ika mata, fish pie and fish pate.

Cocksy also insisted on having "little gourmet [he pronounces it, jokingly, gor-mett] sausages in white bread and tomato sauce ... seriously, they're my favourites".

The only bridezilla moment was over the wedding cake.

"His cake is disgusting - it's traditional fruitcake with thick white icing," said Coote.

"I love chocolate mud cake."

So the pair had three, two chocolate ones and a fruitcake displayed on tiered pine logs which Cocksy planned to cut with a chainsaw.

Earlier this year, the 50-year-old, who starred on TV shows including My House, My Castle, April's Angels and Cocksys' Day Off revealed he was terminally ill with kidney cancer and had two years to live.

Independent tests commissioned by the Herald revealed the product did not meet the Government's safe drinking guidelines. But Cocksy says he feels "a million bucks - I've put on weight and I have much more energy".He made headlines after revealing he was taking the controversial water-based Te Kiri Gold cancer treatment.

He added: "The problem with a shortened life span, you think 'What are the important things you should do? For me and Dana, it was to get married."

The couple met at the Variety Bash a few years ago.

Coote, a 44-year-old general manager of a tourism company, was shocked when the chirpy chippie got down on one knee in January during a one-day cricket international.

"I thought he was joking and told him to bugger off," she laughed.

The newlyweds will delay their honeymoon but say it will involve "surfing, swimming and spas".

There's no surprise the couple's first dance was to Lou Reed's "Perfect Day".

"Marrying Dana is so fulfilling - it's made my dream come true," said Cocksy.

"I am bouncing on the inside and out."

- Herald on Sunday