Melinda Messenger met fiance while filming SAS: Who Dares Wins
Melinda Messenger met her new fiance while filming 'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins'.
The 52-year-old former glamour model met Dr Raj Joshi, 47, while he was working as the Channel 4 show's medic during filming in Vietnam last September and he later proposed during a holiday in New Zealand in July - and Melinda has now credited the gruelling survival series with completely changing her life.
She told The Sun newspaper: "That’s the greatest thing that came out the show for me! So when I came out, I was crying, sweat, blood tears, and wee, I am not kidding you, in this old sports bra and cycling shorts covered in bruises and yeah, foot rot.
"The producer was like: ‘Do you want to see the doctor? You may as well. Just pop in and just have a quick chat'."
She added: "We just carried on chatting after that and that was it! So the show changed my life in more ways than one, and I’m truly thankful for that."
Melinda was previously thought to have met her fiance while preparing for a charity hike in Nepal. She confirmed their engagement in a post on Instagram in August, revealing the couple plan to tie the knot in 2024.
She wrote: "We’ve got some very happy news to share. @raj.joshi.expedition and I got engaged in beautiful New Zealand at Matariki, the Maori New year, and we are getting married next year."
Melinda was previously married therapist Wayne Roberts - the father of her three children Morgan, 22, Flynn, 20, and Evie, 18 - from 1998 until 2012.
'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 26 September.