MAFS bride Julia-Ruth has broken her silence in a bombshell interview with The Sun, after the explosive TV revelation that she enjoyed a secret ‘wife swap’ holiday with groom Joe.
On Sunday night, viewers were stunned when the feisty reality star returned to the show to admit she’d enjoyed an off-camera trip to Lanzarote with Joe, who was paired with Maeve on the series, and they had slept together.
Now, for the first time, Julia-Ruth has revealed what really happened on that clandestine break with the heavily-inked hunk, how she was ‘love-bombed’ and why she was shocked when he used a surprising excuse to end their blossoming romance.
“I haven’t heard from Joe since he ghosted me after the holiday, I’m not quite sure why, to be honest,” the outspoken bride tells us.
Holiday romance
“The holiday itself was really great and we got on really well – we were like laughing and going out for dinners and like jet skis and all that. So it was a lot of fun. But we also had like a lot of like serious deep talks.”
Explaining what motivated them both to escape abroad together after sliding into each other DMs days after they both quit the experiment, Julia-Ruth says they were both looking for a “rush” after the rollercoaster experience of filming.
She reveals: “I think maybe because we both hadn’t really digested what had happened on the series, and we just kind of went straight into another like an adrenaline high, like you’re looking for that next rush.”
Julia-Ruth also confirms that Joe continued to string her along after she left Lanzarote.
‘I felt used’
“I felt used because he was pursuing me after the holiday. I left the holiday a little bit earlier than he did, and when I got back he was sending me messages saying ‘The second I get back from holiday, I really want to either come up to London or you come to Manchester.’
“And he was like, ‘I’m so into you’. He was sending all these text messages saying he wanted me to meet his friends.”
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Then, abruptly, the day before they were due to meet again and she was set to travel to Manchester, Julia-Ruth claims Joe pulled a bizarre move.
“He sent me a message saying he he had fallen out of bed and broken his arm. He sent a picture of him like sat on his couch with this fake arm thing on, posing like a Calvin Klein ad.
“And I was like, ‘I’m not buying this. You’re a six-foot-something man and you fall out of your bed and you’ve hurt your arm and you now can’t do this?’ So I literally was like, ‘refund me for my ticket’. I couldn’t be arsed.”
That was the last time the pair spoke, and Julia-Ruth now accepts she was “love bombed’ by the groom.
“I guess that what Joe does, he love bombs you,” she shrugs. “He has never said he is sorry for the way he treated me, or anything. I don’t understand because we hadn’t even had a fight. But I guess maybe he needed to process everything that happened on the show.”
Truth about those tattoos
Of course, Julia-Ruth has a permanent reminder of Joe because, as previously revealed by The Sun, it comes out on pair got matching tattoos on their holiday.
So what did they get?
“We had the words ‘why not’ tattooed on us. It was basically something we kept saying when we were messaging after the show. It was like, ‘Should we go this holiday together? Why not!’
Then during the holiday, it was very much like, ‘Should we go on jet skis today? Oh, why not!’
“Should we go pick like three different bars to go to and do starters, mains, desserts and then drinks? Why not!’ So the whole trip was very spontaneous. It kind of became the theme of our time together – f** it, why not?”
Does she regret getting the ink now?
“I don’t regret it because it was still an experience in itself,” she reasons. “I still wear my wedding ring from Divarni on my right hand. Everything is a memory. Everything happens for a reason. You just got to keep rolling with the punches in life.”
Building bridges
One thing she does regret, however, is how she treated Nelly on the show.
Julia-Ruth infamously also slated Nelly on the show, then admitted to messaging her groom Steven and arranging to meet for a drink.
“I regret hurting Maeve and I regret doing that behind the group’s back. If I could take it back I would,” she insists.
“I definitely would have changed how I handled things with Nelly too. Some of the things I said about her was a low point for me.
“I never ended up meeting Steven for those drinks, and I have had conversations with Maeve and Nelly since the show.
“It would be a stretch to say there is a friendship there, but I think there things will be ok with them both one day.
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“There are also moments you will see in the reunion where Nelly and I back each other up. Maeve has also had my back on instagram and defended me, which she didn’t need to do and I didn’t really deserve so I appreciate that.
“I would still really love to repair those relationships.”
