12-07-2025
Inside the party where Suella Braverman and Eamonn Holmes toasted an ex-gangster
At a high-end venue in London's trendy Shoreditch district, a former government minister, a television presenter and a decorated Olympic athlete celebrated the promise of a bright future for a one-time armed robber from Belfast and his broadcaster fiancée.
About 400 people — including Suella Braverman, a former home secretary in the UK government, the broadcaster Eamonn Holmes and the javelin champion Fatima Whitbread — came along last weekend for this most unusual yet lavish engagement bash in a private club.
And just about everyone was taken with what had to be the most diverse guestlist of the year.
All of it was proof that when Irish-born Stephen Gillen set out to turn his life around following 15 years in jail, he meant it. Gillen had spent much of his youth working as an enforcer for a London gang, later serving time alongside the notorious inmate Charles Bronson, a man he can call 'a friend'.
The party at the Blue Marlin Ibiza London club was held to celebrate his engagement to GB News host, broadcaster and journalist Nana Akua, and it was their eclectic collection of friends that made what was dubbed 'the party of the summer' go with a swing.
The Sunday Times, after interviewing Gillen, had been invited along to witness the full extent of his remarkable reformation from notorious gangster to upscale businessman and thrilled husband-to-be.
Speaking at the party, Gillen, 54, reflected on his difficult early days in west Belfast as the Troubles spilled onto his street and how, aged eight, he saw an IRA member being shot dead.
That mayhem sparked a decision to send him to London, where his involvement in the underworld began.
Gillen said: 'So I've done all I can to become a better, stronger, smarter version of myself and meeting Nana, my absolute soulmate, has just made that complete. This party means everything to me.'
Akua, 53, who wore a showstopping gown accompanied by £1 million worth of diamonds under the watchful eye of a close protection team, said she was 'so happy' to be marking the next stage of their relationship.
It had ignited some time after they met when she interviewed Gillen for GB News three years ago.
'He was this tough gangster guy and yet he seemed so shy,' she said, laughing. 'And then Stephen stayed in contact.
'Only after splitting from his long-term partner did Stephen start chasing me. As time went on, I liked what I was learning about who this wonderful man really was deep down.
'I think we make a great couple. We're so alike in many ways.'
In February, Akua broke the surprise news of the engagement live on television, announcing that Gillen had proposed to her during a romantic trip to Venice.
As guests danced last weekend, Holmes, 65, spoke of how delighted he was to be on a night out, before pointing to the walker he now needs to help him get around.
'Everything's good apart from that bloody thing,' he said, explaining that health problems had made it an essential part of his life for two years.
In jovial spirits and sitting close with his girlfriend, Katie Alexander, he shrugged as he said: 'I've tried everything but I just have to accept that this is the way it is now for me.'
Holmes, who works alongside Akua at GB News, said he was delighted for his colleague, but added ruefully: 'Although I won't be feeling so delighted at 3am when I have to get up for work.'
For a time last Sunday night the BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine was rubbing shoulders with the Baywatch actress Natalie Jay Banus, the comedian Jim Davidson, the Bond movie actress and broadcaster Lizzie Cundy and the Grammy-winning producer Vassal Benford, hailed for his work with Jennifer Lopez and other stars.
Benford, who chairs the BB King estate, told guests of his work as executive producer on a movie about the life of the blues legend, which is due to be released next year.
Gillen, who heads up Publicity Hounds, a creative media and brand management firm, said: 'I like a good mixed crowd of people — you've got to shake things up in this world.'
