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The tragedy that has always been a part of John Aiken's marriage to Kelly Swanson-Roe.

 

Whilst we all know John Aiken for dishing out relationship advice on Married at First Sight, little is known about his own marriage to Kelly Swanson-Roe. Although the track-record for couples lasting on MAFS is pretty… dire… he has been with his wife for 14 years now.

The story of the pair meeting comes after tragic circumstances. Swanson-Roe lost her first husband, Jon Roe, when he was killed – along with 20 others – at the age of 30 in a canyoning accident in Switzerland. The couple had only been married for three years.

Swanson-Roe, who was 24 years old when her husband passed away, is a former journalist and TV presenter – it was on television that Aiken first saw her.

When the pair met, Swanson-Roe was still grieving from her loss. Aiken revealed in an interview with 9honey, that when their romance began, he decided to “embrace” her heartbreaking past.

“Rather than saying, ‘No, I need to be separate with Kelly,’ I just said, ‘I’m going to bring her past partner into the relationship and really make him a part of it all.’

“And that really changed everything.”

The couple have been together for 14 years and have lived in Australia for the past 10.

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On Instagram the former journalist recently paid tribute to her late husband, 19 years after he passed away, alongside a throwback photo of the two.

“19 years gone today my Jonny Roe…” she said in her caption. “But still crystal clear in my memory is the warmth, kindness, humour and intelligence of that beautiful soul of yours. To the world you were just someone, but to me you were the world.”

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Aiken and Swanson-Roe, who is now an Interior Designer, share together a son, eight, and a daughter, six.

As for how she deals with being married to a “relationship expert”, Aiken told 9honey: “Kelly was really good. Right from the word go she said, ‘I don’t want a therapist – cut the psychobabble.'”

“So there was no chance of me being someone other than her husband, which I think is a great thing… you don’t want to be dating a guru.”