He earned his coveted mirror ball trophy dancing in the arms of another woman, but for family man Simon Barnett, it was only ever Jodi, his wonderful wife of 23 years, on his mind.
“She is utterly and completely my soulmate,” gushes Dancing with the Stars NZ champion Simon, who was unapologetic about singing his wife’s praises at every opportunity he got during his time on the show.
“We don’t feel complete unless we are together.”
After enduring the arduous eight-week dancing bootcamp that led to Simon’s victory, the More FM morning radio host and Jodi are back to their best – laughing and cuddling on the couch at our Woman’s Day exclusive photo shoot in their hometown of Christchurch.
Click through for more photos from our shoot with Simon and Jodi!
Photos: Jae Frew
He earned his coveted mirror ball trophy dancing in the arms of another woman, but for family man Simon Barnett, it was only ever Jodi, his wonderful wife of 23 years, on his mind.
“She is utterly and completely my soulmate,” gushes Dancing with the Stars NZ champion Simon.
“We don’t feel complete unless we are together.”
After enduring the arduous eight-week dancing bootcamp that led to Simon’s victory, the More FM morning radio host and Jodi are back to their best – laughing and cuddling during our exclusive photo shoot!
However, dancing for 10 hours a day with partner Vanessa Cole meant Simon had no time to spare, a first for the radio host.
“For the first time in our marriage, I just didn’t have time for anything else,” says Simon, who returned home from the show to letters from debt collectors chasing overdue payments.
“The show was truly all-encompassing. I can honestly say, I’ve never put my family on hold for anything – but for this, I did,” Simon tells us.
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However, for Simon and Jodi, 53, who have four gorgeous daughters, Sammy, 21, Sophie, 19, Bella, 16, and Lily, 15, it was a small sacrifice in their rock-solid relationship.
The duo met by chance almost 26 years ago through mutual friends, at Mount Hutt ski field.
Despite Jodi’s self-confessed terrible skiing skills, the two fell for each other. Less than two years later, Simon popped the question during a trip to Hawaii in 1990.
Even after more than two decades of everlasting love, Simon is adamant that all marriages take work and it’s important to always keep trying.
Jodi says the couple make an effort to “consider one another” every day. “It’s wonderful. I’m fortunate to hear those things every day, and I tell him the same,” she says
