TV preview: Gypsy Brides US

Just when you thought it couldn't get any bigger, fatter and even more lavish... it did! From the makers of Channel 4's Big Fat Gypsy Weddings comes Gypsy Brides US.

This new series, airing from 9 May on Discovery Real Time, does what it says on the tin. It's about Gypsy Brides... in the US.

There are an estimated one million Gypsies across the pond, but most live in complete secrecy, away from the judgment and discrimination that plague their communities. Like their UK cousins, the US Traveller community blends long-established values with modern-day influences, resulting in celebrations that are large, loud, and lavish.

In essence, Gypsy Brides US pretty much follows the format of the British version, but instead of Liverpudlian dressmaker extraordinaire Thelma Madine, Boston-based Sondra Celli is the woman with the sewing machine.

In the premiere episode, two teenage girls go through different rites of passage; in West Virginia, Hope is planning an extravagant 15th birthday party, and in Virginia, 17-year-old Shyanne is preparing for her wedding to a boy she got engaged to after their second meeting.

In the coming weeks, viewers will be taken behind caravan doors into the lives of America's Gypsy and Traveller communities.

Gypsy Brides US airs on Discovery Real Time from 9 May at 10pm