Nadia’s secret heartbreak: ‘I’ve stopped looking for my dad’

The model beauty’s father walked out on her when she was a baby

With her confidence and stunning good looks, it’s hard to believe that bride-to-be and part-time model Nadia is hiding a painful secret. “I’ve never met my father,” reveals the Brisbane flight attendant. “He left our lives when I was just a baby so I don’t have any memories of him.”

Opening up to Woman’s Day, Nadia, 36, says her parents’ marriage broke down because of cross-cultural difficulties – her mother is Christian and her father is Muslim/islamic Indonesian. When her parents split, her mum Carolyn made the decision to raise her two daughters alone in Adelaide.

“He never had much input in our lives – financially or emotionally,” Nadia says of her father. “I could have half brothers and sisters I don’t even know about.”

Despite previously searching for her father, Nadia has recently made the decision to leave her past behind her.

“I’ve gone this far without a dad, and when I needed him he wasn’t there,” she says, her voice trembling.

She’s chosen to focus on her relationship with her mum and older sister Jenna instead.

“We didn’t have a flamboyant or wealthy upbringing. We had a life full of experiences! Mum nurtured us with what little we had,” she says happily.

Now the hopeless romantic’s sights are set firmly on the future – and on her TV groom.

“I love the idea of marriage! I love seeing gorgeous older couples united and still holding hands after 50 years.

“Married at First Sight isn’t how I’d envisioned getting married, but here I am and I’m ready to take the plunge!”