ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
Subscribe
  1. Home
  2. Real Life

MKR’s Bella and MAFS star James: Yes, we’re in love!

The contestants from rival reality shows have found happiness with each other! - by that's life!
  • 04 Jul 2017
MKR’s Bella and MAFS star James: Yes, we’re in love!
New Idea

Hiking up a rocky trail in the rugged Yosemite National Park for six hours on Anzac Day, TV chef Bella Jakubiak was broiling under her furry hat.

The bubbly My Kitchen Rules champion had blisters. She was also sporting thongs and patterned socks.

It wasn’t her most romantic get-up, so the last thing Bella expected was a proposal from her boyfriend of eight months, former Married At First Sight season one contestant James Webster.

‘I hadn’t quite thought it through,’ grins the good-humoured farmer, who had been plotting how to pop the question with Bella’s sister and screen partner, Sammy.

On her advice, he’d faked playing it cool to throw Bella off the scent. He’d enlisted a photographer to help pick a scenic location, and he’d smuggled a bottle of Champagne and two glasses into the bottom of his daypack.

He’d also designed a stunning engagement ring, which was safely nestled in its box inside a zip-lock bag hidden in a sock in his bag. So far, so good.

James planned to propose beside a waterfall near the summit, but nerves and pressure got the better of him, and he couldn’t wait!

Dropping to one knee beside the beautiful Emerald Pools – ‘They actually matched really well with Bella’s eyes’ – he asked her to marry him. And then he fumbled.

‘I just couldn’t unwrap the ring,’ grins the laid-back 39-year- old. ‘It took about 15 minutes to get it out of the bag, and Bella kept asking what I was doing!

James and Bella engaged on Yosemite
Supplied

‘She floated down the mountain on a cloud with a glass of champagne in her hand, showing everyone her ring, while I sweated bullets climbing over the rocks.’

The couple didn’t recognise each other from the small screen when they first met at a Bondi house party at James’ cliff-top flat in September last year.

Bella and James
New Idea

‘I didn’t discover we had similar reality TV backgrounds for about two months,’ laughs Bella, 34, who, with sister Sammy, parlayed their 2011 MKR victory into regular slots on The Morning Show and Foxtel’s LifeStyle Food.

‘A couple of friends said they knew his face from somewhere, so I confronted him about it and that’s when I found out.’

James – who was jilted by screen ‘wife’ Michelle on the 2015 series premiere of MAFS– cheerfully admits: ‘There’s a bit of a stigma about it, especially when you’ve been on a dating show. I was lucky to be matched with someone easygoing, but she was still in love with her ex-boyfriend, and you can’t compete with that.

‘It was a bit of a learning curve, but it’s all fine. I wouldn’t have met Bella otherwise.’

For the full story, see this week’s New Idea – Out now.

New Idea
New Idea

This article first published on New Idea.

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life!

Recommended to you

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

I turn people into art!

I turn people into art!

Holly the heart hero

Holly the heart hero

30-year heartbreak  - who killed Kerry Turner?

30-year heartbreak - who killed Kerry Turner?

My runny nose was cancer

My runny nose was cancer

{headline}

{headline}

I was paralysed at the beach

I was paralysed at the beach

Horror at the servo - I was abducted and raped

Horror at the servo - I was abducted and raped

My husband forgot I was his wife so we wed twice

My husband forgot I was his wife so we wed twice

{headline}

{headline}

Empty nesters... so we adopted SEVEN kids!

Empty nesters... so we adopted SEVEN kids!

Back from the brink!

Back from the brink!

A cockatoo proposed to me!

A cockatoo proposed to me!

Brave Ellie - 420 days in hospital for a new heart!

Brave Ellie - 420 days in hospital for a new heart!

I woke up with no hands and feet

I woke up with no hands and feet

How chalk found me love!

How chalk found me love!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

ThatsLife
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy
ThatsLife Magazine Subscribe
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • New Idea
  • Who
  • Girlfriend
  • Practical Parenting

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • New Idea food
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • 7plus
  • 7News
  • Sunrise
  • Starts at 60
  • The West Australian
  • Perth Now
  • 7mate
  • 7Sport
  • Hard to Find
© 2022 Are Media PTY LTD
All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts.If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Get more from

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to That's Life!