As widely reported in the British press this week, Pauline Bailey (27) of Luton, Beds, said she was “mortified” and “crushed” to be sent an internal email by an exclusive hotel in error, which stated she wasn’t ‘the right type of person’ to have her wedding reception at the venue.
Following publication of her story, the bride-to-be was then spot-lit as a TV-Chat babe, working under the stage name of Rachel T on various late-night TV programmes offering premium-rate phone chat on ‘x-rated channels’.
The initial story came about when, after visiting the Stoke Park Hotel in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, a member of staff there accidently forwarded her an email intended for a colleague. In it, Miss Bailey and her 51-year old fiancé Paul Carty were described as not being the right “type of people” for the venue, and the wedding coordinator wondered how best to “put this wedding off”.
Reacting in the press and on ITV1’s Daybreak programme, Miss Bailey, a drug and alcohol counsellor, described how the “disgusting snub” had left her feeling humiliated and accused the venue of “deeply, deeply hurtful” discrimination after being made to feel like an “undesirable”. She said she believed the hotel discriminated against her and her husband-to-be due to Mr Carty’s age, his pierced eyebrow and two tiny earrings.
The couple had attempted to book the five-star country hotel – seen in the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger and 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies – for their wedding in June, agreeing to spend £10,000 to feed and entertain 30 guests, and even agreed to a further £1,000 fireworks display. However, ten days after inquiring about the booking, they claim they had not heard back from the venue’s wedding coordinator, Michele Connelly.
Pauline explained: “We finally spoke to Michele, who apologised, explaining that she had been away on holiday. She said she needed to discuss dates as provisional bookings had been made on around the date we’d chosen. The next morning I was mortified reading her email, which she had sent to her boss but had also forwarded to me by mistake.”
The email, intended for sales manager Carlo Zoccali, signed off with the word: “Help!!!” It read: “I need your advice on this wedding. I know this probably doesn’t sound very nice, but I am trying to put this wedding off as I don’t think they are the type of people that we would want to have at Stoke Park.”
Ms Connelly explained she’d already attempted to put the couple off, telling them the date they requested wasn’t available, and concluded by asking Mr Zoccali for advice on what to do next.
After being made aware of the emailing error a member of staff at the hotel emailed Miss Bailey to “humbly apologise for the email which was sent to you by accident”. The email continued: “At Stoke Park, we welcome all who wish to have their wedding with us. We pride ourselves on the highest quality of service and hospitality and if you would still consider us as a venue for your special day, I would be delighted to meet with you to discuss this further.”
Too late it seems as the couple have already booked a different venue for their reception, after not getting the reception they would have liked from Ms Connelly. According to reports Ms Connelly has been disciplined for the incident by her employers. A spokesman for the hotel said they were not aware of Miss Bailey’s occupation and would not discriminate against any guest on the basis of his or her profession. The couple are said to be seeking the advice of lawyers over their treatment.
Having joined Red Light Central TV to help fund her education – Miss Bailey has a masters degree in medical law – Pauline continued as a part-time model simply because it was “going too well to give up.” Now studying for a PhD, she added: “I’ve been a part-time model for five years now. I did it part-time when I graduated for my masters and… I continued doing it. It was just financially viable to continue. Paul’s fine with it and I come home to him every night. But I’m not looking to draw too much attention to that really.”
Bristol-based Red Light Central TV owner Phil Barry – Cathy Barry’s husband and boss of Pumpkin Films – confirmed that the couple worked for him. Husband-to-be Mr Carty produces the segments Miss Bailey stars in. Mr Barry said: “She does some presenter work for us and receives calls. She’s never done porn or anything like that. Paul has worked for the MoD but now works for us. They’re a respectable couple who met through work. They work well as a couple and generally I put them together. Pauline has a massive fan base… She’s a highly valued member of staff.”
