{"id":314902,"date":"2026-02-24T15:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/314902\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:32:11","slug":"im-having-panic-attacks-with-six-months-to-go-love-islands-molly-smith-and-tom-clare-lift-the-lid-on-their-stressful-destination-wedding-plans-hopes-for-a-family-and-how-theyre-eyeing-up-a-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/314902\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’m having panic attacks with six months to go!’: Love Island’s Molly Smith and Tom Clare lift the lid on their ‘stressful’ destination wedding plans, hopes for a family and how they’re eyeing up a TV special"},"content":{"rendered":"

They fell for each other in front of the nation, capturing the hearts of ITV2<\/a> viewers as they were crowned winners of Love Island: All Stars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two years on,\u00a0Molly Smith<\/a>, 31, and Tom Clare<\/a>, 26, are deep in preparations for their summer 2026 wedding, following their romantic engagement in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0last September.\u00a0The couple admit they couldn’t wait a second longer to start planning their big day.<\/p>\n

With less than six months to go until their destination ceremony, the last-minute couple, who have just taken over hosting duties on podcast NearlyWeds from Jamie Laing<\/a> and Sophie Habboo<\/a>, still have some major decisions to make.<\/p>\n

They remain torn between France<\/a> and Spain<\/a>, have yet to visit their shortlisted venues, and the bride hasn’t even tried on a wedding dress.<\/p>\n

The pressure of organising one of the most important days of their lives in such a short space of time is not lost on Molly, who admits she is beginning to ‘panic’ as the countdown continues.<\/p>\n

She told the Daily Mail: ‘That’s why it’s stressful because I have a countdown on my phone saying how long it is until the wedding, and I’m starting to have mini panic attacks every morning when it’s flagging.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Love <\/p>\n

Love Island: All Stars winners Molly Smith and Tom Clare are currently preparing for their summer 2026 wedding, although they have yet to book a venue for the big day\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, the couple revealed the ‘stress’ and ‘panic’ of wedding planning following Tom’s 2025 proposal in Dubai<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview, the couple revealed they have narrowed their search to two venues, but are struggling to make the final call.<\/p>\n

Molly said: ‘We have narrowed it down between two venues – we are getting there; we just have to make the final decision.<\/p>\n

‘You have to go out and see them and get a feel for them and that’s what we were waiting for – the vibes, it’s all good when you see pictures but until you’re there, you can’t get a good feel for it.<\/p>\n

‘Sometimes people plan their wedding for a year or two years, but we will have this all to look back on. It is doable, you can do it, and you don’t necessarily have to wait; there are ways of doing it. We just wanted to get married.’<\/p>\n

Tom added: ‘We are having our wedding abroad, but we’re still in two minds at the moment. We don’t have long to make a decision. It’s between Spain and France.<\/p>\n

‘It has to make sense for our family members, we want everyone who we want to be there, we don’t want to go somewhere that’s crazy expensive. It has to be perfect. I want to make sure everyone can get there and it’s not stressful.\u00a0It is hard right now, cramming it all in.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, weddings can prove intense not only for the couple but for their families too – at times even becoming a source of tension, as seen with the Beckhams and, more recently, with Holly Ramsay and her husband Adam Peaty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Molly and Tom, who insist it was love at first sight when they met in South Africa two years ago, say they are tackling the wedding plans as a team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Molly <\/p>\n

Molly and Tom, who won Love Island: All Stars in 2024, say it was love at first sight when they connected in the South African villa\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bride-to-be <\/p>\n

Bride-to-be Molly says she has yet to try on any wedding dresses and is ‘dreading’ not finding the outfit of her dreams<\/p>\n

Tom said: ‘Molly does a lot – I take my hat off to Mol, she has sorted out a lot. We are going for a mix of everything, it’s once in a lifetime; to have all our friends and family celebrating with us, it’s such a special thing. I can’t wait for it – the buildup, the day.<\/p>\n

‘When everyone is on holiday, they’re in such an amazing mood. To be abroad, the sun is shining, everyone’s on holiday – it just made sense for us.’<\/p>\n

Keen not to take all the credit, Molly added: ‘But Tom has been amazing, we have both been on the same page about most things. We just don’t have much planned yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘You think that you have it in the bag and know what you want but when you actually delve deeper into it – it’s insane, there are things popping up that I haven’t even thought about.<\/p>\n

‘The only time I get annoyed is when he’s zoning out after eight minutes that I’m like, “Tom, come back!”‘<\/p>\n

Tom added: ‘People that do it without a wedding planner, I honestly take my hat off to them.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many brides, shopping for a wedding gown and finally saying yes to the dress is one of the most exciting milestones of the entire process.<\/p>\n

But Molly has yet to book a single bridal appointment and admits she is already ‘dreading’ the possibility of not finding the dress of her dreams.<\/p>\n

She said: ‘I have been screenshotting things off Instagram, and I’m going to start making appointments. It’s hard because we don’t know the venue yet, so I don’t have a vision or the vibe.<\/p>\n

‘I am not looking forward to it. I am nervous. That’s the one thing I’ll be honest; I’m not looking forward to it. It’s out of the ordinary and there’s the dread of not finding one I like.’<\/p>\n

\"Molly <\/p>\n

Molly and Tom, who got engaged in Dubai, hope to have their wedding in either France or Spain, but have not yet chosen a venue<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The stars said they would love to have their own reality series documenting the big day, giving viewers an inside look at the reality of planning a wedding\u00a0<\/p>\n

Molly entered the Love Island: All Stars villa in 2024 as a bombshell, where she came face-to-face with her ex-partner Callum Jones, whom she had first met during her original stint on the show in 2020.<\/p>\n

While viewers initially hoped Molly’s love story would see her and Callum rekindle their romance, they were even more delighted when she fell for fellow Northerner Tom, a footballer from Macclesfield, and the pair went on to win the \u00a350,000 prize.<\/p>\n

Now, with the third series of All Stars wrapped, the couple admit that reflecting on the unique way they met still feels ‘surreal’, and for Tom, it was all part of a plan that could not have worked out better.<\/p>\n

Tom said: ‘You go into that situation – everyone wants that fairytale, and unfortunately people don’t always get that going on Love Island.<\/p>\n

‘To find Molly and have what we have, I am so grateful. It’s surreal. It was love at first sight, I had my eye on Molly before I went onto the show.<\/p>\n

‘People say it was even creepy or stalkerish, but I got what I wanted, so I don’t care. We instantly clicked and being on the show is so different to dating on the outside. It’s why we are so strong.<\/p>\n

‘Don’t get me wrong, sometimes being in the public eye, it’s not easy, it can be hard, but we manage it very well. We clicked from day one.’<\/p>\n

Molly added: ‘It is strange, isn’t it? Seeing the contestants in the villa and looking back, thinking about how we met and knowing how far we have come in that time.<\/p>\n

‘I went on All Stars with no expectations, even when Tom first walked in, I knew I really liked Tom but it wasn’t until we went on our date and I thought, oof, I can really see this working, I just had this feeling.’<\/p>\n

With celebrity docuseries continuing to surge in popularity from Georgia & Tommy: Happy Essex After to Molly-Mae: Behind It All and Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix – could Molly and Tom be tempted to film their own big day, mirroring the televised love story that first brought them together?<\/p>\n

Tom said: ‘That would be amazing. If that’s something we could show our future family, I love all of that. We would always be open to something like that.’<\/p>\n

In agreement, Molly added: ‘We are open, and I feel like we’re happy to show that and for people to see the real behind-the-scenes. We watched Georgia and Tommy’s and that was really good.’<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The couple have been announced as the new hosts of the podcast NearlyWeds, taking over from Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo\u00a0<\/p>\n

The couple have been announced as the new hosts of the podcast NearlyWeds, taking over from Jamie and Sophie, who guided the series from NearlyWeds to Newlyweds and then NearlyParents.<\/p>\n

Jamie and Sophie welcomed their first child, son Ziggy, last December, and are now preparing for the release of their Disney+ show, Raising Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Molly and Tom, longtime fans of the podcast themselves, say they are ‘honoured’ to be taking over the reins.<\/p>\n

Tom said: ‘How successful Jamie and Sophie are with their podcast, we listened to it and we loved it, for them to even reach out to us and say, “Look guys, we want you to be the new NearlyWeds”, it was just surreal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It’s new to us and we’re navigating it all but it’s exciting and we can’t wait to share it all and for everyone to be on this journey with us.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

They promise to be as open with listeners as Jamie and Sophie were. Molly says: ‘We want to be as open, real, and raw with it as possible.’<\/p>\n

Tom agreed, adding: ‘I feel like people see us on social media and Instagram, but this podcast helps to show that actually this is real life and what people go through when planning a wedding, managing their daily lives, it’s real.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘For us to be as honest and open as we can, it will hopefully help other people to see we’re not just this Instagram couple; they go through all the same struggles.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do the couple see themselves one day becoming parents, following in the footsteps of Jamie and Sophie?<\/p>\n

Tom said: ‘For our future, we are not in any rush, we are taking it day by day, but the wedding is a top priority. We would love to have a family in the future and all of that. We speak about that, of course, but right now we’re in no rush. No pressure.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearlyweds with Molly and Tom is out 3rd March on YouTube and all podcast platforms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They fell for each other in front of the nation, capturing the hearts of ITV2 viewers as they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[539,93,1814,61,542,60,2846,147089,1489],"class_list":{"0":"post-314902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-instagram","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-spain","15":"tag-tom-clare","16":"tag-tvshowbiz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}