Natalie Joyce has opened up about her smiling appearance at the Mid Winter Ball, admitting she put on a brave face while her husband hardly spoke to her.
One year after they stood arm-in-arm at the black tie event, Ms Joyce this week revealed the less-than-glamorous reality of the June 2017 ball.
‘The photos of us smiling and happy couldn’t be further from the truth… he hardly spoke to me,’ she told Woman’s Weekly in an explosive tell-all interview.
Photos snapped at the Canberra ball appear to show the pair happy and at ease in each other’s company as they posed for the cameras.
Natalie Joyce has now revealed the truth behind this photo showing the former Deputy Prime Minister with his arm around her at the Mid Winter Ball last year
Natalie Joyce said she was ‘proud she stood up’ to her husband’s mistress at his Tamworth electorate office in last March. Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion pictured with son Sebastian
The 48-year-old mother-of-four spoke out this week for the first time about her marriage break-down with the former Deputy Prime Minister.
She said she felt compelled to tell her side of the story for the sake of her four daughters, despite insisting she was a very private person.
She said she wanted to speak up so her daughters felt empowered.
In the tell-all interview, Ms Joyce revealed she and her estranged husband always planned to name their son Sebastian should they ever give birth to a boy.
When Ms Campion gave birth in April and that name was revealed, Ms Joyce said it felt like ‘another malicious taunt in a very long line of appalling behaviour’.
Barnaby and Natalie Joyce have four adult daughters together (pictured) – and Ms Joyce said she was speaking up to the Australian Women’s Weekly to ‘defend our fine name’. (Back left, Bridgette, back right Odette, front left Caroline, centre Natalie and front right Julia)
Happier times: Barnaby Joyce celebrates International Women’s Day with his girls and wife, Natalie, in 2016
Ms Joyce described Ms Campion and Mr Joyce’s paid Channel Seven interview as ‘an absolute disgrace’ when it aired – her first public announcement since news of the affair broke.
Mr Joyce, 50, and his former media adviser, 33, sold their story for $150,000, with the money going to a trust fund for their new baby son.
Friends and strangers had praised Ms Joyce for her ‘quiet dignity’ since the affair was made public in February.
Ms Joyce has stepped up her work as a special needs teacher after splitting with her husband, sources said.
Ms Joyce claimed Vikki Campion (above, with little Sebastian) ‘destroyed her family and stole our life’ in an interview with the Australian Women’s Weekly
Pictured: Bianca Lane, Natalie Joyce, Lizzie Wilson, Yolanda Lukowski and Paul Suesse
Her only previous public comments have come in the form of a short statement where she said she felt ‘deceived and hurt’.
She hired a media manager, Cecelia Haddad, to cope with the deluge of press inquiries – only to reject several opportunities to speak publicly.
Ms Joyce and the ex-Nationals leader have four daughters together aged between 21 and 15 – Bridgette, Julia, Caroline and Odette.
Bridgette posted to Instagram last month saying she had skipped her father’s interview in favour of a drink with friends.
She wished it was a long weekend, she quipped.
In an Instagram post, Bridgette Joyce, right next to sister Julia, said she skipped her father’s TV interview in favour of wine
Natalie Joyce described Vikki Campion and Barnaby’s paid interview with Channel Seven as ‘an absolute disgrace’
The very public fallout of Mr Joyce’s affair has dominated news sites since the story broke in February
Rumours of an affair swirled around Canberra for several months before the couple were finally outed.
Then, Ms Campion was pictured crossing the street near her apartment heavily pregnant by a news photographer.
In the couple’s interview with Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen, Ms Campion revealed she and Ms Joyce had an argument – but couldn’t ‘repeat the words on television’.
Ms Joyce’s interview appears in this month’s edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly.
The little baby made a bath-time appearance during the Sunday Night special
Ms Joyce’s interview appears in this month’s edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly