The Bachelor’s Laura Byrne claims she was offered money to marry an Italian student so he could get his permanent visa and stay in Australia
She is happily engaged to former Bachelor Matthew ‘Matty J’ Johnson.
But Laura Byrne has admitted that there was a time when she was nearly engaged to another man.
The 32-year-old revealed on her podcast Life Uncut that an ex-boyfriend had asked her if she would consider marrying one of his friends so he could continue living in Australia.
‘It was all very dodgy!’ Laura Byrne revealed one of her ex boyfriend’s friends – an Italian man – asked if he could marry her so he could stay in Australia
She recalled: ‘When I was dating the guy I was with for six years… one of his best mates was this Italian guy who opened a cafe down the road that we used to go to.
‘He had started this cafe, but he was only on a student working visa, it was all very dodgy,’ she added.
The brunette beauty said that the cafe owner had not sorted out any other options to stay in the country and his visa was running out.
Absurd! The brunette beauty was offered money to participate in the shame marriage
‘This Italian guy had approached my ex-boyfriend at the time and was like “hey, how would you feel if I pay you a certain amount of money, and I marry Laura to get permanent residency?”
She continued: ‘My boyfriend came to me and proposed the question, and was like “so this is what we’re thinking, how would you feel about this?”
‘I was like, “not good, not good,”‘ Laura said, laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
Engaged: Laura became engaged with Matty J in 2019, who she first met in season five of The Bachelor in 2017
Fortunately, she never followed through with the offer, as marrying someone in order to get permanent residency carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000 in Australia.
Laura became engaged with Matty J in 2019, who she first met in season five of The Bachelor in 2017.
The welcomed their first child, daughter Marlie-Mae, in 2019.
Happy family! The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Marlie-Mae, in 2019 (pictured together)