I caught boyfriend bonking my STEPMUM in worst possible way… I can’t forget what I saw, says Married at First Sight star
MARRIED At First Sight fans recoiled in horror when Jess O’Connor revealed she had trust issues after her boyfriend bedded her step-mum behind her back.
Now the 31-year-old has opened up for the first time about that traumatising moment, which tore her family apart and left her feeling suicidal.
Dental hygienist Jess, who failed to find love with her Dreamboys stripper husband Pjay Finch on the E4 show, had been with her ex, then 24, for four years and they’d just bought a house together.
She considered him part of the family, and thought nothing of leaving him drinking with her step-mum, then 52, to go to bed one night, while the rest of the family slept upstairs.
“We were pretty serious when we were together,” Jess, from Cambridge, explains.
“We had just got a mortgage and he was even planning on proposing to me. We had long term plans.
ON MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT
“It was a good relationship. We met at a music festival and we had the same taste in music.
“I got on really well with his friends and their girlfriends too.
“My step-mum had been in my life for 25 years and she did that to me. She was like my second mum!
“She even knew my family before I was born. The most upsetting thing about it all was how they both betrayed me like that.”
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Jess recalls how on the night it happened in January 2018 – three months after buying their house – they’d been staying at her dad and step-mum’s house along with her younger brother and sister.
“We’d all gone out for dinner, and we came home and carried on having some drinks,” she says.
“I left my dad, boyfriend and step-mum downstairs and I went to bed – a pretty normal thing to do when you’re in a serious long-term relationship.
“However I woke up at around 5am and realised my boyfriend still hadn’t come up to bed.
“So I went to go and look for him as I thought it was really strange.
The most upsetting thing about it all was how they both betrayed me like that
Jess O'Connor
“I went downstairs and saw the door to the dining room was open – which was weird as we never use the dining room, only for special occasions.
“I then saw two glasses, an empty bottle of champagne, my boyfriend and step-mum’s phones, and two piles of clothes.
“I instantly knew what had happened, I could even see handprints on the table!
“I saw him sleeping on the sofa under a blanket and I ran to him and pulled the blanket off him screaming.
“He then pulled up her lacy pants instead of his own! I was in complete shock. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Betrayal
Horrified Jess ran to her dad’s room and told him everything.
She says: “My step-mum must have heard me shouting at my boyfriend and had come downstairs to try to tidy up.
“I was shouting at them both, asking what is this, what’s happened, what had they done!
“My dad started shouting at her and it made my 13-year-old sister really upset and that upset me even more.”
While this was going on, Jess claims her boyfriend took her car keys and drove himself home – leaving her to confront her step-mum.
She says: “She admitted to it all and my dad said they were going to get a divorce straight away.”
I instantly knew what had happened, I could even see handprints on the table
Jess O'Connor
Jess admitted she was so traumatised by what happened that she recorded a suicide note, and sought therapy and medication.
She explains: “It’s taken me five years to be confident in myself again. It messed me up so much and it took a lot to be myself again.
“I paid for therapy and my friends got me through it too. It took a long time, but I did it!”
Jess’ dad and her step-mum did separate and have both been able to move on – while Jess admits the ordeal has united her family.
She adds: “Even though it was awful, it has made my dad, my siblings and I all even closer. “We’ve all been on holiday together since it happened. It’s weird how something so bad can bring you closer, but we needed each other.
“I love my dad and I am so glad we’re so close now.
“What happened to me is one thing, but when it happens to your whole family, that’s what hurts the most.
“I don’t care about me as much, but seeing how that affected them hurt me more. They were starting to struggle at school, it was heartbreaking.
“I’ve never seen my dad cry until that day, it hit differently.”
Moving on
Jess is now happy in a new relationship and is thankful she’s been able to put her faith into someone else after everything she’s endured.
She adds: “I’ve got that light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’ve met someone I am head over heels for. I never thought I could meet someone I could trust straight away again, so I’ve surprised myself.
“Life will throw curve balls, but you will always come through it and out the other side, you just have to give it time.”
Jess’ step-mum Veronica was asked for comment but said: “I don’t want to talk about it”.
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Jess’ ex-boyfriend Danny said: “It’s been five years; I’m not going into this again.”
For confidential support, log on to samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123.
