“I needed to stop trying to understand it and just accept it and accept that it was a decision that had been made,” he said.
“You can tie yourself in knots trying to understand someone else’s decisions and thought processes."
Figuring that his ex-wife was “moving on with her life in a different direction and (he) needed to do the same,” Albo soon made a trip to London and Portugal to process the break up.
After a year of healing, the politician met his now-partner, Jodie Haydon, at an event in Melbourne.
During his speech, Albo asked if there were any South Sydney rugby league supporters in the audience.
“Up the Rabbitohs,” Jodie yelled in response, before making the first move.
“I slid into his (Twitter) DMs,” she said, according to news.com.au. “I knew that we both followed the same footy team, we both have a love for the Inner West and I think I said in that direct message: ‘hey, we’re both single’.”
While neither were looking for a relationship to begin with, the pair clicked instantly.
“We had what I thought would just be a drink at Young Henrys in Newtown, and we got on really well. That’s how it started,” he told The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Jodie has worked in the superannuation industry for 20 years and is an advocate for women in the workplace. She grew up on the NSW Central Coast as the daughter of public-school teachers. Politics was always a big part of the family.
“We would watch ABC News every night, Four Corners, The 7.30 Report," she told news.com.au.
Jodie continued: "Politics was definitely dinner-table conversation. If you care about education, you care about where you get health care, fairness, equality; you have to take an interest in politics."
As passionate as ever about Albo’s campaign leading up to the election, Australia's newest 'First Lady' remained his number one supporter throughout it all.
“She’ll be there on election night,” the politician told Karl Stefanovic during a 60 Minutes interview. “I’m absolutely certain.”
Following the ALP victory as Albo thanked the nation for choosing him to be the next Prime Minister, he also shared his gratitude for Jodie and his son Nathan.
“Thank you for coming into my life and for sharing this journey,” he said.
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