PR maven Roxy Jacenko opens up on intimate photos with her ex

TWELVE months ago, Roxy Jacenko thought her marriage was over and was snapped kissing another man. Now, she reveals why.

TWELVE months ago, Sydney PR queen Roxy Jacenko thought her marriage was over.

She’d fallen out of love with her husband, Oliver Curtis. Her marriage was on the rocks, and both of them knew it.

Living in her lavish Bondi apartment with their two young children while Curtis served his sentence for insider trading behind bars at Cooma Correctional Centre, the 37-year-old “didn’t think there was any hope” for their five-year marriage ahead of his release in June.

“I’d spoken to a lawyer about divorce, and he knew that, I’d told him” Jacenko told news.com.au on Thursday.

“I told him I wasn’t sure what was going to happen in the future ... it was without question the worst 12 months of my life.”

Roxy Jacenko and her children, Hunter & Pixie. Source: Instagram

Mr Curtis, 31, was released from jail on a good behaviour bond after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit insider trading 12 months ago.

But Jacenko said their relationship started to unravel well before he went to prison.

“It was a very challenging five years of marriage,” she explained.

“We were at each other’s throats, so when he went for 12 months, I set up a life for myself and the children and that was it. I thought that would be the end of it [marriage].

“He [Ollie] knew that as well. He didn’t want his marriage to end, but he was aware of the circumstances and that it hadn’t been easy.

“Marriages are hard at the best of times, to throw what we had in to it — it’s a disaster.”

Jacenko, who is the director of Sydney PR firm Sweaty Betty, said while their relationship looked stable on the outside, it “wasn’t how a marriage should be”.

In April, just two months before her husband’s release — Jacenko was pictured getting intimate with ex-boyfriend Nabil Gazal at a party in Sydney.

Roxy Jacenko was papped kissing her ex-boyfriend, Nabil Gazal at a party in April. Picture: Matrix

Speaking about the photos, Jacenko told news.com.au there was more to the snaps than what was published.

“You can read a lot in to three seconds of pictures,” she said.

“We were stupid ... that’s where it starts and that’s where it stops. My marriage in my eyes had come to an end ... it had been a seriously tough 12 months ... [we were] drunk and stupid and mucking around.”

Jacenko, who is the new ambassador for Enjo’s ENJOpreneur program, explained how the images weren’t all as they seem, claiming the party contained more than 15 other people and everyone was “being stupid”.

“The picture that shows two people was a picture that really in real terms should’ve shown 15 people at a party dancing to Ed Sheeran,” she said.

“Ollie has seen them [the pictures]. He’s not stupid.

“I have been candid all the way along as he has been with me.

“He didn’t know if his marriage would survive. That’s not just from the jail perspective, that’s from the whole five years of the case and knowing that was at the back of his mind and what could happen.”

Roxy Jacenko ‘made a mistake’ when she kissed Nabil Gazal at a party in April. Picture: Matrix

Jacenko said that she “made a mistake” but that Mr Gazal helped her through “a very difficult time”.

“It wasn’t the right thing to do and if he [Ollie] asks me questions I will answer them,” she said “But at the same time, my marriage was not in tact. It probably wasn’t right, and you wouldn’t want anyone to look at pictures like that — but there was a lot less going on in those pictures than portrayed.

“This friend was very good to me. He helped me through a very difficult time and will remain my friend.

“You move forward ... everyone has challenges in their life.

“You put the pressures that we had on ours, put two children and three businesses to run ... and I had cancer … I wasn’t in a good place.”

When her husband was released, and he stepped on to their private plane to greet his family for the first time following his release — Jacenko couldn’t help but feel “awkward” about his return.

“This person had been away, I’d had to run my own life for 12 months and I’d only really seen him three times,” she said.

“He was 10 hours away and I could only go on a Saturday or a Sunday which is the only time I have the children without any help.

“He was nervous because he didn’t really know what to expect or how things were going to pan out.

Oliver Curtis leaving Cooma Correctional Centre. Photo Jeremy Piper

“That moment when he got on the plane was amazing for them [Pixie and Hunter], but for me it was all awkward and twitchy.

“They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, in my case distance made me begin to forget.”

Oliver Curtis greets his children, Pixie and Hunter, on the tarmac in their private jet. Picture: Stephen Cooper.

Following Curtis’ release, the pair have since tried to get their relationship back on track. In June, Curtis surprised his wife with an elaborate second proposal at a Four Seasons hotel room in Sydney.

“I never thought I’d walk in to a room and there would be someone with a ring and balloons and marry me again,” she said.

“When he came home, the children were happy and everything was easier. I had someone to help me. Life became much easier.”

Jacenko said she wasn’t certain how she would respond to the proposal, and admitted that Curtis was “unsure” if she’d say yes.

“I didn’t think we’d stay together and that’s the reality,” she said.

“There was a lot of doubt. A lot of doubt.

“But at the same time in my mind was my priority was the children and I need to do whatever I can for their happiness.

“So yes, I wasn’t sure but things are really good.

“My life is completely different. I went from being very depressed ... now, I am very focused on my work, my children are happy and I’m happy. The chapter is closed.”