Danny Cipriani and I Faced Death Threats for Crowdfunding Our Wedding – Fiancée Calls Critics 'Despicable'

THE fiancée of former England rugby ace Danny Cipriani has revealed how the couple received death threats after asking guests to help fund their wedding.

American TV actress Anna-Lynne McCord spoke for the first time about the backlash in an exclusive interview with , ahead of her today.

The couple used a US site called Honeyfund — an online cash and honeymoon “registry platform” — to crowdfund specific amounts for items like flowers, catering, music and a cake for their big day.

The public site also requested cash donations of any amount from $10 (£7) to $5,000 (£3,600) towards their “dream wedding and honeymoon experience”.

Speaking from a hotel in , AnnaLynne said: “I was told I was despicable — and that I was trying to extort money from my wedding guests.

“People actually donated ten dollars towards the wedding so they could write on the site that Danny and I were disgusting.

“There were even death threats.”

‘I have five blenders’

The advocate, 39, explained that she created the page in lieu of gifts — and that she had thought it was a private link which only guests could see.

She said: “Everyone was asking what they could give us.

“I was like, I have five blenders. I have everything for my home.

I’m getting married at 39. I don’t need another item. I am very blessed.”

“We wrote on the wedding invite that in lieu of gifts we would love to feel our guests’ contributions in the flowers, music and on our big day.

“I didn’t know that it was an open link until a co-star at work asked me: ‘Are you crowdfunding for your wedding?’”

star Anna-Lynne and former fly-half Danny — who played for England 16 times — will tie the knot in an intimate ceremony in their back garden. The couple are also planning two more , one in London and another in Cambodia.

AnnaLynne said: “We have this lovely little garden in the backyard, so we were, like, let’s do it there.

“It was short notice so only a few people can come over from Danny’s side, so we are going to end up doing a London wedding.

“It will, of course, be an intimate thing again but I want to make sure I get to experience his world. We are also going to do a traditional celebration in Cambodia.

“We have been given permission by the Ministry of Tourism to do a ceremony at Angkor Wat, which is one of the oldest and largest religious sites in the world.”

The pair will also honeymoon in Egypt before settling down.

AnnaLynne said: “We want a house full of kids. Danny was on his own as a kid so he wants a big family.”

The actress, who is known for her roles in Nip/Tuck and the reboot of 90210, met Danny on the celeb site Raya in 2016.

They had an on-off four-year relationship before splitting in 2020, but the couple were reconciled two years ago.

AnnaLynne explained: “I expanded my Raya account from to the globe, and the first person who popped up was this sexy, tattooed rugby player.

“We talked for months and then, when I wrapped the film I was working on, I went to visit him in Leamington Spa.

“As soon as I saw him everything slowed down and now I realise I always knew he was my soulmate.”

AnnaLynne, who has spoken about being a survivor of sexual assault, which has led her to become an activist and speaker against abuse, said her relationship with Danny “healed” her.

She said: “I had been really sexually guarded until I met Danny but he allowed me to open up and showed me love.”

The couple started an open relationship but neither could commit due to their work. AnnaLynne said: “I had my filming in LA and he had his rugby in the UK. Neither of us could move, so we would FaceTime and I would visit him when I had time off.

“By the end of 2019, I went to England when he started playing for Gloucester and we were having serious conversations about our potential future.

“But then Danny called to tell me that he and a woman named Victoria had become pregnant.”

AnnaLynne said the former Wasps and Bath star told her he wanted to do the right thing and be a dad to the child — which meant he needed to be committed to getting to know Victoria. She recalled: “I just fell apart. I was devastated.”

In 2020, Danny and Victoria sadly lost their baby, who they named River, at 23 weeks.

Danny — who has previously been linked to actress , TV hosts and , and — married Victoria, 44, in April 2021.

AnnaLynne said: “He had been in hospital and I had heard about the baby so I wrote him this huge, long email, finally admitting my feelings.

“I said I knew I truly loved him as I wanted him to be happy.”

The actress, known for playing vixen-type roles, said she took a step back and focused on herself, until she started dreaming about Danny in November 2023 during a spiritual retreat in Egypt.

She revealed: “I got on a plane back to the US and landed in New York and my artist sent me a screenshot, asking me: ‘Did you see this?’

“It was a news article with the headline ‘Danny Cipriani divorces his wife’ — so I got back in touch.

“He told me he loved me since the day he met me.”

Danny moved into AnnaLynne’s LA home and, on Christmas Eve last year, said he wanted to propose to her in Cambodia.

She said: “On Christmas Day there were rose petals everywhere and Danny got on his knee in front of the tree. We started planning the wedding quickly after that.”