Salim Mehajer gives a fake surname to new love interest even though she’d never heard of him

WHEN Salim Mehajer met his new girlfriend, he knew his name might precede him, and not in a good way - so he took precautions to keep his identity secret.

WHEN Salim Mehajer met his new girlfriend Melissa Tysoe on New Year’s Eve, he knew that introducing himself by name might lead to mountains of questions.

Instead, Mr Mehajer went to great lengths to keep his identity secret — detailing the extraordinary precautions he took in a lengthy Instagram post including changing his name and putting his Instagram on private.

It was exactly 12am on New Year’s Eve when the couple shared a “smile of immense connection” in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse.

Mr Mehajer said the smile was so intense, he decided to go over and sit next to her and that their meeting “still sends shivers down my spine”.

Salim Mehajer and Melissa Tysoe have been dating since New Year’s Eve.

The 31-year-old former deputy mayor said Melissa, nicknamed Missy, didn’t even know who he was.

Another “cheeky fact” he posted on Instagram — Missy’s sister also had no idea who Mehajer was.

“Even her sister, who lives in Tasmania, has never heard of me. I was like YESSSS!!!!!”

To keep his identity a secret, Mehajer briefly put his Instagram on private and even changed the spelling of his surname, in case she tried to Google him.

“Then, there was this huge connection ... to be continued,” he ended.

Mr Mehajer’s loved-up message was in response to a lengthy message his new girlfriend posted on Instagram last night.

“What do I see in him? We pray to different gods, we are tied to different cultures, but we share the same passions,” she wrote.

Ms Tysoe said she sees “a kind man with an incredible mind, a companion who values the same thing I do”.

Tysoe has defended Mehajer a week after they met.

Late last month, Mehajer broadcast an “exclusive” interview on YouTube where he defended his lavish 2015 wedding, his business dealings and a video in which he shouts abuse at now-estranged wife Aysha Learmonth.

“In hindsight I actually feel, to this very day, that it was that fairytale wedding she always wanted,” he said in the video.

“I’m not somebody to point fingers or blame anyone else ... but the media is responsible for my breakdown.”

He said the media attempts to “ensure that no female likes me — they all turn on me”.

Ms Tysoe doesn’t seem to be worried though, writing in her Instagram post “there is good and bad in everyone”.

“Sometimes good people do bad things and sometimes bad people do good things. In the early stages of crossing paths with someone, it is difficult to tell one from the other,” she wrote.

“All I know is, we are human and we all make mistakes, but for most people, their worst mistakes are kept secret and not put out in the media, so we are given a second chance.

“I think he deserves one too,” she ended.