Melinda Messenger, 52, engaged to survival expert Dr Raj Joshi – and has already started wedding planning-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

Congratulations! (Picture: Instagram)

Melinda Messenger has announced her engagement to Dr Raj Joshi, with the couple becoming engaged during a scenic trip to New Zealand.

The former glamour model also shared with her followers when the couple are planning on getting married… and it’s not too far in the future!

In a post shared on Instagram, Melinda, 52, wrote: ‘We’ve got some very happy news to share.

‘@raj.joshi.expedition and I got engaged in beautiful New Zealand at Matariki, the Māori New year, and we are getting married next year! 🥰💛.’

She added the hashtags: ‘wedding #weddingplanning #happy,’ so it appears that wedding planning is already well and truly underway.

Melissa and Dr Raj celebrated their news by uploading a series of pictures on social media, including a couple of them posing against spectacular views in New Zealand, as well as photographs of mountains landscapes in front of bodies of water.

The couple received a rush of congratulations, with one person writing: ‘A match made in…….mountains? 🔥 A great big hearty congratulations to you both. ❤️.’

‘What lovely news and what a handsome couple you both make!’ someone else said, while another individual added: ‘Congratulations darling. Amazing. You can trek the world together 💕💕💕.’

Dr Raj is an expedition leader who has worked on BBC documentaries including David Beckham: Into the Unknown and Kilimanjaro: The Big Red Nose Climb.

He is the founder of the company The Adventure Boutique, where he is described on the website as having ‘years of experience leading teams through some of the world’s most remote environments’.

Melinda has appeared on TV throughout her career (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

In her early career, Melinda modelled as a Page Three girl for The Sun, and worked as a TV presenter on programmes including Eurotrash, Melinda’s Big Night In and Cowboy Builders.

She finished in third place on Celebrity Big Brother in 2002 before competing on Dancing On Ice seven years later.

Melinda shares three children with Wayne Roberts, who she was married to from 1998 to 2012.

In 2021, she opened up to Metro.co.uk about signing up for a dating agency after spending a couple of years on her own, saying at the time that she felt no ‘urge’ to get married.

Asked what kind of man she was looking for, she responded: ‘Somebody who is very genuine, kind, gentle and self-aware. Not the classic alpha male — quite the opposite. Ultimately, I’d like to meet somebody who is a life partner. I’ve no deep desire or urge to be married, though.’

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