Married At First Sight bride Stacey Hampton was so stressed before the birth of her first child she broke out in a viral rash that put her in hospital and one side of her face became paralysed.
Her bikie partner was behind bars, her mother was still struggling with grief over the suicide of Stacey’s father 20 years earlier and her sister had never recovered from his death.
Then on the day Stacey was due to give birth, the 21-year-old Adelaide law student’s beloved older brother Jaimie was killed in a motorcycle accident.
Stacey’s mother Leanne fell apart at the loss of her only son and immediately moved in with her pregnant daughter, who eventually underwent an induced labour.
When Stacey’s son was born a week after her 23-year-old brother died she rang her partner Shane in prison from her hospital bed and listened as he wept at the news.
Married At First Sight bride Stacey Hampton was due to give birth to her first child on the day her beloved brother Jaimie was killed in a motorcycle accident in July 2015. She is pictured with son Kosta Jaimie Smith, now almost five, at her brother’s grave
Stacey met Rebels bikie boss Shane Smith when she was just 19 and fell pregnant with their first child Kosta a year later. The couple became engaged but parted ways in 2017. Stacey, Shane and Kosta are pictured
Stacey had rhinoplasty – a nose job – shortly after Kruz’s birth as well as breast augmentation and abdominoplasty or a ‘tummy tuck’. She is pictured with her nose bandaged with Kruz
The couple gave baby Kosta the middle name Jaimie in honour of the brother who stepped up to help raise Stacey after their father Alastair killed himself aged just 25.
Stacey has opened up about her tragic family history to Daily Mail Australia in her most revealing interview since her explosive appearance on the last season of MAFS.
The now 26-year-old explains how she fell for Adelaide Rebels boss Shane Michael Smith when she was still a teenager and was pregnant to him within 12 months.
She talks of juggling her law studies while raising sons Kosta, then Kruz, as she battled loneliness, depression and guilt.
And she reveals how her early experiences shaped her relationships with men, leading to her making poor choices and falling for partners with ‘issues’.
‘Picture looking back on your life growing up as a highlight reel,’ Stacey says. ‘Only mine was so dark.’
Stacey (pictured centre) did not know her father had died until her sister told her when she was aged six or seven. Stacey’s brother Jaimie (left) felt he had to step into his father’s shoes
Stacey’s mother Leanne (pictured with Stacey) attended her ‘wedding’ to millionaire businessman Michael Goonan on Married At First Sight. The relationship was short-lived
As a child Stacey believed her mining supervisor father, who disappeared when she was one, might have been away working but her mother did not want to discuss his absence.
‘I tried to ask my mother about my father and all she did was break down and cry,’ Stacey says. ‘She said, “Stacey I cant do this” and would avoid the question.’
When New Zealand-born Stacey was six or seven her older sister told her their father had killed himself on New Year’s Day in 1995.
‘I fell into a trap of not understanding men, always believing I never needed a man which is what led me to my poor choices in relationships and I often fall for men with issues,’ she says.
‘I always want to be the saviour as this has always been my role in life.’
Stacey met Shane Smith through mutual friends when she was 19 and fell hard for the bikie. He was 11 years older and had a daughter from a previous relationship.
‘I fell pregnant at the age of 20 and gave birth at 21 when my partner was incarcerated,’ she says.
‘I had to get admitted to hospital with shingles from stress, and then I had Bell’s palsy with stress whilst heavily pregnant.’
Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus and causes a painful rash, while Bell’s palsy can occur as a reaction to a viral infection and is characterised by muscle weakness which causes one half of the face to droop.
Stacey had been particularly close to her brother Jaimie since the suicide of their father.
‘I remember no one was good enough for me and he was always the one to push me to finish my law degree,’ Stacey says.
‘He had a lot of empty space in his heart and felt he had to be the father.’
Stacey had counted on Jaimie being around when she became a mother but another tragedy was about to strike.
‘On the day I was due to give birth I received a phone call from my mother,’ Stacey says. ‘She was crying, she said, “Stacey, Jaimie is dead”.
Stacey initially laughed. ‘I said, “Mum, what are you talking about? Stop joking.”
‘She poured out crying over the phone and said, “He’s gone, I can’t call him”.’
Stacey, who was admitted as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of South Australia last year, has put her legal career on hold to look after sons Kosta and Kruz (pictured)
‘On the day I was due to give birth I received a phone call from my mother,’ Stacey says. ‘She was crying, she said, “Stacey, Jaimie is dead”. Stacey is pictured with sons Kosta, four, and Kruz, two, at Jaimie’s grave
Stacey was particularly close to her brother Jaimie following the suicide of their father. ‘I remember no one was good enough for me and he was always the one to push me to finish my law degree,’ she says. They are pictured above as children and adults
Stacey hung up from her mother and tried ringing Jaimie’s phone but it was turned off and her calls went to voicemail.
‘I lost two people that day,’ she says. ‘My brother was my father and my brother.’
Stacey collapsed on the ground and was picked up by her best friend, screaming as she explained what had happened.
‘She quickly got me into the car we drove to my mother’s,’ Stacey says. ‘There were police everywhere, my brother’s friends and his partner at the time.
‘Everyone was crying. I went blank, I felt numb. I couldn’t breathe anymore. My priority was my mother so I dealt with the police and their questions.
‘I then turned to mum, packed her bags and moved her into my home where I was staying awaiting my baby.
‘I heard her crying all night for weeks. I had to be induced due to the stress.’
Kosta was born seven days after Stacey’s brother died. Father Shane was in jail at the time. ‘I had to call his father from the hospital and I remember him crying and and feeling so blessed. We named him Kosta Jaimie Smith in memory.’ Kosta is pictured with his father
Kruz was not even two when Stacey was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia after completing her bachelor of Laws at the University of South Australia. Stacey and Kruz are pictured
It seemed Kosta just did not want to come. He was born on July 25, 2015, seven days after Stacey’s brother died.
‘I had to call his father from the hospital and I remember him crying and and feeling so blessed. We named him Kosta Jaimie Smith in memory.’
Shane Smith proposed to Stacehy with a five carat diamond ring (pictured)
Stacey was forced to begin motherhood with her child’s partner in jail. She was depressed and alone and began taking anti-depressants.
She helped her mother plan Jaimie’s funeral and took two months off work on her law degree before eventually returning to her studies.
A year out from completing her degree Stacey again fell pregnant to Shane and he proposed with a five carat diamond ring.
On June 13, 2017, the couple welcomed Kruz David Smith into the world.
‘He was named David for the loss of Shane’s brother who died from leukemia when Shane was young,’ Stacey says.
This time around Stacey took no time off from her studies.
Kruz was not even two when Stacey was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in South Australia after completing her Bachelor of Laws.
‘I found it so hard at times,’ she says. ‘I would feel so alone, not good enough, and I always felt guilt for being happy to be blessed with my children when I’ve lost my brother who was my best friend, my rock and my father figure.’
‘He still emotionally supports me and my decisions, helps me with relationship advice and also looks out for me and my children’s happiness,’ Stacey says of her former partner Shane Smith, pictured with their son Kruz
Stacey has had a decade-long battle with anorexia and suffered terrible post-natal depression, which led her to launching a charity called Not Alone, Always Here Inc.
She has had rhinoplasty – a nose job – as well as breast augmentation and abdominoplasty or a ‘tummy tuck’ since the birth of her children.
Her engagement to Smith, 37, ended in July 2017, a month after Kruz was born and a month before he bashed two nightclub bouncers in an assault that almost put him back in jail.
In February 2019, Smith was convicted and fined $3,500 for assaulting the men outside Universal nightclub in Bendigo, 150km north-west of Melbourne.
Three months after being admitted as a lawyer in May 2019 Stacey began filming the most recent series of Channel 9’s ‘social experiment’ Married At First Sight.
Her mother attended her ‘wedding’ to 29-year-old millionaire businessman Michael Goonan but the couple split in January this year.
Stacey was recently seeing 34-year-old Michael Fares, a heavily-tattooed Sydneysider who likes motorbikes and gold jewellery. However, the couple split this week, just days after going public with their romance.
She has has not used her qualifications to practise as a lawyer because legal firms were unlikely to give her a job when she could only work three days a week while raising her young children.
Stacey, who has no regrets about her time with Smith, describes their break-up as civil and him as an ‘amazing’ father.
‘Shane and I met very young, I fell hard and fast and we will always be each other’s kryptonite,’ she says.
‘He was always very supportive and I had terrible post-natal depression which is my motivation behind my charity.
‘He took the kids when I was in no state to have them. I had to fix myself and I was alone. He was great to me.
Shane, Stacey and Kosta are pictured with Santa Claus at David Jones in 2015 for the infant’s first Christmas. Shane and Stacey still celebrate their sons’ birthdays together
‘He still emotionally supports me and my decisions, helps me with relationship advice and also looks out for me and my children’s happiness.
‘We still share kids birthdays together and do lunches. We just can’t be together because we argue and we both have a lot of damage from our past which clashes.’
Stacey’s brother is buried at Golden Grove Cemetery at Tea Tree Gully in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs. She has his name tattooed on her stomach amid a geometric design with the words “forever young’ written below.
Her father’s remains lie in Ellesmere Public Cemetery at Leeston in Canterbury on New Zealand’s south island.
Stacey’s sister, who was six when their father took his life, remembers his death ‘like it was yesterday’.
‘She will never be the same and she suffers terribly to this day,’ Stacey says.
Stacey is still exceptionally close to her mother, who she says ‘will never be the same’ after the suicide of her husband and the loss of her son.
‘I still am her main carer to this day and provide her assistance, company and anything she needs,’ Stacey says. ‘I talk to her everyday and she makes sure I’m eating and I’m happy.
‘She’s my support but I feel like I’m more her support and I always will be until the day she dies.’
Stacey was recently in a new relationship with Sydneysider Michael Fares, 34, but the couple split this week just days after going public with their romance