Exclusive: TikTok star Alex Rayner opens up about ‘different’ relationship with wife Kirsty and helping Prince Harry with wedding speech
Driving through the front gates of the rambling Essex farm owned by Alex and Kirsty Rayner means being greeted by a cockerel squawking “cock-a-doodle-do”.
Then, inside the 13th-century house, HELLO! is welcomed by a friendly goose who goes by the name of Sunday and is casually hanging out in the kitchen, while outside, goats and pigs roam free and ducks splash in the lake.
This is the madcap world of the Rayners, who have achieved internet fame via Alex’s TikTok account documenting daily life on their idyllic 55-acre estate.
“This house is so us,” Kirsty says. “We are quintessentially bonkers but massively into ancestry and history.” Alex adds: “I love the character.”
Although the impressive property – once owned by Sir Edward Lewis, who led Decca Records, and Richard Rich, Lord Chancellor to Edward VI – boasts several outbuildings, a swimming pool and a summer house, it’s the animals who are the real star of the show.
Alex, 46, and Kirsty, 50, moved in with their four children ten years ago and quickly amassed a menagerie of pets, including six dogs, five geese, two goats, a boar called Percy and two pigs, Pickle and Wotsit.
There are also chickens, more than 200 ducks, two cats, an eagle and three beehives. They would have had more, but gifted two goats to Kirsty’s good friend Jo Wood, former wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie.
Particular favourites are Sunday, Uno the duck – “She was hand-reared in the house and thinks she’s a dog,” Kirsty says – and Nando the chicken.
Country living
The family’s main residence has six bedrooms, three bathrooms and a medieval dining hall that the couple plan to double in size when renovations start later this year. The estate boasts ancient wells once used to service the whole of the village of Felsted, as well as a goat dairy.
Although 37 acres have been devoted to arable use, the remaining land is all part of the Rayners’ property, where they live with their children, twins Max and John, 23, Annabelle, 20, and 18-year-old Charlotte. What do they think of the chaos?
“They’re resigned to this,” Alex tells us. “I think the prime example was when we came back from buying a bulldog and I produced this pug from my coat. My son just went: ‘What are you like?'”
Clearly, this farm is their sanctuary. Nando will often wander into Kirsty’s office and the dogs have their own sitting room, complete with second-hand Chesterfield sofas. Her Range Rover is covered in goat footprints because the animals climb on to the vehicle to get better views of the comings and goings of the house.
Kirsty, who is managing director of a PR agency, tells us: “We are both crazy busy, but we come back here after work and it’s like detoxing.”
Born in Chelsea, Alex worked in celebrity PR for several years, managing red-carpet events including the Bafta Awards.
He then co-founded the Captive Minds Communications Group, which specialised in creative adventures, including taking Prince Harry to the North and South Poles.
© Getty ImagesIndeed, Alex tells us that, while he and the royal were trekking through the Arctic to raise money for Walking with the Wounded in 2011, they became stranded when an ice cap cracked.
During the ensuing delay, Alex helped Harry write the speech he would deliver soon afterwards at Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton.
“He was at the North Pole with me for three weeks, up until five days before the wedding,” Alex recalls.
© WireImage“Working with him on the speech wasn’t so much about anecdotes, because I didn’t have those about his brother and Catherine’s relationship – it was more about the structure.
“We were stuck there for a few days, so we sat down over quite a few whiskies and decided to put the world to rights and I gave him some pointers. He’s a nice guy.”
Behind-the-scenes
Nowadays, Alex is increasingly well known for his TikTok videos, which he posts under the name @oggyboysming to his 415,000 followers.
“About three or four videos in, I was cooking steaks on a barbecue in the middle of winter and it went viral. I will stand up and just talk about life on the farm; my mission is to prove that not all posh people are t***s,” he says.
He now gets recognised when he’s out and about, including while visiting Spain, while Kirsty – who was born in Gloucestershire but grew up in St Lucia before moving back to the UK to attend boarding school – is referred to as “Mrs Oggy” by fans.
The couple met at an event hosted by Alex’s PR company, where Kirsty was responsible for bringing in celebrity talent. But it wasn’t love at first sight.
“She thought I was an absolute idiot,” Alex says, before Kirsty continues: “He asked me out and I thought he was a posh plonker. We met again three years later and he had evolved into a handsome Mr Darcy.”
Kirsty first fell pregnant with the twins and then their daughters arrived. An engagement sealed their union, but they waited another 23 years to tie the knot, marrying in 2022.
“It just felt right,” Alex says. “After being with someone for 23 years, the minute I stood at the altar and then walked out, it felt different.”
Given their rising profiles and unusual lifestyles, it’s no surprise that the couple have been approached about creating a TV show. Although they are open to the idea, they are not permitted to talk about any negotiations.
In the meantime, Kirsty has plans to add to her magical menagerie. “I would like mini-donkeys, some Highland cows – the small ones – and I quite fancy an ostrich,” she says.
Do they have a plan for the number of animals they might eventually adopt? Alex says: “I don’t know the answer to that – because anything can happen.”
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
