Mum who left husband and youngsters for Egyptian lover will ‘by no means recover from aftermath’

It was during a family holiday to Egypt in 2016 that Julia Clark’s life changed forever.

The married mum-of-three was sitting by the poolside while her family played in the water, pondering why she felt so isolated. “Despite the fun times and beautiful photos, I felt a sense of loneliness,” the 53-year-old from Lincoln told OK!

“My relationship seemed to have lost its spark. I’d been wedded to Peter for 15 years. He was a wonderful man, an excellent father to our children James, now 34, Melissa, 21, and Amelia, 18, and a good provider, but it felt like we were just there for the kids.

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“It was during that 2016 holiday that my life took a turn. As I sat watching my family, a hotel employee came over and asked for my name. He wanted to know how I was doing and if I was on Facebook. I gave him my name and introduced him to Peter, who had just got out of the pool. I didn’t think much of it until we returned home.”

After a few days back home, Julia got a friend request from the bloke she’d met at the poolside and started liking his posts, including ones featuring his mates.

“That’s when Ahmed first caught my eye. He must’ve noticed me interacting with the posts and sent me a friend request,” she said.

“For some reason, I accepted.”

Days passed without a peep from him, not even a simple greeting. Then out of the blue, he messaged her saying: “Hi. How are you? ” They began chatting in October 2016, mostly about Julia’s life and family.

“I shared with him that my mum had recently suffered a heart attack. I felt comfortable confiding in him, and he was there for me.

“After about a month of chatting, Ahmed, who’s now 35, suggested we video call. It was lovely to see his face he was friendly and always smiling.

“From then on, we video-called two to three times a week and messaged daily.

“At first, it was all friendly banter, but after three months, he confessed he was falling for me. By the fifth month, I found myself developing feelings for him too.”

She added: “My husband had overheard me talking to Ahmed a few times and knew that if I was downstairs at night while he was upstairs, I was likely messaging him. Once, he told me if I wanted a new life, I needed to leave.

“I thought he was right. I tried to cut ties with Ahmed, but I just couldn’t.”

In March 2017, the journey to divorce began in what Julia described as a “bittersweet move.”

It wasn’t until September 2018 that Julia and Ahmed finally met face-to-face and while it seemed “surreal” the “sparks flew instantly.”

During Julia’s 12-day break, he popped the question on an apartment rooftop.

“He said, ‘Will you marry me?’ I thought, ‘Oh my God!’ but then I thought, ‘OK.’ However, I knew we shouldn’t rush it.”

She added: “I went to Egypt every eight to nine months to see Ahmed and in September 2020 I moved there to start a new life. I gave everything up – my house, my kids, my family. It wasn’t easy because my children were my life. I still can’t believe I did it. I was a stay-at-home mum – I’d always been there for my kids.”

The couple tied the knot in Cairo at the embassy. Ahmed told Julia not to wear anything special because it was a “low key day.”

But it wasn’t long before things started to go downhill.

“Ahmed wasn’t bothered about holding my hand in public any more and he didn’t want to take me out to cafés. He would go out for hours at night and leave me in the flat alone, not having a clue where he was. I already suffered from anxiety, but this made it worse.”

A year later, Julia returned to England to visit family and asked Ahmed if they could rekindle their relationship.

“He started taking me out more regularly and I thought that he had changed.

“In February 2022, he took me to a café that I loved. It was beautiful, but he dropped a bombshell on me. He told me that he needed to marry an Egyptian woman so he could have children as I’m older and had gone through the menopause.

“It broke me. I couldn’t sit there knowing that my husband was away having babies with another woman.

“We had spoken about second wives throughout our relationship, but he’d told me that he didn’t need anyone else and he didn’t mind not having his own kids. We married under Islamic law and they asked me what conditions I wanted to put in the marriage agreement, so I said I didn’t want him to marry a second wife.

“However, Ahmed was entitled to four wives, so we had it in writing that if he wanted another wife he had to get my permission which, obviously, I could never give.”

Julia admitted she “felt stupid.”

“I gave Ahmed everything. I gave him the world. I’d wasted six years of my life.”

By 2022 they were officially divorced and Julia has since moved back to the UK.

She added: “I still believe there’s someone out there for me, but there’s no chance of a reconciliation with Peter. I met another Egyptian man before I returned to the UK, someone closer to my age, and I think he genuinely cares about me.

“But during moments of self-doubt, I think it’s not real because I mistakenly thought what I had with Ahmed was real. “

Ahmed said: “It was an Islamic wedding in an Islamic country so technically I was allowed four wives.

“Julia is an English woman and I am an Egyptian man and there are many differences between us in thought and culture.”

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