As More FM radio star Jay-Jay Feeney sips coffee and watches her pup Kanye bathe in the sun at an Auckland cafe, her phone rings.
It’s a video call from Algeria, which she answers with excitement, lighting up when Minou greets her. He’s the boyfriend she met online last January. As she hangs up, the giddy long-time radio host says, “Love you!”
Speaking exclusively to Woman’s Day about the long-distance romance that’s swept her off her feet, Jay-Jay, 45, says her accountant beau is “beautiful, funny, smart and adoring”. He’s also 28.
“I just have to embrace that people call him my toyboy because it’s the truth I guess,” she laughs. “The positive is he looks way better than me! He’s hot and I’m not going to deny it!”
Minou lives in Algeria, near the top of Africa between Morocco and Tunisia. When the two first hit it off as friends almost two years ago, they didn’t discuss their ages.
“He didn’t ask how old I was, and I didn’t know how old he was. We just connected,” Jay-Jay tells. “I’m more worried about it than Minou is. He always sends links to articles of celebrities dating with big age gaps.”
After four months’ messaging, the pair met for a sunny vacation in the Maldives.
“We got to know each other quickly because you are way more open and honest through messages,” she says. “I thought, ‘Right, I have to meet this guy.'”
When they finally set eyes on each other, Jay-Jay was amazed by the height of her handsome friend.
“He had waited four hours at the airport and we were both so nervous, but straight away it felt like we’d known each other forever,” remembers Jay-Jay. “It was crazy – and he’s like six foot two [1.9m].”
Minou fell for Jay-Jay’s blue eyes and playful humour.
“English is his third language, after Arabic and French, so we struggle to communicate sometimes because he doesn’t get our Kiwi slang and we talk really fast,” she tells.
“But he cracks lots of jokes and that’s clever for someone who doesn’t speak English as his first language. Some days I think he’s funnier than me!”
After their romantic week-long getaway, Jay-Jay was smitten. “I still thought it was a bit outrageous, but I really liked him,” she admits.
“At the airport going home it was so sad because we were both bawling our eyes out getting on separate planes. Then he called me as soon as he landed still crying.”
During their months apart, they tried breaking up and Jay-Jay attempted to date in New Zealand but tells, “Kiwi guys have got no game; they’re hopeless! No-one else here matches up and we just like each other too much.”
The besotted pair met for a second 10-day trip in Malaysia last December, sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur and celebrating New Year’s Eve. Then they visited Langkawi for a relaxing island stay.
“We were trying to navigate whether a relationship was worth pursuing, and it’s really just this year I decided we had to do something,” says Jay-Jay, whose 18-year marriage to The Edge radio host Dom Harvey ended amicably in 2017. “I’m in complete and utter lust and he’s very devoted and loyal.”
To Jay-Jay’s joy, Minou arrives in New Zealand this month. They’re planning a road trip of the North and South Islands and will spend Christmas Day together.
“It took from February until September this year to get a visitor’s visa for him, and I’m counting down every minute – it’s so torturous,” laughs Jay-Jay, who is taking her North African love to New Plymouth where she grew up.
“Minou’s Muslim so doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but he’s excited to see how we do. We’ll spend the morning with my mum and brother, before going to a friend’s.”
The couple will spend the evening at the house of Jay-Jay’s More FM co-host Paul ‘Flynny’ Flynn.
When they first met, Jay-Jay was blown away by Minou’s looks and height.
Minou’s also set to meet Jay-Jay’s friends at a bar two days after he arrives in Aotearoa. Among those invited is Dom, who shares custody of beloved Sydney silky Kanye, and is in a serious relationship himself.
“I didn’t tell Dom about Minou until I got back from the Maldives. I took him out for brunch and told him,” the outspoken broadcaster says. “He just cracked up and thought the whole thing was so strange and hilarious.”
She admits her boyfriend will be shy to begin with (she’s not disclosing his surname for his privacy) but he’s looking forward to reconnecting with Jay-Jay, whose name he had engraved on a necklace.
“This could end up an utter disaster, but I doubt it,” grins Jay-Jay, who isn’t placing pressure on their relationship.
“I can’t go to Algeria and he can’t come here easily, so it’s not a straightforward relationship. But I can’t wait to be in his presence and show him off to all my friends!”
