What we learned from Natalie Joyce about her breakup from Barnaby

SHE stayed silent as her husband’s extramarital relationship gained national attention, but Natalie Joyce has finally revealed how the scandal affected her.

NATALIE Joyce stayed silent for months as her husband’s affair with a former staff member was being splashed across newspapers and websites all over the country. But in a candid interview in the July issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, the estranged wife of former prime minister Barnaby Joyce has spoken up and finally told her side of the story.

Here are the five key things we learned:

1. The end of her marriage

Natalie Joyce said she knew her marriage had ended when she and Barnaby returned from a trip to Europe in July last year, and her husband left her at Sydney airport without a backward glance as he ran to catch a flight to Canberra and back to his new partner, Vikki Campion.

MORE: Barnaby Joyce’s estranged wife Natalie breaks silence over his affair

TIMELINE: How the Joyce and Campion affair unfolded

GALLERY: Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion in pictures

Natalie Joyce has done an interview with the Australian Women's Weekly. Source: Instagram @womensweeklymag

“I stood there paralysed, my stomach wrenched in a million knots, and I knew then the marriage was all but over,” she told the magazine.

“The man who always made sure I got home safe … left me to find my own way home while he jumped on a plane to be reunited with her.”

Mrs Joyce said Vikki had given her “permission” for her to go and had called her husband up to 20 times a day while they were away.

2. A moment of confrontation

In March last year, Mrs Joyce recalls driving to her husband’s office in Tamworth after learning he and Campion were having an affair.

She said she managed to stay composed when confronting Ms Campion. “I was very measured. I didn’t raise my voice,” she said.

When Barnaby saw her arrive, she said he “bolted”, leaving her alone with Ms Campion.

Barnaby Joyce and his wife Natalie at the federal Parliament Midwinter Ball 2017. Picture: Ray Strange

“I turned to her and said, ‘My husband is out of bounds, off-limits, he’s a married man with four children, ‘ and then I called her a home-wrecking wh***.”

“It was not one of my finer moments but, looking back, I’m proud I stood up to her,” Mrs Joyce said.

3. The choice of Barnaby and Vikki’s baby name

Finding out Mr Joyce and Ms Campion had named their baby Sebastian “felt like another malicious taunt in a very long line of appalling behaviour”.

Mrs Joyce revealed that her husband had always wanted to have a son (they have four daughters) and that Sebastian had been their “number one” name on the list of boys’ names.

“He always wanted a boy and while the girls really are the epicentre of his universe, we had no chance, she was giving him a son,” she said.

Vikki Campion and Barnaby Joyce with their son Sebastian. Credit: Channel 7

4. How their daughters felt about the tell-all interview

When Mr Joyce and Ms Campion decided to sell their story for $150,000, Mrs Joyce wasn’t surprised. She admits to watching the interview with a few close family members and was on the phone to her daughters Bridgette, 21, Julia, 20, Caroline, 18, and Odette, 15 all night following the tell-all Sunday Night show.

Barnaby Joyce’s daughters wanted to know if he had been as hands-on with them when they were babies. Credit: Picture: Channel 7

They were heartbroken and angry, and wanted to know if their father had been as involved with caring for them as he appeared to be with baby Sebastian.

“They were asking if their dad ever changed their nappies and, for the most part, I had to say no,” she said.

She admitted the interview upset her and she said that she “fell apart” in private and wondered how he do that to his family.

5. What the future holds

Despite everything, Mrs Joyce puts her troubles into perspective and says “it’s nothing compared to the real stuff our rural folk face every day”.

Natalie Joyce with her daughters, Caroline (seated, left), Bridgette (standing, left), Julia (seated, right), Odette (standing, right). Picture: Facebook

However, she also wants her daughters to continue having a “loving relationship with their father”.

She said the door will always be open to him but that Ms Campion will not be welcome. “Whether the girls meet Sebastian, that’s their decision, and I will support them either way.” Only time will tell whether the girls will forgive their father.

“They’ve been pushed aside and it remains to be seen if that can be mended,” she said.