'Elvis' can't stop loving Gwen

A little less conversation and a little more action won the heart of Gwen Campbell when charity fundraiser and Elvis Presley impersonator Thomas McGilloway proposed to her during an event for Chest, Heart and Stroke.

Thomas explained the idea behind the unusual proposal: "The proposal was something different. Most people just propose down on one knee in their normal clothes. I wanted it to be something different."

Gwen accepted the proposal, saying she was attracted to her fiance in the first place because of his entertainment talents.

But she was all shook up when he proposed because she wasn't really expecting it at the time.

She said: "I had a wee idea, but at the same time I wasn't expecting anything any time soon, if you know what I mean. I thought he would have waited until my birthday or our anniversary or something.

"It was nice that he was entertaining when he proposed. He was entertaining the night I met him. He was doing the Blues Brothers, but he was doing it on his own back then. I suppose that is what attracted me to him in the first place. You really have to see him in action."

Thomas is no longer lonesome in his Blues Brothers act.

He said: "We do the Blues Brothers together. We get on the black hats, the suits and the glasses. You might have seen us in the Rocking Chair. I use a backing track."

Gwen added: "When we are doing the Blues Brothers together I get nervous. I have to keep calm. He is the star out of the two of us. He has been doing it for years now though."

She said she really loves the Elvis act: "I do like Elvis: a bit of entertainment. You need to see him in action. I know he only mimes it but it really is great. People always think it is him singing. I always watch the reaction of people in the crowd. I watch their faces.

"He was talking to a couple of the security guards. They told him that they had seen Elvis impersonators before but he really was the best, he just sounded so much like the real thing. They couldn't believe it when he told them that he wasn't really singing it."

She also said his qualities don't stop there though: "He is very good with the children. There was a wee girl with Down's Syndrome and she was dancing along with him. She was loving it and dancing away but at the same time she was a wee bit frightened of him. He was able to put her at ease."

All the fun is for a good cause. Thomas has been volunteering as a fundraiser for Chest, Heart and Stroke for many years. His act also contributed to the fund for Haiti through a performance at the Rocking Chair.