Barnaby Joyce’s fiancée has shared the tumultuous story of the pair’s relationship, which hit turbulent times after their affair was make public.
Vikki Campion, who is 18 years younger than the National’s leader, feared she would have to give birth alone and “walk away” from judgemental friends when she was secretly pregnant to the now Deputy Prime Minister.
In 2018, Vikki gave birth to their son Sebastian and their second son Thomas a year later.
The very public affair between the MP and his staffer forced Barnaby to step down from his role in politics, only to be reinstated years later.
Despite the couple’s relationship beginning with a rocky start, the pair got engaged in Coffs Harbour last week, with Vikki comparing their relationship to a “great love throughout history”.
Vikki admitted that the early days of their relationship “wasn’t perfect”, but also insists that she doesn’t regret the drama surrounding their infidelity.
In a column for The Daily Telegraph, Vikki said, “Even until the day he said in Parliament that I was his partner, I didn’t believe it to be accurate. He said he would be there in the labour ward and I didn’t believe that either.”
The mother-of-two went on to explain that during a whirlwind of “twisted mistakes” and “humiliation”, she was forced to “walk away” from her friends before they got the chance to “exile” her.
“You swap your job for harsh stares, paparazzi and paranoia, schoolyard rumours cooking up in Ultimo newsrooms, many without a yolk of truth and you stop answering the door,” she said.
“He has asked me a thousand times: ‘Would you go through it all again?’ And my answer has always been yes.”
In December 2017, Barnaby Joyce used the distraction fo the parliamentary debate on same sex marriage to confirm he was no longer with Natalie, his ex-wife of 24 years and mother to his four daughters.
After photos emerged of a heavily pregnant Vikki, his then staff member, the pair were forced to confirm their relationship, sending Barnaby’s political career into disarray.
After spending several years forced to the backbench of Parliament, Barnaby was reinstated as the leader of the Nationals party in June 2021.
Image credits: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.