Posing together in an exclusive photo shoot for the magazine, the couple have revealed to The Weekly the full details of their courtship – the when, the why, the how and the what – and declared they intend to “grow old together”.
“I wasn’t looking for a relationship,” Juanita, 50 tells The Weekly. “I actually thought realistically, it’s possible I will be on my own for the rest of my life. [When we met] I was a 48-year-old single mother of two. I figured potential suitors were hardly going to be lining up at my front door with a bunch of flowers.”
Talking frankly about the collapse of her seven-year marriage to Mario Milostic, Juanita describes the subsequent divorce as “really terrible” and reveals her first thought when contacted by Greg was that he was trying to recruit her to the ALP.
Twice-divorced Greg tells the August issue of The Weekly he was “really lonely” at the time he acted on a dare from a staff member and sent Juanita an email out of the blue, inviting her to dinner.
He also uses the interview to describe how difficult it is for federal MPs to maintain a functional personal life.
“You just can’t sustain a meaningful relationship living that life,” he says.
The couple, who made headlines last year when Juanita accompanied Greg on a tax-payer funded trip to a climate change conference in Europe, have since attracted their fair share of scrutiny.
Earlier this year on the day Greg gave evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Juanita was removed from newsreading duties, with her employer concerned about fielding charges of a conflict of interest.
The interview comes on the eve of the release of Greg’s new book, The Fights Of My Life, in which he reveals he turned down a shot at the prime ministership following the offer by former PM Gillard to stand down and rally her forces behind him during the ALP leadership spill that ultimately led to the return to power (albeit briefly) of Kevin Rudd.
