The pair got remarkably candid about their romance in the latest Two Of Us column for the Sydney Morning Herald, revealing the origins of their relationship and speaking for the first time about the issues that forced them apart back in 2016.Lee, 40, had met Harding, 31, back in 2014 in a Melbourne cafe where she was waitressing. The pair soon began quietly dating, with the comic managing to keep the new relationship out of the public eye.They made their public debut as a couple at the 2015 Australian Open – and both now say that’s where the trouble began, as Harding was suddenly thrust into the limelight. Lee said he had warned Harding that their relationship “might change” when it became public knowledge, and while she initially brushed off his concerns, she felt “immense pressure” being in the public eye. “It was a really sad, tough time – and confronting because I had to accept that what I do for a living created the situation,” Lee said in the column. Influencer and model Harding, who was finishing her master’s degree when the couple got together, explained that being the partner of a famous person left her feeling “insecure and miserable.”“I was starting my career and doubting myself and my ability. Did I get this job because of who I’m dating? I’d make friends and wonder, do they actually like me? I struggled,” she said.The pair took a six-month break in 2016, and Lee acknowledges now that Harding “quickly got her spark back” during their time apart. But still present was the spark between them – so Lee reached out again and the pair resumed their romance, this time with Harding feeling more secure in herself and the relationship. And six years on, the pair are going stronger than ever: In November last year they splashed out $8.5m on an “unliveable” mansion in riverside Hawthorn that they’re now renovating.The historic home, which is located on the Yarra River, has remained vacant for 10 years resulting in damaged walls, floors and ceiling and with no power or plumbing, however it can’t be knocked down – meaning the pair must renovate it from the ground up.“Renovations are good for relationships, right?” Lee quipped in the Two Of Us column.“It’s probably going to be a lifetime passion. It’s going to be a generational home for them,” the agent responsible for the sale, Jellis Craig partner Antony Woodley, told the Herald Sun at the time of the purchase.“(They were drawn to) the river, combined with the opportunity to renovate an original home, and it’s on that city side of Hawthorn so they weren’t moving too far.”
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