By Sarah Blake
Pictures: Andrew Jacob
The fashion designer and his partner reveal the reasons behind their shock reconciliation.
For almost a year, the notion that Australian fashion designer Wayne Cooper and his former partner Sarah Marsh would happily kick around a soccer ball with their two young children has been unthinkable.
Convicted of assaulting Sarah during a heated argument last June, Wayne has also spent months fighting her in a legal battle over the beachside home the couple shared for more than a decade.
Last week came a stunning twist. Sarah has forgiven Wayne and the couple are back together. Here, for the first time, they tell Woman’s Day about how they’ve pushed through the bitterness of the past year and plan to rebuild their lives for the sake of their children, Ruby, 10, and Jude, 6.
**How did you come to be back together?
Sarah** We hadn’t had much contact with each other since separating, but just before Easter my dad had a stroke and Wayne sent a text saying he was thinking of me and hoped I was OK. There was some family and school stuff we had to do together as well, and we saw a bit of each other and spoke, and we still had a connection.
It seemed like we were left with real feelings after all that hurt and anger and poison. We had our time apart, gave things time to settle down. I didn’t think this was something that would happen. I had resolved to myself that this was my life, and I was really surprised that he had those feelings and that I felt that way.
Wayne I said to Sarah, “My feelings for you are the same as they were before we broke up, from the time that we met, they are the same, they haven’t changed.”
Sarah I think we just got bogged down into this cycle of arguments, disappointments and upsets, and then it almost seemed like we needed time apart. We had been together 13 years and it was a fast paced life. We’d been to counselling and it helped a bit, but it didn’t seem to get us there.
Wayne The worry and load it’s put on everyone, when you see yourself together again, you ask “why?”. If I could have my time again, I would not let it happen. I wish that all of this hadn’t happened — for so many reasons.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1800 200 526. In the case of an emergency call 000. Wayne Cooper was not paid for this story.
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