Dying Reality TV Star 'Ready to Go to Heaven' After Marrying

Jade Goody said she sold her story to educate the sons she'll leave behind.

ByABC News
February 24, 2009, 11:43 AM

LONDON, Feb. 24, 2009 — -- Jade Goody, the U.K.'s most famous reality TV star, who has terminal cervical cancer, said she is "ready to go to heaven" after her wedding to Jack Tweed Sunday.

In an exclusive interview with OK! magazine, Goody said the wedding had been "the happiest day of my life." Doctors believe that she has only two weeks to live, as the cancer has already spread to her bowels, liver and groin.

Tweed, 21, proposed to Goody, 27, in front of cameras in London, and the British luxury department store Harrods gave her a designer gown by Manuel Mota, worth $5,798.

"I was very moved by Jade's plight," Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed said in a statement released to ABC News. "When I heard of her intention to get married, I wanted to give her something. So I offered her one of our beautiful wedding dresses from Harrods."

Even the Ministry of Justice offered support to the ailing celebrity when it announced that Tweed, on parole for an assault in 2006, would be allowed to stay out past his curfew and spend his wedding night with Goody. A Ministry of Justice spokesman described the couple's circumstances as "an exceptional case."

The wedding took place at the Down Hall Country House Hotel in Hatfield Heath, near where Goody grew up, and the bride was able to walk down the aisle, despite her advancing illness.

Tweed arrived for the ceremony first in a Rolls-Royce, before Goody landed in a helicopter, late.

Guests at the reception were served pink champagne, while the British pop group Sugababes and the acid jazz band Incognito performed for them.

OK! magazine paid Goody about $1 million for the rights to the ceremony, including the exclusive interview with her.

Meanwhile, the pay channel Living TV, which has been following Goody around since she received the cancer diagnosis in August, paid her $144,655 to film the wedding. The wedding will be broadcast on Living TV in two weeks.

Although some have criticized Goody for selling her life and cheapening her illness, Goody defended her decision, saying she was only doing it to secure the future of her two sons, Bobby Jack, 5, and Freddie, 4. The children are the product of her relationship with former reality TV star Jeff Brazier.