celebrity

Why the Best Man at Pippa Middleton's wedding might look very familiar.

Since his engagement to Pippa Middleton, sister of Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, was announced last year, hedge fund manager, millionaire and heir to the Scottish title of Laird of Glen Affric James Matthews has been thrust into spotlight.

It will only intensify when the couple tie the knot in eight days.

However public attention is something his brother (and Pippa’s soon to be brother-in-law) is no stranger to.

Meet Spencer Matthews, reported Best Man at the impending almost-royal wedding.

VIVE LA BOURGOGNE!!!

A post shared by Spencer Matthews (@spencermatthews) on

Educated at Eton, the 28 year-old PR Manager turned stockbroker first gained attention in 2011, when he appeared on Made In Chelsea, a UK reality TV show similar to The Hills, which followed rich young folk as they ate, shopped, partied around the posh suburb of Chelsea. The series is currently in its 15th season.

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Matthews on the show. Image: E4

Much of the drama of the early seasons followed his on-and-off again relationships and cheating allegations, earning him the reputation of the show's bad boy villain.

In 2012, he appeared on the The Bachelor UK, taking his pick of 24 eligible bachelorettes. The relationship with 'winner' Khloe Evans barely lasted beyond the finale episode.

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Cheers!! x

A post shared by Spencer Matthews (@spencermatthews) on

A year later, he published his autobiography Confessions of A Chelsea Boy in which he claimed he'd slept with 1000 women by age 25 and wrote in detail about doing drugs including cocaine and acid, losing his virginity and engaging in a 'sixsome' in Canada when he was a teen.

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He returned to TV screens in 2015 as a contestant on UK's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in the Australian outback but his stint was cut short after two days when producers discovered he was using steroids he had snuck in.

Highend highlands... @taylormorrisldn #TaylorMorrisXMorganMotor

A post shared by Spencer Matthews (@spencermatthews) on

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Matthews rounded out his reality TV appearances in 2016 with The Jump, a competition where celebrities are pitted against each other doing ski-jumps (which has a record number of injuries, unsurprisingly). It was here where he met his current girlfriend model Vogue Williams, who used to be married to singer Brian McFadden.

Williams will reportedly not be attending Pippa and James' wedding as per the "no ring, no bring" invite rule. Meghan Markle appears to be the only exception the rule, due to Prince Harry's close friendship with Pippa.

Listen: Meghan Markle is the princess we need. Post continues after audio.

Matthews' parents David and Jane own the exclusive hotel Eden Rock in St Barts which they purchased after David retired from being a professional racing car driver.

Spencer is one of four siblings, including older brother James and older sister Nina. His other older brother Matthew died in 1999 after becoming the youngest Briton ever to reach the peak of Mount Everest. He became separated from his guides on the way down and his body was never found.

In his memory, Spencer regularly fundraises for the Michael Matthews Foundation which helps to provide education for children in remote places.