{"id":166046,"date":"2025-06-07T22:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T22:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166046\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T22:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T22:08:16","slug":"radio-star-jay-jay-feeney-opens-up-about-romance-long-distance-love-and-future-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166046\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio star Jay-Jay Feeney opens up about romance, long-distance love and future plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The gig ended with the women presenting Jay-Jay<\/a> with a flower crown and ushering her to join them in the sea, where they serenaded her with another joyous, splashier rendition of Happy Birthday.<\/p>\n

\"Jay-JayJay-Jay celebrated her 51st birthday on the idyllic island of Espiritu Santo. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was embarrassing because I hate being the centre of attention, but it was amazing,\u201d she smiles. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re having cake and actual Champagne on the beach. What a life!\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how she feels about turning 51, Jay-Jay says, \u201cIt feels like my 50th was only five minutes ago, so it\u2019s a bit of a shock \u2013 and saying it out loud makes me feel so middle-aged. You notice a big difference in the way people treat you. I feel like the world is quite ageist. On this side of 50, you feel more like an observer of the world, rather than a participant.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I also feel wiser now. As I\u2019ve got older, I tolerate less rubbish. I feel smarter and my priorities have changed \u2013 I focus on the important things now. In my thirties and mid-forties, I obsessed over things that didn\u2019t matter, like my radio job<\/a>!\u201d<\/p>\n

One particular thing she\u2019s not taking any crap about is her long-distance relationship with her Algerian boyfriend Minou, who, at 32, is 19 years her junior. When Jay-Jay revealed that she had reunited with the medical salesman in Woman\u2019s Day last December, some of the comments on social media were downright cruel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that my relationship, on paper and to the untrained eye, looks extremely out of the ordinary,\u201d she sighs. \u201cI know what people are saying. They think, \u2018What\u2019s this young, hot guy from Algeria doing dating a middle-aged woman from New Zealand<\/a>? Surely he\u2019s a scammer. Surely he just wants her money. Surely he just wants a visa.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it. That\u2019s what it looks like. And you know what? That\u2019s exactly what I thought when I first met him. I really took a lot of time to satisfy myself that he was real and legitimate. I did my research.<\/p>\n

Discover more<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public can be quite nasty and judgmental, but they don\u2019t know us. They don\u2019t see the actual relationship. Maybe they don\u2019t understand it, or they\u2019re scared of it. Don\u2019t get me wrong, so many people are very supportive, but I have to put up with a lot of negative Nancys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jay-Jay'sJay-Jay’s not taking any crap about her long-distance relationship. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the article generated a different reaction in Algeria. <\/p>\n

Jay-Jay reveals, \u201cIt went viral! Minou sent me a screenshot of a Facebook group for women that featured the Woman\u2019s Day article of me and Minou. The writing was in Arabic, but it translated to something like, \u2018Algerian man loves older New Zealand woman,\u2019 and all the chat was really positive \u2013 they were all fangirling over the relationship. It\u2019s such a relief that finally someone\u2019s all for it, rather than trying to dog it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jay-Jay and Minou\u2019s unlikely love story<\/a> began in 2018, when he slid into her Facebook DMs. Thinking he was a scammer, the then-More FM presenter ignored his message for weeks, but eventually they began chatting and a friendship developed.<\/p>\n

Taking a chance, they met for a holiday in the Maldives later that year, and romance blossomed. After another getaway in Malaysia, where they both realised things were serious, Minou visited Jay-Jay in New Zealand in late 2019, spending Christmas with her family.<\/p>\n

Due to Covid border closures, the pair made the heartbreaking decision to split in 2020 and Jay-Jay started dating again, but when the star ended a relationship early last year, she realised she was still hung up on Minou and they got back in touch, arranging to reunite in Bali, where their love was rekindled.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a>\"TheThe pair’s unlikely love story began in 2018. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s awaiting a visitor visa so he can return to New Zealand and the pair can spend more than a few weeks figuring out how their relationship might work in the real world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate doing long-distance<\/a>,\u201d admits Jay-Jay. \u201cBut there\u2019s light at the end of the tunnel with Minou applying for a visa. It can feel quite invasive having to give all this evidence that our relationship is genuine and showing screengrabs of intimate messages, but we really want him to come visit for more than a month, so we can see how we get along in normal life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for him to live here \u2013 believe me, he\u2019s really loyal to his family and friends in Algeria, so it would be a big deal for him to move to New Zealand. If we don\u2019t get a visa, I guess I\u2019ll try to get a visa to visit him there. Or maybe we could both move to Vanuatu and buy a resort over here \u2013 a special place for long-distance lovers to meet and be together!<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I\u2019ve spoken to who\u2019s in a long-distance romance says their relationships have this depth to them because you spend so much time just talking. Because we can\u2019t be with each other in person, we\u2019re communicating all the time, so we have this really deep connection and know so much about each other. We have this closeness that so many people who live together might not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jay-JayJay-Jay and Minou are in talks of marriage. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

Asked if they\u2019ve discussed marriage, Jay-Jay blushes and confesses, \u201cMinou and I are in love, and he does want to marry me. He talks about it often. I\u2019m currently questioning, like, \u2018Am I engaged?\u2019 I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a formal proposal, but he always asks, \u2018Will you marry me?\u2019 and I reply, \u2018Yes, I will.\u2019 But I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m engaged. I guess I am, but I\u2019m not. I\u2019m not officially engaged. But if it comes to it, yeah, I\u2019ll marry him.\u201d<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

So what do Minou\u2019s family think of their relationship?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met his mum and a sister on video chat,\u201d reveals Jay-Jay. \u201cHis mum doesn\u2019t speak English, but she learnt to say, \u2018Hello, Jay-Jay. I love you,\u2019 which is really cute. For the most part, Minou is a good, loyal Muslim and his religion would prefer him to marry a Muslim woman. But because he\u2019s the youngest of four, all his siblings are married with kids and his father\u2019s passed away, his mum and sisters really just want him to be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Realising how all this talk of marriage might look to the doubters out there, Jay-Jay adds, \u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s no such thing as a Green Card in New Zealand<\/a> \u2013 that\u2019s an American thing. You can\u2019t marry your way into residency! It might give you a few points towards it, but we\u2019d still need to fight for a visa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe only thing getting in the way of the couple tying the knot is Jay-Jay’s marriage to Dom. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

Apart from the visa issue, the only thing getting in the way of Jay-Jay and Minou tying the knot is the fact she\u2019s still married to Dom, whom she wed in 2004. Explaining that their \u201cmagic spark has gone\u201d, they announced their amicable separation 13 years later, and Dom, 52, has since moved on with girlfriend Ash Males<\/a>, 30. But the former Edge radio co-hosts are yet to sign divorce papers and still share a bank account.<\/p>\n

\u201cDom and I are still such a good team,\u201d enthuses Jay-Jay. \u201cWe\u2019re working together at Podlab, so I see him every day. We\u2019ll always be in each other\u2019s lives. People tell us we need to shut that down, but I\u2019m not taking advice from other people \u2013 this is my life, and it works for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cA divorce won\u2019t make any difference, but it feels so final. We both feel comfort in saying Dom is my husband and I\u2019m his wife. If we divorce, he\u2019s definitely \u2018the ex\u2019, which is not a bad thing \u2013 it\u2019s just weird. But we\u2019ll get used to it. Minou doesn\u2019t care. He just says things like, \u2018When you divorce Dom, I will marry you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

After our heartfelt chat and another swim, we join Jay-Jay back at Turtle Bay Lodge to watch a traditional fire show, where local dancers spin blazing sticks and blow flames into the night sky. At the end, Jay-Jay is dragged on to the stage to hold some fire poi, while a dancer sprays sparks all around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a pretty spectacular end to an epic birthday,\u201d she says later. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a memorable trip. I\u2019ve been to Vanuatu before, but never to Espiritu Santo, which everyone said was the most beautiful island \u2013 and they weren\u2019t wrong. Everything\u2019s so untouched, and there are hardly any tourists. It feels almost like we\u2019re the first people to discover the place.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I wish Minou could have joined us as well, but we\u2019re hopefully going to have many more trips ahead. I\u2019ve sent him the odd picture of me with a cocktail in hand, and we\u2019ve done a bit of FaceTime. He\u2019s missing me. He wanted to make sure I was having a good time and to tell me he loves me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Images: Alex Curson, Jay-Jay Feeney, Kennedy Anderson, Sebastian van der Zwan.<\/p>\n

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