Married At First Sight's Jules recalls difficult time apart from husband Cam
Married at First Sight Australia's Jules Robinson has recalled a difficult time away from her husband Cam Merchant while she was suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
The pair met and married on the 2019 series, and have since welcomed a son called Ollie. However, in her new memoir Ask Jules, the star opened up about the health condition, revealing she was forced to stay behind in Bali after a trip together in 2022.
"It's not just feeling a bit moody; it's a real disruption to your daily life and it can seriously impact your relationships and overall wellbeing," Jules said of her PMDD diagnosis (via Yahoo).
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"I personally feel in these moments that I can't deal with life. It all just feels too hard and too much, until it miraculously passes and I'm back to my sparkly self, grabbing life by the horns."
She revealed that she intended to spend just one week at a private retreat in Bali after the family trip, but turned back when preparing to leave to go home.
"The day I left for the airport to go home, I was feeling incredibly out of sorts," she recalled. "I had had the most beautiful week of solitude at Escape Haven. I knew my time was up, but something felt like it was pulling me back."
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After Cam texted her just before her flight, Jules decided to turn back as she felt she didn't want "to come home" yet.
"I returned to the retreat with 'Welcome home, Jules' written on the bed with flowers," she continued. "I felt proud that I had done what I needed to do for me, but the darkness of PMDD was surging through me. I lay there sobbing, but feeling blessed that I have a best friend like Cam who supports me and my needs."
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"I worried that my husband was sometimes oversharing everything he was doing with our son on social media, which always came back to me," she added. "People would send me messages telling me to go home to my child, asking, 'why is your husband always with your baby?'"
Jules also addressed the "shaming" many working mothers face, while also expressing hope to raise more awareness of PMDD.
The condition is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which can cause a number of emotional and physical symptoms such as mood swings, anxiety, headaches and sleep problems in the week or two before a period (via Mind).
Married at First Sight UK airs on E4 in the UK. Married at First Sight Australia airs on Nine Network in Australia and E4 in the UK.
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