Britain’s most married man has been left heartbroken after wife number nine left him and ran off with another man before she walked down the aisle.
Ron Sheppard, 69, has already tied the knot eight times and was certain he had found his ‘forever wife’ when he met 28-year-old Cristel Lalec.
His previous eight marriages had all failed but he had high hopes for his future because he ‘loved her with all his heart’.
But Mr Sheppard, from Yeovil, Somerset, was devastated when he walked into her room and realised she had packed all of her things and had left.
Ron Sheppard was set to marry his ninth wife, 28-year-old Cristel Lalec (pictured), but she ran off
He proposed to the call centre worker on New Year’s Eve in 2015 after spending Christmas with her family in the Philippines
Mr Sheppard, 69, was spotted enjoying the outing at Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset with Cristel Lalec
He had previously been told by the Home Office that Filipino Cristel could not remain in the UK and she would have to go home.
The great-grandfather now thinks she was in another relationship and he has called the Border Agency to tip them off because she could be in the UK illegally.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, he said: ‘I’m devastated by this, I did everything for that girl and she does a runner, I feel like such a mug.
‘We had no love life, nothing whatsoever because she insisted she was a committed Christian and did not believe in sex before marriage.
‘I respected that and hoped at least she would become my carer but she just became more distant.
‘She hated my Norman Wisdom impressions, she had no idea who he was. She’d just sit there with her earphones in taking selfies and I’d have to shout her name just to get her to look at me.’
But he became suspicious when she lost her engagement ring and started making friends and going out more.
Mr Sheppard, who married his first wife in 1966, then went into her room and noticed she had taken all of her luggage with her.
He said: ‘A friend has told me she met another man since she has been here and is now with him. I am devastated beyond words.
‘I loved that woman with all my heart. But I thought it was for the best I phoned the police and the Border Agency just in case she was trying to stay illegally.’
The couple met in Thailand in 2015 and he said at the time: ‘This one is real love. This is the last one. I promise.’
Cristel said that she ‘knows what it looks like’ but insisted she was not using Mr Sheppard to get a visa and remain in Britain.
Despite his bad fortune, Mr Sheppard is still convinced he will get married for the ninth time and believes his true love is ‘still out there’.
Sheppard was just 19 when he tied the knot with first wife Margaret in 1966 and the pair had two children together before divorcing two years later.
He then met second wife Jeanette in a Kingston bingo hall and they wed in 1973, but it lasted one year. He has since described the marriage as a ‘business transaction’ which enabled them to receive a bigger house from the council.
Shortly after their divorce, Mr Sheppard met third wife Lesley and in 1976 they tied the knot. They went on to have two children together and he said he thought she ‘was for keeps’, but he left five years later following a string of arguments.
He went on to meet 18-year-old blonde Kathy at Pontins holiday camp in Somerset and the pair married in 1982. They had a daughter together and lasted four years, despite Mr Sheppard claiming it was a ‘rebound relationship’ following his split from Lesley.
Weng Platino (pictured left, on their wedding day and right, on their 10th anniversary) married Mr Sheppard in 2004
Mr Sheppard and Miss Lalec first met more than ten years ago, while Mr Sheppard was married to Wan (pictured) wife number seven
Mr Sheppard was just 19 when he married first wife Margaret in 1966 (left). Bride number three, Lesley (right), wed Mr Sheppard in 1976
He then met his fifth wife Sue at a bingo hall. Despite admitting he was not ‘swept off his feet by her’, he moved in to her two-bedroom home and they married in 1986. They had two sons together but she threw him out when he was offered a job in Bournemouth.
He then went on to marry Usha in 1999, after the pair met while he was on a stop-off trip to Singapore.
They lasted four years but split after Mr Sheppard cheated on her during a holiday alone to Thailand.
With divorce number six behind him, he met seventh wife Wan in Bangkok in 2003 during a trip to visit an old friend.
However, after returning to the UK, the pair stayed together for just eight months before the bride announced she was returning to her native country in 2003.
It was then Mr Sheppard met Weng after meeting her online. He flew out to meet her in the Philippines.
The couple instantly clicked and married on the Isle of Wight in November, 2004.