Comic Rhona Cameron to tie knot with partner in Edinburgh

Cameron and schoolteacher Suran Dickson are planning a civil partnership ceremony in Edinburgh later this year.

Ms Dickson popped the question at the harbour while the couple were in town visiting the comedian's mother Jean.

While the festival stand-up stalwart admitted it was a big step, their relationship has already survived one great trial – the couple have filmed an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap.

The couple, who live in North London, have yet to decide exactly when or where in Edinburgh they will wed.

Ms Cameron, 43, told the Evening News the city had been the obvious choice for the event. "My mum's had poor health and is quite old now and can't really travel around and also Suran has got a big affiliation with Scotland," she said.

"We're both adopted, which is a great alliance for us both and I think it's helped our partnership enormously. Suran's biological grandmother is Scottish and her dad who brought her up is from a Scottish family. She's a Kiwi and Kiwis have a great affection for Scotland. Also, it's a place where I've had a lot of big moments of my life and early years."

Ms Dickson, 31, is a special needs teacher specialising in sports, and the couple originally became friends while playing for the same football team close to Cameron's London home.

Cameron, a former Musselburgh Grammar School pupil, said: "We've known each other for three years, but we got together on Scottish soil two years ago. She was back to trace her ancestry, where her grandmother was from, and while she was in Edinburgh I was up for the week in Musselburgh."

The comedian, famed for her fiery temper while appearing on the reality show, I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, has been open about the psychoanalysis which has helped her in recent years.

She said the couple had discussed the commitment for some time: "We talked about it from practically the moment we got together and we felt a deep connection from very early on.

"I suppose it is officially called civil partnership, but that does sound a bit bureaucratic. I like to say 'getting married' because I'm ready to make that commitment. I never thought that I was the marrying type, but I've looked inwards for the last six years now and done a lot of sorting out and that's why I'm able to have met this wonderful life partner.

"My mum's delighted, she likes Suran very much and they get on well. She's very happy for me."

The couple's episode of Celebrity Wife Swap is yet to be screened. Although Ms Cameron is forbidden to discuss the show before broadcast, she is thought to have found herself living in the home of old-school stand-up Stan Boardman.