Natalie Joyce Invincible

In this exclusive interview, the former second lady, Natalie Joyce, breaks her silence, opening up to Lizzie Wilson about the worst two years of her life, the moment she confronted her husband’s mistress and how the love and support of the greater rural community ultimately saved her.

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Left abandoned at a Sydney airport departure gate, Natalie Joyce cut a lone figure as she watched her husband of 24 years walk away. The former Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, never did look back with one last wave for the woman who had stood so faithfully by him. Rather, Natalie’s lasting memory from July 5 last year is of the man she knows as Barney, the father of her four daughters, sprinting towards a departure gate, bound for Canberra, straight back into the arms of his lover and former media adviser, Vikki Campion.

“I stood there paralysed, my stomach wrenched in a million knots, and I knew then the marriage was all but over,” says Natalie, 48. “The man who always made sure I got home safely, regardless of where we were in the world, left me to find my own way home while he jumped on a plane to be reunited with her ... On that last leg home to Tamworth, the tears came fast. I’d been used and spat out, and I can’t recall a time in my life when I’ve ever felt so alone.”

That final blow had come after one last-ditch attempt at marital reconciliation – though, in hindsight, Natalie believes she was taken for a ride – a pawn in a cruel political game that began when the media adviser “insisted” that Natalie and Barnaby attend the high-profile Mid Winter Ball.

 “The photos of us smiling and happy couldn’t be further from the truth,” she admits. “Barney and I, we love to dance, but that night he never asked – he hardly spoke to me.”