IT took years of toxic relationships and failed romances before reality TV star Vicky Pattison finally found The One.
And nearly a year after saying “I do” to Ercan Ramadan, the 37-year-old star insists she doesn’t feel smug about being married — just very grateful.
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In an exclusive interview, Vicky — who was previously engaged to Geordie Shore co-star and Newcastle businessman John Noble — said: “Christ, I’ve absolutely paid my dues.
“The failed engagements, the broken hearts, the wrong men, the bad behaviour . . .
“I had some really awful, toxic relationships when I was younger.
“It would be easy to say I would’ve never gone out with those boys, met those types of men or been that type of person had I not been on TV.
“In reality that’s a lie. I was absolutely on that trajectory, regardless of whether there was a camera crew around.
“I don’t feel any shame about it. I’ve grown through everything and I am a woman now who deserves Ercan. Back then, I wouldn’t have.
“So, I don’t feel smug to be married — I feel grateful.”
Vicky found fame on Geordie Shore in 2011, where viewers saw her drink to excess and romp with Ricci Guarnaccio.
Since then, all of her relationships have been played out in public.
She and Stephen Bear featured together on reality show Ex On The Beach, and she dated Towie stars Kirk Norcross and Mario Falcone.
In 2018, Vicky called off her engagement to John Noble amid claims that he cheated on her.
The following year, she met Ercan, now 41, and, in February 2022 announced he had proposed in Dubai.
They married last summer, with two ceremonies, in London then Italy.
It is her rollercoaster romantic life that makes Vicky the perfect host for The Honesty Box, a brand new E4 dating show launching on Monday, April 28.
The series sees a group of singletons live in a luxury villa in Cyprus while looking for love.
Vicky says: “The Honesty Box is the perfect mix of Love Island and The Traitors, with this gorgeous First Dates theme running through.
“You have bikini-clad babes and hunks in a gorgeous villa looking for love, which is a format we are familiar with. But then you add this AI tech element that forces them to be honest and face their feelings.”
Each contestant is quizzed inside The Honesty Box, a room that uses artificial intelligence to track their physiological responses — including heart rate, body temperature and pupil dilation — to determine if they are telling the truth about their feelings and any love connections they may have made.
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Their answers are played to everyone in the villa, with liars quickly exposed.
“It’s the same tech the FBI uses!”, Vicky reveals with a laugh.
“It’s 87 per cent accurate. I do believe we saw people change in there and grow because they were constantly held accountable.
“Once you’re known as a bit of a liar, people want to see your Honesty Box answers.
“It became impossible for people to hide.
“Connections deepened. We saw people trust, forgive and fall in love, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God — it works!’.”
Despite previous heartbreaks, Vicky is still a “hopeless romantic” and was determined to pass on her relationship advice to the cast on the new show.
She told the Sun on Sunday: “I was always adamant I would never let an experience or a person change who I was. I’d still continue to be very optimistic and obsessed with love. I never blamed anybody for what happened in a previous relationship.
“Apart from anything else, it took two to tango, and I wasn’t perfect either.
“Here I am now with a lovely husband and a job I love. I think I’ve come full circle and I am really grateful.
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“I’m really keen to pass on any wisdom I might have, because my relationship with Ercan is built on trust and honesty. It’s probably the first one I’ve ever had that is.”
Because Vicky has been the woman who is desperate to believe a man when he lies — as well as the woman who walks away when the truth comes out — she understood what the contestants were going through.
‘TV fairy godmother’
She says: “I’ve been in these girls’ shoes, I know what it’s like to act tough when deep down you just want to be respected and loved.
“You understand that feeling of being so sick of being lied to and messed around.”
Vicky connected with the contestants so deeply, she still checks in on them long after filming wrapped.
She says: “I can’t help myself, I’m like a reality TV fairy godmother!”
The star insists her new show is very different to Geordie Shore, where stars were often seen “mortal” (extremely drunk) around Newcastle.
Vicky adds of the The Honesty Box: “There’s no glass-smashing. You’re not watching Geordie Shore!
“You can be emotional and express yourself without drinking.
“There’s definitely moments where tempers are flaring and emotions are running high, but that’s natural in reality TV. You want to see a little bit of that.”
Vicky and her Honesty Box co-star — Married At First Sight Australia’s Lucinda Light — were so invested in the show, they would even watch the live feed together after clocking off from presenting duties.
Vicky says: “We’d finish work, it would be two in the morning, and I’d go and sit in my trailer and watch the feed like old school Big Brother. We’re such pervs! Lucinda always brings it back to this lovely, very wholesome, heartfelt tone and I’m just like, ‘They were shagging’.”
You can be emotional and express yourself without drinking
Vicky Pattison
In the past decade, Vicky has appeared on reality hits including I’m A Celebrity, which she won in 2015.
She is also a radio presenter, has her own clothing range and is a best-selling author.
The star, who has premenstrual dysphoric disorder — a condition the NHS describes as “more intense” than premenstrual syndrome — has been open about freezing her eggs in the hope she can one day have a baby with clothing company boss Ercan.
But her documentary earlier this year, My Deepfake Sex Tape, was slammed by critics.
In it, she released her own phoney, AI-generated porn video to explore how the technology can be used to abuse women.
Vicky says that Ercan supports her, whatever she does — and that she trusts him implicitly.
She adds: “I have never once distrusted my husband. I’d never worry about him cheating or about him lying.
“I probably exhaust him enough. One wife is enough for Ercan!”
