'I got lucky being married to the World's Strongest Man'

Sinead met Tom Stoltman, both 27, when they were teenagers. Since then his brawn and ambition have driven him onto the global stage

- JOSIE COPSON

The couple's wedding was low-key but "the best day ever"

"We did it, baby. World's Strongest Man," Tom shouted down the phone to me from California in June last year. I knew he was going to win, but I still instantly burst into tears of joy and relief.

Due to Covid-19 I had to stay behind at home in the Scottish Highlands, which was tough, but he kept me updated throughout the six days with texts and calls.

For the final, each competitor had to lift giant stones, weighing between 140-210kg, onto raised platforms in the fastest time. He'd handed his phone to an older man who video-called me so I could watch the action live. But the phone was on selfie mode so he recorded his own belly instead of Tom! I was screaming, “Turn the camera around."

While Tom may have been in America without me, both of us had put our heart and soul into every one of his competitions. In fact, my whole life has changed to adapt to the strongman lifestyle.

I didn't know this when I met Tom, at 17, in 2012 at a local music festival. He was a lanky teenager, proudly walking around with his top off, which was a little strange as Scotland is never really hot. All the girls fancied him. I think he liked that I wasn't instantly enamoured because at first I kept fascination to myself.

We shared some friends and so we ended up spending the day together and later swapped numbers. He'd be really cocky my over texts, but when we'd meet up for long walks he'd be shy and awkward. Things happened quite quickly between us. He basically came round once to my parents' house and never left.

We'd only been together a year when he came back from the gym smelling like tyres. When I asked why he said, "Because I'm going to be the World's Strongest Man." He'd been flipping them as part of his initial training. He was hooked.