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Tantrums And Tailwhips: We Spoke To Lee Musselwhite About His Spectacular BMX Wedding On BBC Three’s Don’t Tell The Bride

This is how you get married to somebody that hates BMX...

Life, can be tricky when your other half doesn’t share your love of action sport. You want to spend your Saturday watching edits on the internet, they want to go to some shops, or see other human beings in a social setting, or something else preposterous.

And when you break it to them that you’re actually going out to ride your bike, you get a lecture about hurting yourself just because, on one occasion, a full two years ago, you bumped your knee and had to cancel a date. (Sorry Vic).

So, imagine being a legit’ British BMX legend, and choosing not only to marry your action sports hating girlfriend, and not only having an Action Sports themed wedding but doing it all on TV, tantrums and all.

That’s exactly what Flat Land superstar Lee Musslewhite did. He, along with then-girlfriend, now-wife Ami went on BBC Three’s Don’t Tell The Bride: a show in which soon-to-be grooms have three weeks, £12,000, and absolutely no communication with their other half to plan and pull off their dream wedding.

Josh Webber flipping over Ami on her wedding day – Photo: Nick Wotton

We caught up with a rather horse sounding Lee after the show went out, who’d been commentating at Motorcycle Live at the NEC. Despite his busy schedule that saw him traveling to every corner of the UK last week, he managed to steal a night for the show.

“I watched it the night it went out with [new wife] Ami, my best man and some other family and friends. It’s funny though. Since it went out, People keep coming up and shaking my hand, saying it’s the funniest one they’ve ever seen.”

These new-found-fans aren’t wrong. The finale of the show is a full-on action sports spectacular, featuring mountain bikes, sports cars, super bikes and, of course, BMXs. Surely throwing somebody who hates action sports into the middle of all that is asking for trouble. On the show, Ami looked furious at Lee. In fact, we’d be surprised if, even now, she’s not still  furious.

“Nah, she was pretty happy with how it came out. She obviously knew I was going to do something a bit mental, but she didn’t necessarily think she’d be in the middle of it all! In fact, she didn’t remember it. Didn’t even remember her vows. She literally had no idea what was going on.” laughs Lee. “But, she genuinely hates the bike. She hates everything to do with BMX. She just genuinely doesn’t get it.’

Not your text-book first dance… – Photo: Nick Wotton

But despite her obvious objections to BMX, it was Ami that first wanted to appear on Don’t Tell The Bride, and she asked Lee to apply to go on Don’t Tell The Bride with her. “To get on the show, You’ve got to do something different.

“I put concepts together for extreme sports shows. It’s so different combining all of those disciplines for a wedding though. And throwing the bride into the middle of it? I didn’t tell Ami I was going to do that! “ admits Lee.

The show has a pretty tight £12,000 budget. Weddings aren’t cheap these days, and throwing in a cast of action sports talent can’t have been cheap.

19 Enticing Spot Photos That’ll Mean Nothing If You Don’t Ride BMX

Most people have confetti… – Photo: Nick Wotton

“You get £12,000, which I spent on all the weddingy bits and bobs. But all the stunt stuff? They’re huge favours from my good mates, and I work with them on the shows I organise. Those guys are super cool. We choreographed the piece together, because it’s just one shot. She arrived and that was it. But it was the perfect day. Blue skies and everything.”.

But it’s not just the budget for the wedding that’s tight. The Don’t Tell The Bride appears to thrive on the fact that the tiny budget and time frame create a super pressurised environment, even for somebody like Lee that’s used to performing under the spotlight.

“It’s really genuine though. Ami and I really didn’t contact each other. Me and my best man Hooper had to just run around and organise everything.”.

See the trials and tribulations suffered by Lee and Ami for yourself on Don’t Tell The Bride on the BBC iPlayer now.

To see more from Lee, including pics from the big day, check his Instagram and his Facebook

You may also like:

This Couple Didn’t Want An Expensive Wedding, So Sacked It In And Went On An Adventure Instead

The Mpora Guide To An Action Sports Wedding

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