When it comes to love, Sophie Monk will be the first to admit she’s no expert. Engaged three times but never married, the star says her dream of enjoying a fairytale romance has “gone out the window”.
But in the promo for the new season of Love Island Australia, of which Sophie is host, she plays the role of Cupid – and actually, the timing couldn’t be better for the star to share the lessons she’s learned in her quest to find true love.
Meeting boyfriend Joshua Gross on an international flight last year allowed the 39-year-old to realise where she’d gone wrong in the past.
“I wasn’t comfortable with myself and would choose people who weren’t right for me,” the star explains to TV WEEK.
“When you don’t feel good about yourself, you attract the wrong thing or you look for somebody to fulfil you. But you need to meet someone who’s a bonus to you, not someone to fix you. That took me ages [to realise].”
Sophie and Joshua are madly in love.
Indeed, Sophie has suffered her share of heartbreak. In 2017, she thought she’d found her “Mr Right” with The Bachelorette Australia winner Stu Laundy, but the pair ended their relationship only a few months later.
Before starring on The Bachelorette, she’d also been engaged to Good Charlotte band member Benji Madden, Angel Champagne founder Stefano Zagni and millionaire Jimmy Esebag.
But with Joshua, it’s different.
“There are lots of things I’ve achieved and places I’ve gone,” Sophie explains. “But sometimes it can make you feel lonely, because you’re doing it by yourself and there isn’t someone to share it with. It’s nice to have that. It makes everything more exciting.”
Sophie’s feelings are clearly reciprocated. Earlier this year, she confirmed Joshua would be relocating to Australia from the US to live with her – and that means a lot to her.
“It’s the best,” she says.”I’ve never had someone move in with me – ever. I love it. I wake up, he gets me coffee… It’s so nice having him there. He’s perfect.”
Sophie’s run on The Bachelorette didn’t have a fairytale ending.
As for bad habits, Sophie says they’re all hers – the worst of it is when they’re getting ready to head out together.
“I can never find anything,” she says. “When I get dressed I leave a shoe, pants… And he has to give me a two-minute warning when we’re about to [go] out. I’ll go, ‘Oh!’ and drag all my stuff out.”
With her 40th birthday approaching in December, it begs the question: could a proposal be on the cards?
“It could happen,” Sophie says with a laugh. “He should definitely do that. I’ve always wanted it written in the sky.”
Whether the star will have one or two reasons to celebrate at the end of the year, what’s obvious is that both she and Josh are in it for the long haul.
Sophie says motherhood is still something she’d “love” to enjoy, but “when the timing is right”.
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Joshua also wants children, although Sophie thinks they’d have a very different approach when it comes to parenting.
“I reckon we’d be good parents,” she says. “But he’d have to be the strict one. He’s more sensible than me – I’ve seen him with my dog!”
Sophie Monk films the Love Island Australia 2018 finale.
Love Island Australia premieres Monday, October 7, 8.45pm, Nine Network.
