Barnaby Joyce reveals his separation in Parliament.
The man who was set to marry Barnaby Joyce's lover just months before she fell pregnant with the Deputy Prime Minister's child has spoken for the first time of their heartbreaking split.
Journalist turned digital consultant John Bergin told news.com.au that he and former journalist Vikki Campion were due to marry on November 5, 2016.
The wedding was set to take place before a celebrant at a venue in Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands, but sadly the pair broke up three months before they could exchange vows.
"We split in August 2016 and we haven't spoken to each other since," Mr Bergin said.
Ms Campion, 33, was hired by the Nationals in 2016 to assist the party at a federal level, working on the federal election campaign and quickly becoming Mr Joyce's right-hand woman.
Vikki Campion's former fiancee John Bergin as he appears in his Twitter profile. Photo / news.com.au
In February 2017 — less than three months after Ms Campion was due to have married Mr Bergin — she was photographed in a Glebe bar with Mr Joyce.
That April, according to Miranda Devine, Mr Joyce's wife of 24 years, Natalie, confronted Ms Campion in a Tamworth street, calling her a "homewrecker".
"Friends say the office stopped telling her what was in his diary and a wife's intuition kicked in," Devine wrote.
"She stormed up to Vikki in Tamworth and tore strips off her, a furious little pocket rocket facing up to a frightened gazelle.
"She called Vikki a 'homewrecker' in front of witnesses."
Former NewsCorp journalist and political adviser Ms Campion, 33, is pregnant with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce's baby. Photo / news.com.au
Asked if he believed his break-up with Ms Campion had anything to do with her burgeoning relationship with Mr Joyce, 50, he said he would "rather not comment on such matters".
"I'm just a spectator in this, like everybody else," he said.
News.com.au contacted Mr Bergin after rumours started circulating on social media about Ms Campion's so-called jilted husband.
The link to Ms Campion and Mr Bergin's wedding gift registry on Amazon has since been deleted. Photo / news.com.au
A screenshot of Mr Bergin and Ms Campion's wedding gift registry on Amazon started circulating over the weekend after it was posted by Twitter user BubblingRivers, who said: "Bergin had a VERY lucky escape it would seem. Bit rough on him this whole shitty affair."
Later, pictures of Ms Campion's engagement ring popped up on Twitter, along with claims that she had refused to return it to Mr Bergin.
"That is not true. That is not the case," Mr Bergin told news.com.au. "It seems that some people feel like they can just make things up."
Rumours about Ms Campion's previous relationship started circulating on social media over the weekend. Photo / news.com.au
This photograph of Ms Campion wearing her engagement ring from Mr Bergin has been circulating on social media. Photo / news.com.au
Before becoming a political staffer, Ms Campion worked for eight years as a journalist with the Daily Telegraph, where she was on the newsdesk for seven months until July 2014.
Months before it was reported that Ms Campion was pregnant with Mr Joyce's baby, she began withdrawing from public view.
On December 7, the Nationals leader used the parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage to confirm he was no longer with Natalie, the mother of his four daughters.
Mr Bergin also denied claims made on social media that he was "suicidal" after breaking up with Ms Campion. "The break up was amicable. I've moved on," he told news.com.au.
Mr Joyce and Ms Campion are living together in Armidale at a residence owned by a local millionaire, who is reportedly not charging them rent.
