Instant Hotel: Shay’s heartache – My fiance died

I N S TAN T H O TE L SHAY’S HEARTACHE THE CONTESTANT ON THE SHOCK DEATH, THE DARK DAYS THAT FOLLOWED AND HER RECENT WEIGHT LOSS

Appearing alongside her close friend Mikey on Instant Hotel, Shay is the embodiment of confidence and selfassuredness. But behind closed doors, the 31-yearold tells a different story.

Before filming began, Shay lost her fiance, Tamim. Together since 2011, the two met in America, travelled the world together and shortly after got engaged in Japan. The couple were living in Australia together when her fiance, 29, went back home to California.

‘He went on this trip to Mammoth Lakes in California and his cousin jumped into the river. It was August, so it was summer, but they were in the mountains so there were ice caps – the river was below zero,’ Shay explains. ‘My fiance jumped in, got his cousin out, but he went into hypothermia himself. His family saw it all and watched him drown. There was nothing they could do.’ Back at home in Sydney, Shay spent 48 hours after her fiance’s death believing he went missing. ‘For 48 hours, they knew he was dead, they just couldn’t tell me. I was in Coles supermarket when I got the call and I just dropped my basket.’ Shay flew over for the funeral, but her darkest days were still yet to come. ‘I came to a point very early on in my fiance’s passing, where I had to sit down with myself and say: “Shay, either you stop living, because right now you’re not living.

Either you jump in the grave with him, or you live.” So I auditioned for Instant Hotel – that was my way of living.’

While she admits the show was a good distraction at first, the full force of mourning hit when filming wrapped.

‘I’ve lost so much weight since the show – about 10 kilograms. I look at myself on the show now and I think I look chubby, but the weight loss, it came from my fiance passing away,’ Shay reveals. ‘My stepsister also passed away in the same year and one of my best friends committed suicide shortly after.

‘I definitely have a loss of appetite. I work 13-hour shifts in my jobs. I work in the medical field, so I’m dealing with people’s lives and I forget about food. You remember to eat when you’re about to pass out.’

Despite online vitriol sent her way from some viewers, Shay says she’d love to stay on TV.

‘I want to stay in the spotlight. I’m like Tinkerbell, if I don’t get attention I die,’ she says, laughing.

In fact, Shay has her heart set on a dating show. One year on from her fiance’s death, she admits she’s ready for love.

‘I haven’t been with anyone since his passing. I wanted to honour him, but now I’m ready to fall in love again,’ Shay explains. ‘I would definitely love to be on a dating show.’

But she says her fiance will always be in her heart.

‘That love for him is never going to go away. The pain is never going to go away. But I’m still here. If he’s watching me, he’d be like: “Go girl!”’ Shay shares. ‘I know what grief and heartache feel like. I’ve experienced so much I feel I can help the world. All these things I’ve gone through – it happened for a reason.’

Billie Carter has faced quite the journey on the second season of Seven’s hit drama.

But it wasn’t her character’s dad’s ailing health or discovering her real family that Jessica Mauboy struggled with most – it was actually her kissing scenes with co-star James Sweeny, who plays Billie’s love interest Marc!

The 28-year-old tells New Idea that she struggled to break the news about her character’s romance to long-time boyfriend Themeli Magripilis.

‘I was so nervous,’ Jessica remembers.

‘We do this thing where he will help me out and I’m like: “Bub, can you help me out with reading the other part,” and he will read it with me.

‘There were moments where he was like: “Oh hell, I hate this.” It was so hard for him to see that and feel that.

‘For him to pick up the scripts and read them, I felt more embarrassed than he did.’

But luckily for the songstress, Themeli is ‘very supportive’ of her career, and co-star James, 28, was there to guide her through the experience.

‘Poor James,’ Jessica says, laughing. ‘All he heard from me every time we had to lock lips, I was like: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” – I couldn’t help it!

‘There were moments where I was like: “I need 10 mints or I need to brush my teeth again!”’

However, allowing the Darwin-born star to feel more comfortable during the filming process was her involvement as a co-producer.

‘It’s not like I was taking my clothes off or anything,’ she explains. ‘I couldn’t handle that, I couldn’t do it, I was really strict about that. I was very conscious of the respect and the dignity of me and of Billie. She doesn’t hop around.’

Beloved by fans of her music and now her acting, Jessica is renowned for her squeaky-clean image and family values.

‘I am always asking myself questions,’ she reveals.

‘Why do I do it? What exactly do I want to do? How do I want to look?’

The star adds: ‘I need to feel comfortable.’