It was 1am on August 16, 2015.
The B-list celebrities had gone home, the Harley-Davidsons had roared off into the night and the shiny rented Lambos returned to their rightful owners.
The so-called ‘wedding of the century’ of western Sydney property developer Salim Mehajer and his young bride ‘Aysha’ was winding down after 12 whirlwind hours.
The day before, the city had been brought to a standstill as streets were shut down to accommodate a procession of luxury cars while a fleet of motorcycles escorted the couple and a helicopter soared above to capture their cinematic wedding video.
Every gaudy detail of their nuptials – from the 10,000 red roses at the reception to the towering floral arrangements and gold-dusted desserts – was documented in breathless, painstaking detail by the media.
It seemed the whole country was talking about the newlyweds from the ‘wild west’ whose extravagance and inexplicable wealth looked ready-made for reality TV.
But as the guests left the ‘Le Montage’ function centre in Lilyfield, Aysha was perhaps wondering to herself what married life to a man like Salim would possibly look like.
The middle-class daughter of a newsagent, who grew up in the suburb of Woonona, near Wollongong, was a relative newcomer to Salim’s world of ‘crazy rich Muslims’.
Aysha Mehajer, the ex-wife of jailed property developer Salim Mehajer, now lives an anonymous life under a new name. She has remarried, had three children, and resides in a quiet village in NSW’s northern coastal region (pictured outside her home on October 9)
The middle-class daughter of a newsagent who grew up in Woonona was a relative newcomer to Salim’s world of ‘crazy rich Muslims’ when they wed in a $1million ceremony in Sydney in 2015
She didn’t know it then – likely still coming off the exhilarating high of her $1million wedding day – but Aysha would spend just one year as Mrs Mehajer.
Their union crumbled in the same high-profile fashion as their wedding.
In 2016, she took out a restraining order against Salim, whose legal and financial troubles saw the attention-seeking former Deputy Mayor of Auburn tumble from crisis to courtroom, and back and forth to prison, where he currently resides.
After the marriage ended, the young woman then known as Aysha Amelia Mehajer dropped out of sight and changed her name. For almost a decade since she has managed to elude the press who once followed her every move.
But we found her.
She would spend just one year as Mrs Mehajer. Her life today couldn’t be more different to her time spent living with Salim at the lavish house he built for them in Lidcombe
Her former home had its own million-dollar marble staircase constructed just for Aysha, but her current residence is far less ostentatious
Our photographer caught Aysha emerging from the house carrying bags of nappies and a suitcase as she prepared to take a trip with her three children
Aysha, who goes by her new married name, is now a humble housewife and mother-of-three living in a village on the NSW Mid North Coast with her tradie husband.
The former Wollongong beauty therapist recently purchased a $1million-plus home and has moved in with her young children.
She lives in a quiet, suburban street with her electrician husband. In an interesting link to her former life, her new husband is also believed to follow the Islamic faith which Aysha adopted before marrying Salim, a practising Muslim.
Despite maintaining her religion, her day-to-day life couldn’t be more different to that of her ex, who is currently in jail after a series of brazen crimes.
The Mehajers’ union crumbled a year after their wedding, with Aysha taking out a restraining order against Salim in 2016. She had supported him at Bankstown Local Court in November 2015 when he received penalty notices for driving an unregistered Ferrari without a licence
His first conviction related to rigging the election which saw him appointed deputy mayor of Auburn Local Council.
He has since been convicted of multiple offences and is presently in jail serving seven years for fraud and domestic violence.
Last month, Mehajer faced further sentencing for staging a 2017 car crash to avoid a court appearance. No time was added to his already lengthy term.
Aysha’s second wedding was a much quieter affair than her first. There were no helicopters, fighter jets or luxury cars.
Aysha tried to cover her face after spotting our photographer outside her home. Her aversion to publicity today is in stark contrast to Salim’s attention-seeking ways during their marriage
The former Wollongong beauty therapist recently purchased a $1million-plus home there and has moved in with her young children. We spotted her running errands on October 9
During her first wedding, groomsmen arrived by chopper onto a red carpet in a local park to the dramatic beat of Arabic drums.
Aysha had nine bridesmaids, three flower girls and an array of celebrity guests she barely knew, including singer Missy Higgins and NRL commentator Beau Ryan, who were ferried in Lamborghinis, Ferraris, a Rolls-Royce and on Harley-Davidsons.
The resulting traffic jam caused police to close off an entire block in Lidcombe, where Mehajer had built a house with its own $1million marble staircase just for Aysha.
The staircase featured in a video by American rapper Bow Wow, but was only one stand-out aspect of the over-the-top western Sydney mansion which boasted a 13-car basement, home theatre with massage chair, Swarovski crystal chandelier plus a Jacuzzi and private sauna.
Aysha was dressed casually and without the designer accessories she carried during her stint as Mrs Mehajer
It was repossessed after Salim was declared bankrupt owing $24million to creditors, and the former developer traded opulence for a cell in Cooma Correctional Centre in 2021, when he was jailed for lying under oath to further his business interests.
In contrast, Mehajer’s one-time bride lives in a comparatively modest brick five-bedroom home with only a double car park.
Aysha’s new house, despite its price tag, is comfortable rather than glamorous, with a backyard slide for the kids. It was so recently purchased she and her husband had not yet removed the ‘sold’ sign in the front yard when we visited.
Our photographer caught Aysha emerging from the house carrying bags of nappies and a suitcase as she prepared to take a trip with her three children – two girls and a boy, aged under six.
Wearing a long-sleeved blue top and jeans, and with no Islamic headwear to cover her long, dark hair, Aysha busied herself about her new home with the kids before hitting the road in her SUV.
She now lives not far from her parents, Natalie and John, who once ran the newsagency in the town of Urunga with his brother Mark, but have since retired.
Aysha grew up as April Amelia Learmonth, and in the blaze of publicity after her high-profile first wedding was remembered as ‘a really sweet and quiet girl’.
Wearing a blue top and jeans, and with no Islamic headwear to cover her long, dark hair, Aysha busied herself about her new home with the kids before hitting the road in her SUV
Aysha grew up as April Amelia Learmonth, and in the blaze of publicity after her high-profile first wedding was remembered as ‘a really sweet and quiet girl’
At her first wedding, groomsmen arrived by chopper onto a red carpet in a local park while Lamborghinis, Ferraris, a Rolls-Royce and Harley Davidsons ferried celebrity guests
Every detail of their nuptials – from the 10,000 red roses at the reception to the towering floral arrangements and gold-dusted desserts – was documented in painstaking detail by the media
She had grown up near Wollongong, south of Sydney, a shy red-haired girl with freckles who attended Woonona High School.
April met Salim Mehajer while working as a beautician at MC’s Beauty Salon in Figtree, a suburb of Wollongong sometime in 2008, and thereafter completely transformed her appearance.
Aysha dyed her hair black and began living an expensive lifestyle, partying with Mehajer and friends on boats in Sydney Harbour.
After falling in love with him, she converted to Islam in order for them to marry, and legally changed her name from April Amelia Learmonth to Aysha Amelia Mehajer in January 2014.
She shares a name with the wife of the prophet Mohammed, Aisha, and with one of Mehajer’s sisters.
Aysha then left the beauty industry and started working as an ‘estimating director’ for Mehajer’s then-operating property firm, the Sydney Project Group.
Salim commissioned a cinematic wedding video, which included this scene of his groomsmen bizarrely getting dressed outside against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Aysha – who shares a name with the wife of the prophet Mohammed, Aisha, and with one of Mehajer’s sisters – is pictured with her glamorous bridal party on her wedding day
The singer Missy Higgins (centre) was one of several celebrity guests who attended the wedding of Salim and Aysha Mehajer
In March 2018, Salim was declared bankrupt and the following month was found guilty of electoral fraud for rigging the Auburn council election that had appointed him deputy mayor.
He was sentenced to 21 months in prison with a non-parole period of 11 months. In April 2021, he was sentenced to two years and three months for lying to court.
In May 2023, he was sentenced to a further seven years and nine months for domestic violence and fraud offences, with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years, although the sentence was not revealed until September 2024.
During Mehajer’s trial, it was revealed he had punched his then girlfriend (not Aysha) in the head 10 times in a car on the way to a restaurant, squeezed her hand holding her phone until the screen cracked and glass pierced the skin of her hand, and put his hands over her mouth and nose until she blacked out.
The trial heard he had threatened to kill her family members in front of her before killing her too, saying ‘he would shoot her mother and make her watch’.
In May 2023, Salim was sentenced to seven years and nine months for domestic violence and fraud offences, although the sentence was not revealed until September 2024
The $1million marble staircase in Salim Mehajer’s house, which has since been sold, after he was bankrupted and went to jail
At Aysha’s current marital home there is a children’s slide in the backyard and despite its $1m price tag, it is a much more modest home
The woman victim said she had suffered severe abuse by Mehajer, of mental, physical, emotional and financial nature, and that he ‘slowly wore away at the person I was before I met Salim’.
Mehajer’s abusive behaviour was no surprise to some: in 2016, a video emerged of him, sitting in a car and screaming furious threats to Aysha and her family into his mobile phone.
‘I’m going to rape your mum, your mum and your f***ing dad. Call me now. Aysha, I hope you die you s**t,’ Mehajer then added in Arabic: ‘I swear on the Koran, I swear on God.’
Salim Mehajer has launched an appeal against the fraud and domestic violence convictions against his girlfriend, and due to the sentence being backdated, could be due for release in July 2025.
Aysha is now believed to be back working in the beauty industry as she raises her children and enjoys family time with her parents and grandparents, who live in a retirement village in the same region.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk