Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion paid $150,000 for Sunday Night interview
Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and his new partner Vikki Campion are set to give an exclusive interview to Seven's Sunday Night program that reportedly cost the broadcaster $150,000.
Mr Joyce and Ms Campion’s relationship has been the centre of a publicity storm since news of their affair broke on February 7. Their son Sebastian was born on April 16.
Mr Joyce has repeatedly appealed to the politicians and the public to stop scrutinising his private life and “move on”.
Seven paid $150,000 to secure the interview rights following a bidding war with Nine's 60 Minutes, News Corp reported.
The Daily Telegraph – which first broke the story by publishing photos of the pregnant Ms Campion on its front page in February – has hit back at the interview, revealing that Mr Joyce has complained to the Australian Press Council that his privacy was breached.
“Yet in an extraordinary decision by a senior politician who still believes he should be deputy prime minister, the pair have sold their privacy to a tabloid TV show,” the paper wrote.
Mr Joyce has four daughters with his estranged wife Natalie. At the time the story first broke, Natalie said she was “deeply saddened by the news that my husband has been having an affair and is now having a child with a former staff member”.