The man who ditched his bride-to-be to wed stag-night girl

London, May 18 : He was about to say 'I do' to his bride but at the last minute Ray Shabi changed his mind and escaped wedlock to marry a woman he met on his stag night.

The 36-year-old Shabi was still boozing after his stag pals had left when he realized he did not love his fiancee.

He got chatting to Georgina Bilsbon who was also at the bar - and they will marry next month after a whirlwind romance.

Ray said it suddenly struck him during his boozy bash at Butlins in Bognor Regis, Sussex, that his intended Debbie Snowden, 44, was really his best friend rather than his sweetheart.

He plucked up the courage to tell the mum of his son Ray Jnr, eight, after she returned to their home from her hen night and they cancelled their wedding.

"I told Debbie I could not marry her - then I got thrown out of the house," The Sun quoted Shabi, as saying.

He then spent weeks sleeping in his old Ford Fiesta, at his workplace or in hotels but kept in contact with mum-of-two Georgina, 40.

On Valentine's Day he proposed over a romantic meal.

He said: "She was a bit dubious because of what I had been through, but she agreed."

Now he shares a house with Georgina and her son Jamie, eight, in Flitwick, Bedfordshire. They plan to marry at a register office in East London, with a reception in Potters Bar, Herts.

But Georgina has laid down a strict rule.

Ray joked: "She has told me that I cannot have a stag do under any circumstances!

"Luckily I don't have enough money for one anyway."

ANI