ENGAGED couple Darren Foster and Sam Lilley were swept off their feet when they found out they had won GMTV's Wedding of the Year competition on Friday.

TV celebrity Keith Chegwin knocked at the home of Sam's mother in Chatsworth Close, Hollins, Bury, to make the announcement live on television.

A tearful and overjoyed Sam (23) could only say: "I'm absolutely and totally excited."

Darren and Sam were mobbed by family and friends within minutes of the news breaking on the breakfast show.

The couple, who have been together for five years and engaged for two, will now be featured on the ITV show each week, when viewers will choose every part of their special day from the invitations, venue and food, to the dress, hair and make-up.

Darren, from Radcliffe, who works at his father's barber shop in Bolton, later said: "I'm ecstatic. We really thought it was going to be the Welsh couple, Anthony and Cleo, who we met and thought were lovely.

"It was only when we were watching the television and saw the crew in the street, we realised they were here."

Darren added: "I think when it sinks in we will be able to start looking forward to the best summer ever. It's going to be an amazing experience for us, and I am so pleased Sam will get everything she's ever wanted."

An emotional Sam, a sales assistant at Ann Summers in Bolton, could not stop shaking as she tried to come to terms with the fact that they would be getting married live on GMTV in September.

She said: "It's a dream come true, I've always wanted a big wedding, and can't quite believe this is happening."

The first step towards the big day on September 3, will be when viewers choose their venue, which will either be either Las Vegas, Cyprus or on a boat in Venice.