He’s known for his colourful relationship history, so fans went wild after Nick Knowles announced his engagement to much younger woman Katie Dadzie back in 2023. 

While the TV star, 62, is hoping that third time will be a charm and this marriage will be his last, Katie, 34, is no Mrs DIY SOS, but instead a successful businesswoman in her own right. 

Not interested in piggybacking off her fiancée’s success, Katie launched her own lingerie brand Boa Boa underwear back in 2022.

And the fashion brand is already going from strength to strength with high street retailer Next stocking Katie’s products in their stores. 

Standing by her as her hard work came to fruition, Katie revealed it is thanks to Nick that she has found the confidence to strip down to her underwear and model for the lingerie brand as she confessed that deep down she isn’t comfortable in her own skin. 

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline in her first interview Katie explained: ‘Nick said to me he thought that I should do it to represent the brand and the ethos that we have of being comfortable with yourself and loving the skin you’re in.  

Stunning lingerie boss Katie Dadzie, 34, has revealed why her older TV star lover encouraged her to share racy underwear snaps as she talks wedding plans

The businesswoman, 34, who is the founder of Boa Boa underwear, confessed she doesn’t feel confident in her own skin and it was ‘hideous’ the first time she was in front of the camera

‘I don’t love the skin I’m in. I have a million different hang ups, even ranging to the size of my eyelids. 

‘But he said it would just didn’t make sense for me to be saying that to women and then me not doing it myself.’

Reflecting on her first time shooting, Katie admitted: ‘For me to be in front of the camera the first time was absolutely hideous. I was cacking my pants, I was terrified.’ 

The mother-of-two was surrounded by other confident models on the shoot who helped her come out of her shell as she explained one plus size model in particular encouraged her. 

‘I was a size 8, if that, and I wouldn’t get out my dressing gown. I was kind of huddled in it and eventually she just kind of brought me out and said “Stop being an idiot. It’s your brand, it’s your underwear”.’ 

Adding how she wants to represent real women Katie continued: ‘I’ve got slightly better at trying to show slightly more real, as in I’ve put weight on recently so I know I can’t just have the better picture of me where I haven’t eaten at the start of the morning.

‘I’ve got horrendous endometriosis, so I do bloat terribly but that’s the company ethos that it’s underwear that’s made to fit you regardless of your size.’

Katie and Nick began dating in 2021 after they met when their children became friends at a play centre. 

Katie has revealed it was Nick who encouraged her to find the confidence to pose in her underwear and represent the brand’s empowering ethos

She confessed: ‘I don’t love the skin I’m in. I have a million different hangups, even ranging to the size of my eyelids. But [Nick] said it would just didn’t make sense for me to be saying that to women and then me not doing it myself’

Katie gushed over Nick being a pillar of support throughout the launch of her business as she addressed the gold digger claims 

Read More Nick Knowles proudly supports his girlfriend’s lingerie brand after facing backlash

And the couple are set to walk down the aisle this year as Katie confirmed they have picked out the venue. 

While she has yet to find ‘the dress’ she joked: ‘I don’t know what we’re doing. The most important thing for me is getting married and then secondly is the food.’

Hitting back at comments she has received calling her a ‘gold digger’, Katie admitted they don’t get to her as much as they used to in the beginning as both her and Nick know its not the case. 

She said: ‘I think at the start, it was probably more irritating, especially for my family. But now those comments kind of just pᴀss over me because we both know it’s not true.

‘Nick works hard, he has what he has. I work hard, I have what I have and then we buy each other stuff.

‘So we’re both really comfortable with where we are with that and you will always get it because there’s an age gap.’

Making her point clear Katie added: ‘I know plenty of people who are together and the same age where someone’s using the other one for money and they’re not happy.

‘So as long as I know it’s not true and he knows it’s not true, I think that’s, that’s pretty much all that matters.’ 

Speaking about adjusting to red carpets she said: ‘I look like a wild animal in headlights, because I am. It’s not my natural habit’ (pictured at the Inspiration Awards for Women in 2024) 

She said: ‘I think at the start, it was probably more irritating, especially for my family. But now those comments kind of just pᴀss over me because we both know it’s not true’

Making her point clear Katie added: ‘I know plenty of people who are together and the same age where someone’s using the other one for money and they’re not happy’

Giving her take on the unwanted public attention, she confessed it has put a strain on the relationship: ‘ We’ve had like ups and downs with it because I am not from that background at all’

Back in October, Nick admitted he almost lost Katie after she was left questioning the relationship due to the intense trolling. 

Giving her take on the unwanted public attention, she confessed it has put a strain on the relationship: ‘We’ve had like ups and downs with it because I am not from that background at all.

‘Nick I think generally has a very thick skin to it and he’s very good at dealing with it. I’m not.’

Discussing how she made the mistake of reading comments she continued: ‘Yeah, it’s a lot. I hate having my picture taken. 

‘You know, to get a selfie, I’d take 60 and then select one so going in front of a red carpet even though I’ve done it a fair few times with him now, on the way there I’m absolutely terrified. 

‘Then there are a lot of comments every time we do one of people saying that my eyes are too open or I look startled and, well, I am startled. I’m shell shocked. 

‘I look like a wild animal in headlights, because I am. It’s not my natural habit. My natural habitat is tracksuit bottoms, cardigans, and my office at home, or something along those lines.

‘So being put in front of all the cameras and stuff is just not me, whereas Nick and the people that work in that industry they do it so naturally, and I’m not at all natural at it.’

Yet Katie is accepting that the attention comes with the nature of Nick’s job. 

She explained: ‘I think there’s an understanding that I’ve got now that this is his job and, not necessarily the really hideous people that comment, but the attention is from people generally that watch the shows and without people watching the shows, he wouldn’t have a job.

‘So I’m a lot better at it now than I ever have been.’