Melinda Messenger has broken her silence after it was revealed she had split from her fiancé, survival expert Dr Raj Joshi.
On Wednesday it was reported that the couple had allegedly broken up just six months after they got engaged in New Zealand.
And now Melissa, 53, has issued a statement while taking to Instagram to confirm the split, revealing that it was her decision to end the relationship.
She wrote: ‘An anonymous source has shared with the newspapers a recent breakup of mine.
“Although I initially thought about ignoring it, false information is spreading rapidly and it is disheartening to see my life being portrayed inaccurately. I feel like my hand has been forced, so it is imperative to set the record straight.
Melinda Messenger, 53, has broken her silence about her split from her fiancé Dr Raj Joshi, just six months after the couple got engaged in New Zealand.
Following reports in The Sun, the Page 3 model released a statement while taking to Instagram to confirm the split, revealing that it was her decision to end the relationship.
‘It is important to clarify that my decision to end the relationship was not influenced by anything other than the peculiar claims made by the anonymous source, claims that those who know me would find unrecognizable.
“Rather, there were completely different reasons behind my choice.”
Earlier this week, a source said Sun that the former glamor model is ‘gutted’ to see the relationship end, because she thought he was ‘the one’ after the couple bonded over the SAS experience.
However, in her statement, Melinda seemed to suggest that this source is not accurate.
MailOnline has contacted Melinda’s representatives for comment.
Melinda began secretly dating Joshi, 47, after meeting on the Channel 4 show while it was filming in Vietnam, with fans originally believing they met on a charity walk in Nepal.
The star then announced her engagement to Dr Raj in August after the couple met while filming Celebrity SAS.
Melinda had originally confirmed the engagement in an Instagram post in August and revealed that wedding plans were already in the works.
Melinda wrote: ‘We have some very good news to share. @raj.joshi.expedition and I got engaged in beautiful New Zealand on Matariki, Maori New Year, and we’re getting married next year!’
She wrote: “It is important to clarify that my decision to end the relationship was not influenced but by the peculiar claims made by the anonymous source, claims that those who know me would find unrecognizable.”
Melinda had confirmed her engagement to survivor Dr. Raj Joshi after he proposed to her during her current stay in New Zealand.
The mother of three revealed her engagement alongside a photo of the couple arm in arm in front of a panoramic, mountainous view of the New Zealand countryside.
The pair climbed Wales’ iconic Mount Snowdon together as part of their preparations for the expedition through Nepal’s Langtang Valley, near the border with Tibet, which has altitudes of up to 12,600 feet.
In an interview with Mirror, said: ‘Being 50 is a very important and powerful stage in life. And the challenge is to continue growing and developing.
‘You shouldn’t stop when you reach a certain age. It’s good to keep challenging yourself. As I’ve gotten older, I’m a lot happier and I don’t care what I look like if I fail.’
Melinda chose Nepal for her trip because she fell in love with the country 10 years ago when she visited her brother, who lives there.
Expo leader Joshi organized the trip through his own travel company, The Adventure Boutique, a London-based company that offers “bespoke, tasteful trips that are a little off the beaten path.”
The survivor previously worked with David Beckham on a one-off documentary Into The Unknown, in which the former footballer travels through rural Brazil with two friends.
He has also worked alongside a host of celebrities for the BBC show Kilimanjaro: The Big Red Nose Climb, including Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Love Island winner Dani Dyer and former BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker.
In June, he shared a photo of his new fiancée while attending a special Hindu and Buddhist ceremony during his charity trip to South Asia.
Melinda divorced her husband of 14 years, Wayne Roberts, with whom she shares three children, in 2012 and admitted last year that she wanted to start dating again.
In June, Joshi shared a photo of his new fiancée while attending a special ceremony during his charity trip to Nepal, South Asia, where he raised money for the construction of a local school for the deaf.
Melinda is also featured in a recent post added to the official Instagram account of her London-based travel company, The Adventure Boutique.
Captioning the post, he wrote: “Here’s a quick shot of Melinda Messenger and some group members at the Puja for their blessing during our trekking challenge to the Langtang region of Nepal…
‘Puja is a special ceremony performed to avoid and remove the three types of obstacles (worldly obstacles, internal obstacles and secret obstacles), which prevent us from achieving our worldly and spiritual goals.
‘Eliminating these obstacles will help us achieve happiness and good fortune in all our activities.
“We are very blessed to have been a part of this special ceremony.”
Responding to the post, Melinda wrote: “This was such a special experience in so many different ways that we were very lucky.”
Melinda is mother to sons Morgan, 22, Flynn, 20, and daughter Evie, 18, with ex-husband Wayne Roberts, and admitted last year that she wanted to start dating again.
Previously, Melinda embarked on a relationship with ski instructor Warren Smith after meeting on the set of reality show The Jump, but later admitted the romance was a ‘whirlwind’.
Following her split from Smith, she attended The Float Like a Butterfly Ball with handsome lawyer Joel Mason in 2017; Melinda then insisted that they were not dating.
The couple divorced in 2012 after 14 years of marriage, and Melinda then embarked on a relationship with ski instructor Warren Smith after meeting on the set of Channel 4 reality show The Jump.
She later admitted that the relationship was a “whirlwind” and went from “zero to a hundred” with the couple sharing a room and all the contestants knowing they were together.
Melinda and Warren eventually sold their separate homes and bought a six-bedroom property in Berkshire together in July 2014. But the former glamor model said within days of moving in that she began to have doubts about her long-term future.
“I just said, ‘Well, that’s it, I can’t do this anymore,'” he said. Sun. ‘It’s a real shame we had to end this. But we both had very different lives and were not compatible.
“I would be happy at home while I work, but Warren has had a very different lifestyle, traveling constantly.”
Her last known relationship, with photographer Chris Harding, whom she met after signing up for Celebrity First Dates, ended in 2019.
In a strange twist of fate, Harding later claimed that he had worked as a wedding photographer for Melinda and her ex-husband Roberts during their 1998 marriage ceremony.
Following their split, a spokesperson told MailOnline: “It has been a very difficult time for Melinda, but she is now looking forward to a happy 2018 with her children and continuing her career in television.
“He has been studying psychotherapy for the last few years and hopes to merge this with his television career and use it in the future to help produce programs about mental health issues that affect us all at one time or another.”
Her last known relationship, with photographer Chris Harding, whom she met after signing up for Celebrity First Dates, ended in 2019.
In a strange twist of fate, Harding later claimed that he worked as a wedding photographer for Melinda and her ex-husband Roberts during their 1998 wedding ceremony in Bali.
The former glamor model has since dismissed the claim by confirming that her wedding photographer was Alan Strutt.
