Red flags were raised when he told her he wanted a younger second wife to have babies with

A woman from Lincoln who left her husband and children to marry an Egyptian man says she now regrets wasting six years of her life. Julia Clark, 53, from Lincoln, had been married to Peter, also 53, for 15 years and they had three children together.

After they went on a family holiday to Egypt in August 2016, Julia’s life changed completely. She told her story to OK! Magazine

“Sitting around the side of the pool, my husband Peter and two daughters, Melissa and Ameila, relaxed in the water. Our two-week holiday in Egypt was coming to an end and we were making the most of our final few days in the August heat,” she said.

“But, while we’d all had a laugh and were coming back with gorgeous photos, I couldn’t help but feel lonely. It felt like my relationship had gone stale. I’d been married to my husband for 15 years and he was a good man, a brilliant father to our children James, now 34, Melissa, 21, and Amelia, 18, and provided for me, but it felt like we were just there for the kids.

“It was on that holiday in 2016 that everything changed. As I sat there watching my family, a hotel worker approached me and asked for my name. He wanted to know how I was and asked if I was on Facebook. I gave him my name and introduced him to Peter, who had got out of the pool. I didn’t think anything of it until we headed home.

“After being home for a few days, I received a friend request from the man I’d met by the pool, which I accepted. I liked some of his posts, including ones with his friends in, which is when I first saw Ahmed. He must have seen me liking the posts and sent me a friend request himself. I don’t know why I accepted it, but I did.

“For days nothing came through, not even a hello. Then he sent a message saying, “Hi. How are you?” We started talking in October 2016, just about my life and family. I told him that my mother had recently suffered a heart attack. I felt that I could confide in him and he was there for me.

“After four weeks of talking, Ahmed, now 35, suggested we do a video call. It was great to see his face – he was friendly and smiley. From then, we video-called two to three times a week and messaged every day.

“At first, he was just being friendly, but three months in he started to say that he was falling in love with me. By five months, my feelings slowly kicked in too.

“My husband had heard me on the phone to Ahmed a few times and he knew that if I was downstairs at night while he was in bed, I was probably messaging him. One time he said if I wanted a new life then I needed to get out of here. I thought he was right. I did try to stop speaking to Ahmed, but I just couldn’t.”

New beginnings

“In March 2017, we began the process of getting divorced which was sad, but I just wanted to get to Ahmed – it didn’t feel right to meet him while I was married. It wasn’t until September 2018 that I met him in person. A friend at the time offered to come with me, so we booked a 12-day holiday to Egypt.

“Seeing Ahmed for the first time was very strange, but I felt like there was an instant attraction. He was taller than I thought and he’d had his hair cut so he looked younger. He and his friends picked my friend and me up from the hotel and took us to a café where he gave me some jewellery as a gift.

“While on that holiday he gave me a ring. We were on the roof of an apartment and he said, “Will you marry me?” I thought, “Oh my God!” but then I thought, “OK.” However, I knew we shouldn’t rush

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