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June 25, 2026 \u2014 11:38am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Sexual assault survivor Harrison James, 26, and cancer survivor Bella Johnston, 31, first connected on Instagram, but the sparks really flew when they finally met face to face in a Rome Airbnb.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n HARRISON: I met Bella in 2024 when she sent me a DM on Instagram. Someone had sent her a link to a front-page newspaper story about my campaign to prohibit \u201cgood character\u201d references from being used in court to reduce the sentences of sexual predators. Bella was very supportive of my campaign and the conversations were \u00adpolite and respectful. My personal story was already all over social media: how I\u2019d been groomed and sexually abused from the age of 13 by my stepmother; how she\u2019d given birth to my daughter; how I\u2019d had to pretend she was my sister instead of my daughter; how my stepmother had fled back to the Philippines.<\/p>\n We shared more of ourselves via DMs as the weeks passed \u2013 Bella about her cancer [she\u2019d received treatment for paraganglioma \u2013 a rare tumour in the neck \u2013 in 2014] and her mixed feelings about having been on The Bachelor<\/a> [in 2022] \u2013 but the conversations remained non-romantic, even though I\u2019d scrolled through her Insta photos and thought she was really cute. A few months later, she went off to travel around Europe without us ever having met face to face.<\/p>\n One night, Bella FaceTimed me from Greece, and we chatted for five hours \u2013 until 5am my time. I was totally captivated. I asked her, \u201cSo when are you coming back to Australia?\u201d When she told me she wasn\u2019t coming back but was going on to Italy and, later, London to work, I replied, \u201cWell, in that case, I\u2019ll have to fly over to Rome to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n In September 2024, I flew to Italy. When she opened the door of the Airbnb, my first thought was how gorgeous she looked. She was wearing a floral skirt and denim vest, her olive skin glowing from the sun. We went for a late dinner. She later told me she\u2019d booked a pull-out bed for the room in case it didn\u2019t work out; we never used it.<\/p>\n \u2018When Bella opened the door of the Airbnb, my first thought was how gorgeous she looked.\u2019<\/p>\n We spent a magical three weeks travelling around Italy; I\u2019d never felt a connection with anyone like this before. One of the hardest things about childhood sexual abuse is that it strips you of the belief you\u2019re worthy of love; Bella taught me you\u2019re not defined by what you\u2019ve been through. Over a candlelit dinner in Ischia, an island off the coast of Naples, I opened up about the pain of not seeing my daughter. Bella put her hand across the table and told me she\u2019d always be there for me. That was the night I fell in love with her, and I think she did, too.<\/p>\n I returned to Australia for a few months to continue my campaign [which finally led to legislation being passed in NSW in May this year abolishing \u201cgood character\u201d references for convicted sexual offenders; Victoria will soon follow], but we were missing one another badly, so I moved to London to be with Bella.<\/p>\n Writing my memoir [Transform Your Pain into Purpose; Simon & Schuster] required revisiting some pretty painful events, which sent me into a really dark space and I ended up in a psychiatric ward. Bella, as always, was a pillar of support and understood that I was traumatised and that this wasn\u2019t a genuine reflection of me. After I was discharged, we decided to take a break from reality and travelled through Europe. Exploring life outside my advocacy work really opened my eyes; I gained a fresh perspective on life and a new conclusion to my book.<\/p>\n Related Article We\u2019re opposites in some ways \u2013 she\u2019s an extrovert who loves to entertain, I\u2019m socially anxious and prefer a quiet night at home \u2013 but our core values are the same. We\u2019re building a life now in Melbourne and have a baby due in October.<\/p>\n If we do have an argument, it tends to happen in the car. I know I\u2019m the best driver in the world, but she likes to provide unnecessary notes from the passenger seat. Bella\u2019s driving? She\u2019s Larry Leadfoot.<\/p>\n BELLA: Meeting Harri felt like an online fairytale. The partner of one of my friends on The Bachelor sent me a message on Instagram about his campaign. I\u2019d spoken about this online after reading about a case where a sexual offender\u2019s sporting team had written glowing references for him and couldn\u2019t believe this was even a thing. So, I dropped Harri a follow and a DM. He was very professional and our exchanges were always polite, even though I thought he looked hot in his photos. I have a soft spot for gingers.<\/p>\n Then, after recovering from surgery \u2013 I\u2019ve had several operations since my cancer diagnosis 12 years ago \u2013 I decided to move overseas. While backpacking in Greece, I spontaneously FaceTimed Harri. We spoke for hours; I didn\u2019t realise how late it was in Australia when we finished. I knew then I\u2019d found someone who was as into me as I was into him.<\/p>\n Then Harri told me he was flying over to meet me. My first thought when I opened the door in Rome was how much taller he was than I expected; \u201cI\u2019ve finally snagged myself a tall man,\u201d I thought to myself. It was a bit awkward at first but, after a couple of Aperol spritzes at dinner, we relaxed. I\u2019d organised a pull-out bed for the room because I didn\u2019t want to be presumptuous, but we never used it.<\/p>\n We travelled all over Italy and, at a dinner overlooking the sea in Ischia, said we loved one another. Days later, we got matching tattoos in Italian: mine, on my hand, reads Fortunata in amore [Lucky in love] and Harri\u2019s, on his wrist, says Fortunato al gioco [Lucky at the game].<\/p>\n \u2018We travelled all over Italy and, at a dinner overlooking the sea in Ischia, said we loved one another.\u2019<\/p>\n A couple of months into living together in London, while he was writing his book, it started to take a massive toll on him. He started spiralling and when I told him to see a doctor, he ended up in hospital. When he was discharged, we walked all the way home, which took over an hour, and we talked about what needed to change. It was a big moment of reconnection for us.<\/p>\n Harri has been a big support to me, too. I\u2019ve had my own experiences of trauma and mental-health issues. Pregnancy hasn\u2019t been easy for me, but Harri now does all the dishes, all the cooking and all the laundry. He\u2019s been an incredible partner.<\/p>\n The thing many people don\u2019t see in Harri, with all the seriousness of his work, is that he\u2019s one of the funniest people I\u2019ve ever met; he does an amazing impression of Anthony Albanese. And the funny thing is, we both think the other is a crazy driver. I\u2019m a safe driver; he\u2019s the lead-foot!<\/p>\n If you or anyone you know needs support, call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT<\/a> (1800 737 732).<\/p>\n Read more from Good Weekend\u2019s Two of Us <\/a>column:Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Harrison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8ecf186800b14dddaa69010bd98d6d893e257018.jpeg\")
Harrison James and Bella Johnston. \u201cMeeting Harri felt like an online fairytale,\u201d says Bella.Simon Schluter<\/p>\n![\"\u201cEven](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7f82f50e3792e45dd6d02a9a47634571c7ff16a1.jpeg\")
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