EXCLUSIVE I won Channel 4's first series of Honesty Box - I didn't think I'd find a man on a dating show but this is the exact moment I knew he was 'The One'

Daily Mail​

15-05-2025

Honesty Box winner Chantelle admitted she didn't think she'd bag a man on the brand new Channel 4 dating show - but is over the moon to have found her future husband Jovan.
Wednesday night's instalment of the Channel 4 show saw the couple, as well as Rose and Tommy and Vikki and Tobias battle it out for the top spot and get their hands on £40k.
Londoner Chantelle and Leicester lad Jova are still going strong since filming for the show, presented by Vicky Pattison and Lucinda Light, wrapped up in October 2024.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline about life after Honesty Box, Chantelle said: 'I didn't think I was going to find someone in this capacity, no. I felt like it would be nice.
'The experiment sounds good, because the problem that I was having with getting to know people is everyone is just pretending.
'So I was like, this would be a nice experience where it's like, okay, we're not pretending. Let's see.
'But I just did not think I would find anyone that would blow me away like this.'
The loved-up pair have plenty of plans for the future, including marriage, but have decided not to rush things and move in together just yet.
Chantelle told us: 'We're definitely official. Definitely the first person that's ever met my mother, she was like a father figure to me, and because of my faith and stuff.
'It's not the usual dating situation. It's kind of like you're looking at this person as your future husband.
'So we talk very much so about what life would look like as a marital partner, not like what life will look like if maybe I'll just move in with you tomorrow, and we hope you're the best. We're really planning ahead.'
Jovan added: 'It will look different in terms of, like, other relationships. If it was not, "Why aren't you moved in?" "Why are you doing this? "Why you're doing that?"
'Because it's a broader scale for us. Because I've never had a connection like this, and I see long term future I can't treat it like, "Oh, you know, we'll just, I feel like this, so we'll move in. Ah yeah you seem to cool."
'We can't do that, if you're in something for the long run, you have to build foundation.
'You're going to have knocks and stuff like that.
'So you have to learn about each other in order to sustain it.'
Chantelle also revealed the exact moment that she knew that Jovan was who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life - including a moment on the programme when Jovan brought her a toastie while chatting with some of the other Truetopians.
She told us: 'You know what? That might look so small to the outside world, but he was bringing me not just toasties, my lip gloss I may have left around the villa, that is like lost, and I'm never finding it again.
'Like it was those little things, though, because he was so overly attentive. There was a time when I was, I was sitting in a room and I was talking to one of the crew, and I was kind of locked away, and I could hear the producers going to Jovan "You can't be in here, like you need to go."
'And he's like "Oh but Chantelle wants a coffee" and he was making me a coffee. Little things that it was like out of his way to do in order to care for me.
'He was genuinely concerned about my well being. If I'm a bit off, He's genuinely concerned about that.
'And it's like we would have conversations, but they're very we're not trying to impress each other. It's kind of like, this is what it is. This is how I feel. This is me. Take it or leave it.
'And then from there we really aligned on the fact that I'm not pretending here. I'm okay to not find something if it's not 100 per cent right for me.
'And it just naturally fell into the fact that, wow, we are very similar and we have similar values.'
The pair are yet to receive the prize fund, but have some very wholesome ideas about what they want to do with the cash.
Chantelle explained: 'I just need to pay my mother back. She's done a lot. Honestly, she's done a lot.
'I don't even think there's enough money to cover what she's done.'
Jovan added: 'Same for me.'
Chantelle continued: 'So my mum is first, and then I also want to put it into something that I know will help other people.
'Potentially something to do with orphanages or children in care, because I come from a background of growing up in care, so I want to help there and then invest some of it that would be nice.'
Jovan added: 'I'm very, very similar, same with my mum and stuff like that.
'Luckily I'm not a rational spender. I don't really buy materialistic things that well.
'So I'm more than happy to hold on to it and wait for something to come up or invest it and stuff like that.'