I’m a traveller & fell for a gorger… my family didn’t speak to him for 20 years but now I’m having the last laugh

WHEN you get into a road accident, the last thing you expect to do is fall in love with the person who whacked you in the rear-end.

But that’s exactly what happened when Tracey King, 50, and Mark King, 55, collided into each other.

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While their relationship was off to an already peculiar start, and neither will admit who crashed into who, the star-crossed lovers were faced with yet another battle.

Tracey was from the traveller community, and Mark was not.

The pair, from Maidstone, Kent, who have now been together for almost 30 years and have four children together, had to face the odds to prove to Tracey’s family they were right for each other.

Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, the couple reveal that her family didn’t even talk to Mark for over 20 years due to him being an outsider.

She says: “My parent’s only just started talking to him in the last three years, since we’ve been doing TikTok.”

Not only were her family opposed to the marriage, but Tracey had to stop attending tradition traveller events such as Applyby's horse fair, because Mark was an outsider who the community didn't want around.

“We had to stop doing the horse fairs because I knew people didn’t want him there,” the mum adds.

But that didn’t put Tracey off.

She recalls that from a young age she knew she wouldn’t be marrying a traveller man, as it often means the woman is housebound looking after the kids and cleaning all the time.

Tracey says that she didn't realise being stuck in the house all day and not being able to go out wasn't normal until meeting Mark, as it was a tradition set by the community even in her parents' days.

“Mark would say to me ‘why don’t you go out?’ Why don’t you get your hair done?'" she adds.

"That was alien to me, I wasn't allowed to do that.”

The family even moved into a house - with Tracey explaining her reasons.

We don’t make a secret of it anymore, I’m proud of it.

Tracey King

“My grandparents lived in wagons, you had to sleep underneath at night, people say it was a great life but it wasn’t.

"They didn’t have food, they were cold, everything was bad,” she said.

The couple, who are as loved up now as they were when they met at 22 and 26, constantly go viral on social media as Tracey shows off the thoughtful presents and acts of services Mark does for her on a constant basis.

For her birthday this year, Mark did 15 days of presents leading up to the big day - ending it with a relaxing spa break for the pair - something Tracey says would never happen if she married inside her community.

And that’s not all, Tracey reveals the pair have no pictures together from when they were younger or when their children were born, due to the ridicule the couple faced being from separate communities.

“Tracey was a bit embarrassed,” Mark says as Tracey adds: “It was because he was a gorger and not a traveller.”

“I go out of my way to do photos and outings now because I know the family around me, they say I’ve got a good life, I’ve got the best man, and most of them ended up marrying other travellers.”

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“It’s quite sad when you think back, we don’t make a secret of it anymore, I’m proud of it.”

Now, with the help of social media, Tracey says the travelling world is becoming more and more accepted, as is their relationship.

But times are changing, Tracey revealed the word gypsy was never allowed back in her day, despite many using it on social media today.

“I can’t stand the word, it’s what we were called as kids, on the bus to school all i was called was a dirty gypo,” she explains.

“Gypsy is a bad word to us, it’s offensive.”

“On TikTok, everyone is fascinated by the traveller community.

“But when I first started, travellers didn’t want me to say anything about our community or our language.”

Mark has lived with traveller communities since the age of 13, with one of Tracey’s dad’s friends taking him in when he left home.

“I’ve always wanted to be independent and to stand on my own two feet,” he explained.

“I was brought up wearing what I was given and doing what I was told,” Tracey said, but she won’t let it be that way for her youngest daughter Scarlett, 13.

“She wants to be different, it’s up to her what she wants to be.”

While many traveller children drop out of school at 11 to be homeschooled, Tracey got all of her children to stay in education either until they had completed college.

But she has no qualms with those who do drop out, as she explains lots of the boys go off and learn a trade and do well in life.

“The young ones now they’re going out, getting cars and jobs and it’s amazing, there’s so much to do in the world," she adds.

“For a lot of years they didn’t like it, they wanted me home cooking and cleaning all day because in their heads that’s what we should do, a lot of people hated it.”

“I never take any notice of what they say, I’m a strong believer in letting ladies enjoy themselves, put make-up on, go out with your friends,” adds Mark.

We go over the top in cleaning and cooking, which is great but there’s more to life than that

Tracey King

“Some of the women say I have a dirty name, that’s fine, when I die I’ll have a dirty name and a million pictures, you’ll have stayed home cleaning," retorts Tracey.

“I’ve always been brought up to help around the house, clean and cook,” Mark adds, but Tracey says the traveller community wouldn't have that.

“I went up to my mum’s every morning, and the first day I went up Mark was home and I got back and the house was clean.

"My friend told me to put a stop to it,” she recalls.

“The more they carry on, the more I did it, this is what your supposed to do in a marriage - help,” says Mark.

“At my age, it’s still indoctrinated in them to be this perfect woman,” she explains

“But I don’t want my girls to be like that.

“We go over the top in cleaning and cooking, which is great but there’s more to life than that.”