Melinda Messenger, 52, reveals she secretly met fiancé Dr Raj Joshi, 47, while filming gruelling Channel 4 survival show SAS: Who Dares Wins: ‘I was covered in mud and wee!’
Melinda Messenger has revealed how she secretly met fiancé Dr Raj Joshi while filming gruelling survival show SAS: Who Dares Wins in Vietnam – thanking the series for ‘changing her life’.
The former glamour model, 51, was previously thought to have first met her soon-to be-husband, 47, while preparing for a 48-mile hike across Nepal, however they actually grew close while filming the Channel 4 show.
Recalling first clapping eyes on the hunky medic she told The Sun how she was sent sent to visit him during the shoot while covered in ‘blood, swear, tears and wee’.
‘The producer was like “do you want to see the doctor? You may as well. Just pop in and just have a quick chat”‘.
‘We just carried on chatting after that and that was it!’.
Loved up: Melinda Messenger, 51, has revealed how she first met fiancé Dr Raj Joshi, 47, while filming gruelling survival show SAS: Who Dares Wins in Vietnam – thanking the series for ‘changing her life’
Secret meetings: Melinda (far left) was thought to have met her soon-to-be-husband while preparing for a 48-mile hike across Nepal, however they actually grew close while filming the Channel 4 show
Before adding: ‘So the show changed my life in more ways than one, and I’m truly thankful for that.’
Melinda confirmed her engagement to the survival expert last month after he proposed during their current stay in New Zealand.
Writing in an Instgaram post: ‘We’ve got some very happy news to share. @raj.joshi.expedition and I got engaged in beautiful New Zealand at Matariki, the Māori New year, and we are getting married next year!’
Melinda revealed her engagement alongside a picture of the couple arm-in-arm before a sweeping, mountainous view of the New Zealand countryside.
The pair climbed Welsh landmark Mount Snowdon together as part of her preparations for the expedition through Nepal’s Langtang Valley, close to the border with Tibet, which has altitudes of up to 12,600ft.
In an interview with The Mirror, she said: ‘Being in your 50s is such an important and powerful stage in life. And the challenge is to keep on growing and developing.
‘You shouldn’t stop when you get to a certain age. It’s good to keep challenging yourself. As I have got older, I am much happier and I don’t care what I look like if I fail.’
Melinda chose Nepal for her trek because she fell in love with the country 10-years ago when she visited her brother – who lives there.
Not very glam! Recalling first clapping eyes on the hunky medic she said how she was sent sent to visit him during the shoot while covered in ‘blood, swear, tears and wee’ (Melinda pictured on the show)
Lovely: She said: ‘So the show changed my life in more ways than one, and I’m truly thankful for that.’
Joshi, an exhibition leader, organised the trip through his own travel company The Adventure Boutique, a London-based business that offers ‘tailor-made trips, embedded with taste, that are a little out of the ordinary.’
The survivalist has previously worked with David Beckham on one-off documentary Into The Unknown, in which the former footballer journeys across rural Brazil with two friends.
Additionally, he has worked alongside a host of celebrities for BBC show Kilimanjaro: The Big Red Nose Climb – among them Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Love Island winner Dani Dyer and former BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker.
In June he shared a photo of his new fiancée as she attended a special Hindu and Buddhist ceremony during her charity trip to South Asia.
Happy news: Melinda confirmed her engagement to the survival expert last month after he proposed during their current stay in New Zealand
Old times: Melinda divorced husband of 14-years Wayne Roberts, with whom she shares three children, in 2012 and admitted last year that she wanted to start dating again
Previously: In June, Joshi shared a photo of his new fiancée as she attended a special ceremony during her charity trip to Nepal in South Asia, where she raised money for the construction of a local school for the deaf
There she is: Melinda also appears in a recent post added to the official Instagram account for his London-based travel company, The Adventure Boutique
Captioning the post, he wrote: ‘Here’s a quick shot of Melinda Messenger and some of the group at the Puja for their blessing during our trekking challenge to the Langtang region of Nepal…
‘Puja is a special ceremony that is performed to avert and clear the three types of obstacles (worldly obstacles, inner obstacles and secret obstacles), these prevent us from achieving our worldly and spiritual goals.
‘Removing these obstacles will help us to achieve happiness and good fortune in all our activities.
‘We are so blessed to have been a part of this special ceremony.’
Responding to the post, Melinda wrote: ‘This was such a special experience in so many different ways, we were very lucky.’
Melinda is a mother to sons Morgan, 22, Flynn, 20, and 18-year old daughter Evie with ex-husband Wayne Roberts, and she admitted last year that she wanted to start dating again.
Previously: Melinda embarked on a relationship with ski instructor Warren Smith after meeting on the set of reality show The Jump, but later admitted the romance was a ‘whirlwind’
Don’t mind me: Following her split with Smith she attended The Float Like a Butterfly Ball with hunky lawyer Joel Mason in 2017 – Melinda later insisted they were not dating
The couple divorced in 2012 after 14-years of marriage, with Melinda later embarking on a relationship with ski instructor Warren Smith after meeting on the set of Channel 4 reality show The Jump.
Melinda and Warren eventually sold their separate homes and bought a six bedroom Berkshire property together in July 2014.
But the former glamour model said within days of moving in she began to have doubts over their long-term future.
‘I just said, ‘Right, that’s it, I can’t do this any more,’ she told The Sun. ‘It’s a real shame that I had to end it. But we both had very different lives and they weren’t compatible.
‘I would be happy at home in between work but Warren has had a much different lifestyle, he travels constantly.’
All over: Her last known relationship, with photographer Chris Harding – who she met after signing up for Celebrity First Dates – ended in 2019
Unexpected: In a bizarre twist of fate, Harding later claimed he had served as wedding photographer for Melinda and ex-husband Roberts during their 1998 marriage ceremony
Following their separation, a spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘It’s been a very tough time for Melinda but now she is looking forward to a happy 2018 with her children and pursuing her career in TV.
‘She has been studying psychotherapy for the past few years and hopes to merge this into her TV career and use it moving forward to help with producing programmes about mental health issues which affect all of us at one time or another.’
Her last known relationship, with photographer Chris Harding – who she met after signing up for Celebrity First Dates – ended in 2019.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Harding later claimed he served as wedding photographer for Melinda and ex-husband Roberts during their 1998 marriage ceremony in Bali.
The former glamour model has since dismissed the claim by confirming her wedding photographer was Alan Strutt.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 26 September at 9.30pm and continues every Sunday at 9pm from 1 October.
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