‘OUR FAIRYTALE ROMANCE’
Stacey and Ash are winning at couple goals. The gorgeous Instagram stars really are as loved-up in real life as they seem on screen. Speaking to New Idea about their picturesque life together, it’s clear engaged Byron Bay sweethearts Stacey, 27, and Ash, 34, are head over heels for each other. The first team to cook in the competition, the bubbly, fun-loving pair are brimming with excitement for their MKR journey and they’re keen to share with Australia all the details of their fairytale romance. How did you guys meet? STACEY: We actually met six or seven years ago. Ash was living here in Byron and I was living in Adelaide, and I was travelling to Byron every three months because I just loved it so much. I’d come and stay as often as I could and so I met Ash in one of the clothing stores here that he was working in at the time. We just clicked but it was nothing romantic. It was just purely friends so we added each other on Instagram.
ASH: Yeah I creeped on her. S: He was always liking my photos! So anyway we kept in contact throughout the years but we kept missing each other when I was in Byron. Two years ago it worked out he was in Byron for one day while I was here and we caught up for a coffee and I saw him in a different light. Straight away something was different between us.
So then what happened?
S: Ash was actually moving to Bali at that stage but we caught up once more before his move.
A: I had a plan to open a small coffee shop in Bali and so I was at home in Byron to sell my car and pack up my place and that was when Stacey and I caught up. We ended up having a couple of dates and we straight away knew that we should be together. While I was with her, I got an email from the guy I was doing the coffee shop with that he didn’t have the money to do it so that fell through and I didn’t have enough money to do it on my own. So I had to go back to Byron. She came up and visited me. I went down to Adelaide to visit her and we went back and forth for a few months before Stacey moved up.
We moved straight in together.
How did that go?
S: It went amazingly! Looking back, I was crazy. I was in a really good job for seven years in Adelaide working in a dental practice and I just quit that and went all in. But it clearly worked for us.
A: Yeah, I had good friends being like, “What do you mean you’re moving in with her?” But then they’d meet her and see why. And then I proposed within 10 months.
So tell us about the proposal!
S: Oh, he went above and beyond. He set a very high standard of how my life needs to be from now on. There’s no going back now.
A: Do you want to tell the story or me? S: You go. A: So, Stacey and I have a favourite restaurant called Raes on Wategos where we would go for any celebrations like birthdays. I can’t remember what we were celebrating but I said we should go to Raes and I suggested we both wear white so we could get some photos together for our Instagrams. Anyway when we left, I put her in the car and blindfolded her. S: I was like, “Hang on!” A: I drove her around the block a few times to confuse her, went back to Raes and I had the penthouse rented out so I carried her up the stairs, blindfolded, and I had her favourite photographer hiding in the corner of the penthouse so they could get photos of the moment. I had her favourite song playing. S: He had every little detail covered. My favourite food there was cheese. A: I got a bunch of flowers and set it all up. So I dropped to the knee but I can’t remember what I said because we both started crying.