When Sydney nanny Jo Kinghorn met a handsome young Canadian dad at a friend’s Christmas barbecue in Palm Beach in 2012, she could have had no idea the impact that chance meeting would have on her life.
The Canadian in question was The Golden Bachelor’s Barry “Bear” Myrden, and she was touched by his devotion to his three boys and the sad revelation that he had lost his wife Audrey to brain cancer just 14 months earlier.
“Jo really fell madly in love with him,” reveals one friend, who was shocked to hear Barry say on the reality series that he had been single since Audrey’s death. “We were all gobsmacked to hear him say that!”
Friend’s of Bear’s ex-fiancee have spoken out against The Golden Bachelor star. (Credit: MATRIX)
MOVING FAST
Within four months of meeting, the couple were a serious item and Jo effectively took on the role of “stepmum” to Barry’s three sons, Charlie, Jack and Declan, who were aged just nine, seven and five at the time.
“I think quite honestly in the end Jo probably loved those boys even more than she loved Barry. She did everything she could for them. She really opened her heart to them and dedicated her life to them – and they adored her,” our source says.
What Barry, 61, may not have known when he met Jo was that she was from one of Australia’s wealthiest families. Her late father John founded Allco Financial Services and RAMS Home Loans and featured in the Rich List.
He and his wife Jill also set up a $300 million philanthropic foundation for education, medical research and fighting poverty, and donated $25 million to help build the world renowned Kinghorn Cancer Centre at St Vincent’s Hospital.
“Jo comes from a really close and loving family, and even though she grew up wealthy, she doesn’t put on any airs or graces. Jo’s one of the most down-to-earth people I know,” another source says.
Bear lost his wife Audrey to brain cancer in 2014. They share three boys together.
MONEY WOES
Barry’s life changed dramatically after he met Jo in 2012. Two years earlier, his late wife Audrey had her dying wish to buy a home for her family granted when A Current Affair helped them buy a rundown shack, which was transformed into their dream home.
They were only able to buy the property with the help of ACA, with the show also rallying hundreds of tradies and suppliers who donated their time to rebuild it.
“They enjoyed a pretty good life,” confirms one of the former couple’s friends.
“Just a year after they met, Jo hired a fulltime nanny for the boys, which allowed Barry and Jo to travel extensively overseas.
“She even bought a million-dollar warehouse in Brookvale that Barry turned into the most incredible mancave I’ve ever seen. It had a full kitchen, a huge TV and a handful of beds. It really was party central!
“And I know for a fact that she was paying for almost everything in the last three years they were together because Barry quit his job. I think the idea was he would eventually get another job – but he was still not working when they finally broke up in 2018.”
Bear has become a star on The Golden Bachelor, which also stars Samantha Armytage.
SHOCK SPLIT
Four years after they met, Barry proposed to Jo and presented her with a huge diamond solitaire engagement ring and the couple celebrated with an engagement party at Jo’s parents’ home in Mosman.
After they got engaged, Barry and his three boys moved out of their ACA home and into Jo’s $6 million home in Manly, but according to friends, cracks soon started to appear in the relationship, with Jo calling it quits in December 2018.
“Jo was broken, she really was just a shell of herself,” confides another friend.
“It was a very acrimonious break-up. There were lawyers called in and they spent a whole day in mediation, before it was settled. Barry kept his own house and Jo kept hers, which she sold soon after because of the bad memories,” our source says.
“He even asked Jo to return the diamond engagement ring he gave her.
“She’s doing fine now. She’s moved out of Manly and has built herself a great home and has an entirely new life. I know she found it really, really hard to be separated from the boys in the beginning, but she has zero regrets over ending the engagement.”
Friends laughed out loud when asked if Jo had watched any episodes of The Golden Bachelor. “What do you think? She hasn’t watched a second of it and has no intention of doing so.”
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