Georgia Toffolo’s smile is as dazzling as the vast engagement ring that adorns her finger. And little wonder.
Because not only is her exquisite eight carat triple-diamond studded band estimated to be worth £200,000 – make no mistake, in the flesh, this is not just a rock but a veritable mountain range – but the man who gave it to her just happens to be James Watt, co-founder of the phenomenally successful beer company BrewDog, who has a fortune of £262million.
Georgia’s glee, then, as she speaks to the Mail in her first interview since becoming engaged on holiday in Greece a fortnight ago, is barely containable.
‘It’s not lost on me that it is totally obscene, it is gorgeous,’ she says, holding her ring out for me to inspect.
Georgia Toffolo speaks to the Mail in her first interview since becoming engaged last month
Georgia Toffolo revealed her engagement to BrewDog co-founder James Watt while on holiday
Georgia’s stunning, diamond-studded engagement ring estimated to be worth £200,000
‘I mean, I think it is the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t quite believe it. I’m still pinching myself that that is on my hand. I had no idea how James was going to propose, but he said months ago, “What [ring] would you like if we were to get engaged?” And I was like, “Oh my God, I know exactly what I want!”
‘So he then said, “Why don’t we pick it together?” I know lots of people think there needs to be a surprise, but I think it’s a lot of pressure on a man to get something like that correct.’
‘Correct’ for this bride means three whopping diamonds, as Georgia – best known for her victory on I’m A Celebrity in 2017 – gives me a guided tour of her engagement ring: ‘This [diamond] is me on my own, [this is] James on his own, and then us coming together as a pair.’ The proposal came in the same week as her 30th birthday. Clearly, then, she has much to celebrate.
Indeed, speaking from the £3million riverside apartment she shares with 42-year-old James in central London, she exudes the contentment of a woman who’s made it.
With double-height windows, their home has skyline views of St Paul’s and The Shard, while a huge black spiral staircase takes you from the marble-encased lower level to the bedrooms upstairs.
Outside, a wraparound balcony houses the bespoke ice baths she and James – both similarly devoted to their health and fitness – take together every morning.
Endearingly, Toff, as she is nicknamed, can’t seem to believe her luck to be living in such an enviable home: ‘It’s like a pinch me moment. It is beautiful.’
Later that night, she’s hosting her 30th birthday-cum-engagement party in the apartment. One hundred guests are coming, high-end restaurateurs Nobu are catering and James has even brewed his very own beer just for her big day. Called Brew Toff – what else? – 100 cans are lined up on a wall display as we chat. Her outfit is ready – a £2,000 red feathered sheer gown by Asar London.
James’s BrewDog brewery and pub chain is worth some £2billion
Foremost on the guest list is Toff’s beloved friend Stanley Johnson, father of Boris and her fellow jungle campmate.
Happily, Stanley, 84, has given her forthcoming nuptials his blessing, as Georgia reveals. ‘I introduced Stanley to James for the first time at Boris’s book launch [for memoir Unleashed last month]. I was really excited. Stan is so down for me finding the love of my life, always has been,’ she says smiling.
Close pal Trinny Woodall, former TV presenter turned businesswoman, is also coming, says Georgia: ‘She messaged me to say “It doesn’t matter what you wear tonight, as long as the big rock is on show”.’ On the surface, Georgia, a tiny blonde who first made her name on the TV show Made In Chelsea, and bald-headed Scottish entrepreneur James seem an unlikely fit. But both have an intense work ethic and business drive and come from relatively humble backgrounds.
James, from Ellon in Aberdeenshire, is a former fishing boat skipper who started BrewDog in 2007 with friend Martin Dickie, in Martin’s mum’s garage. Today, the company is worth some £2billion.
And despite her cut-glass accent, Georgia was the first in her family to go to private school. Her father was a scrap-metal dealer from Torquay.
‘I don’t feel like there’s anyone like James and I,’ she says wistfully. ‘He’s a real one off. I think people forget that James was a fisherman. And he’s built up this crazy business. But when you look to his bones, he is just a fisherman from a tiny village in Scotland. And when you strip me back without all the success, I’m just a first generation to go to a private school, normal girl from Devon.’
Lavish party preparations may be in full swing – florists hang pink, purple and yellow flowers around the apartment’s beams as we talk – but it’s clear Georgia would be horrified to be thought of as just another posh party girl. She’s earned herself a sizeable fortune, in particular through her own celebrity management company, Visionary Talent Agency, which after just four years of trading has a turnover of millions of pounds. Last year it secured an astonishing £1.5million for Nigel Farage – a close friend of Georgia’s – to appear on I’m A Celebrity.
She also has a dog food company, Wild Pack.
So while marriage may be her next big project, business is just as prominent in Georgia’s mind – and it’s clear she sees her uber-successful husband playing a significant role in her future commercial endeavours.
‘I’m not always going to be Toff the jungle queen,’ she says. ‘We need the next era. And I do very much feel that is going down more the business routes.’
And if anyone would be a good business partner, it would surely be her new fiance. ‘James and I have spoken about this a lot together,’ Georgia says. ‘We’re going to the Maldives [on holiday] next month, and we’ll have a big strategy day when we’re there.’
Toff is close friends with Stanley Johnson, father of Boris and her fellow jungle campmate
It is the second engagement for Georgia, who was previously engaged to Nigel Farage’s former right-hand man – the millionaire aristocrat George Cottrell
She adds: ‘He’s so clever. I’ve never met anyone like him, and I’ve met a lot of really successful people. I feel really fortunate to have him as my confidant.’
It’s been a long romantic road for Georgia to find someone who has the same mindset as herself.
Unlucky in love, her past relationships have been with men of a type: Gary Lineker’s son George two Made In Chelsea co-stars.
Her last serious relationship was with George Cottrell, an aristocratic former banker who once ran Nigel Farage’s private office, and whose mother, Fiona, once went out with King Charles. A convicted fraudster, in 2016 he spent eight months in jail in the US in connection with a money laundering conspiracy.
James – 12 years older, raised far from Chelsea, divorced and with two daughters from that marriage – is very different. He spends one week in London and one week in Scotland to share custody of his children. So how has Toff adapted to becoming a stepmother?
‘[The girls] are such a huge part of our lives. Every other week they’re with us. James very much arrived in my life with the two girls. And it’s been the most amazing thing, getting together this new little family.
‘Being a dad is the most important thing to him.’
She adds: ‘I’m just taken aback at how much they enrich my life as well.’ She is even keen that the girls plan their wedding. ‘We’re both quite mad and bonkers, and we never do anything by the book, so a stereotypical big white wedding for me is not going to be on the cards,’ she says. I want the children to plan it. They can wear what they want, they can do what they want. I want it to be as weird and wacky as we can do it.’
Aberdeenshire, though, looks to be the location. ‘Where James and I and our little family are most happy is doing our Sunday lunch every other weekend in his 93-year-old grandmother’s house that’s been in the family for years in this tiny little fishing village,’ Georgia says. ‘When I strip it back, I’m like, I need granny to be there [at the wedding].’
As for more television, Georgia reveals she has had a tantalising offer for a reality show depicting the couple’s life: ‘I mean, if we want to do a show about a wedding, we’ve got it.’
And with such a fascinating duo in a starring role, who wouldn’t want to watch that?
