Natalie Abberfield, who resigned from the Australian Deputy Prime Minister, turned a new page in her life and became a bodybuilder.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce cheated on his wife with his social media assistant. EPA/AOP
In 2018, there was a stir at the top of Australian politics when the then Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce caught his wife by Natalie Abberfield of cheating. Joyce and Abberfield’s high school relationship and 24-year marriage ended when Joyce’s media assistant Vikki Campion bore Joyce a child.
Abberfield and Joyce had four children together.
In the following year, Abberfield was believed to have a glimpse of her ex-husband, as she had changed her appearance significantly through her bodybuilding hobby, which began during the uproar. It was described in the Australian media that Abberfield had become more muscular due to the heartbreak caused by the breakup and the new appearance was the so-called revenge body.
Abberfield, who had competed in fitness competitions, had, among other things, dropped his weight from 70 kilograms to 55 kilograms.
However, Abberfield denies that he became an iron athlete out of revenge. He told the Australian for SBSthat bodybuilding gave him a way to distance himself from the marital crisis and think about something else.
– Bodybuilding was not my way to get a revenge body, as was talked about in the media. It helped me rediscover my identity and make me the Natalie I was before marriage and children.
Abberfield describes that he started a new life after the divorce. At the time of the divorce, his children were old enough to be more independent, giving him enough time to tour competitions and meet people around bodybuilding.
He doesn’t forbid anyone from creating a revenge body, but he also doesn’t think it’s a mentally healthy project.
– If people want to build a revenge body, let them go. But I think it’s a rather narrow-minded solution.
– I think bodybuilding means that a strong body indicates a strong state of mind. Why would you want to use your precious time to create a revenge body for someone else?
Barnaby Joyce resigned as Deputy Prime Minister during the crisis. In 2021, he briefly returned as chairman of his center-right National Party, but lost his seat again in the 2022 election. He has two children with Vikki Campion.