EXCLUSIVEWhy Nigel Farage's sexy French 'First Lady' 'WON'T be joining him on the election campaign': Laure Ferrari has been secretly whipping Reform leader into shape by ordering him to cut back booze and lose weight  - but 'doesn't want to overshadow her lover'

Laure Ferrari stood patiently at the end of the world-famous bridge before embracing her Brexiteer beau as he left the Australian jungle.

But Nigel Farage's 'secret weapon' and long-term girlfriend, who is 15 years his junior, stayed away from his campaign launch on the packed seafront at Clacton-on-Sea this week.

Laure may have wished to have been there to support him after he was drenched with a milkshake in an incident outside a pub that left him close to tears of shock and a 25-year-old OnlyFans model charged with assault.

And with her partner, 60, fighting to enter Parliament at the eighth attempt on July 4 - will she be by his side if it can tip the balance in his favour at the General Election? 

A source with knowledge of their relationship told MailOnline: 'Laure and Nigel are both rebels - but she wouldn't want her presence to overshadow his best chance of getting to Westminster'. But the insider added: 'If it would help him, and Reform, I'm sure she would happily be his secret weapon'. 

Mr Farage, who is in France for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, declined to comment on whether she will join him at events. But a source close to the Reform leader told MailOnline that Laure is not expected to join the campaign trail. 'He doesn’t involve his family in politics,' they said. 

Another former Farage ally said waspishly: 'He won’t want a girlfriend on the campaign trail' because he is a hit with female fans, some of whom greeted him with kisses in Clacton this week. They added another PR problem could be that it is still not been made public if his divorce from second wife Kirsten has gone through, seven years after they separated after 18 years. 

Nigel Farage and Laure Ferrari have been together for seven years (pictured in March at the Inspiration Awards For Women)

Nigel Farage and Laure Ferrari have been together for seven years (pictured in March at the Inspiration Awards For Women)

Nigel Farage gets a kiss from a supporter as he launched his candidacy to be MP for Reform UK in Clacton - but Laure Ferrari was not with him this week

Nigel Farage gets a kiss from a supporter as he launched his candidacy to be MP for Reform UK in Clacton - but Laure Ferrari was not with him this week

Laure looked glamarous at a polo event she attended with Nigel last week and there is speculation she could join him on the campaign

Laure looked glamarous at a polo event she attended with Nigel last week and there is speculation she could join him on the campaign

Laure and Nigel reunited after his stint in the jungle

Laure and Nigel met in 2007 when she was working as a waitress in Brussels and he was a MEP

Laure and Nigel met in 2007 when she was working as a waitress in Brussels and he was a MEP

Like the Reform leader's two ex-wives, Laure has kept a low profile but there was shock when she decided to appear on live TV in front of millions to meet her partner, 15 years her senior, after he came third in I'm a Celebrity last December.

But in recent months Laure and Nigel posed on the red carpet as they attended the Inspiration Awards For Women 2024 in London and did the same at a polo event at the end of May.

There was shock when Ms Ferrari was one of those flown out to Australia ahead of the show's finale which saw reality star Sam Thompson take the crown and boxer Tony Bellew finish second. Some claimed Nigel was shocked herself.

Mr Farage and Ms Ferrari have been together since 2017 - after they were spotted at his London home after he moved out of the family home in Kent and dancing together at a Brexit anniversary party.

Despite the yawning gap in their ages and roles, Ms Ferrari told MailOnline before her trip to the jungle last year: 'I was first attracted to Nigel's values as a man. He has loyalty, empathy and never breaks his promises. I find that very attractive.' 

She has also been credited with helping Nigel lose weight and get healthier - mainly through cutting down on pints and cigarettes - although not completely. 

They first met in 2007, when Nigel was a MEP in Brussels. 

Laure began working for Mr Farage and fellow Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom after meeting them in the Strasbourg restaurant where she waited tables.

Describing what happened, she said previously: 'I met these two MEPs and we started talking about politics.

'The two Brits have no hierarchy and neither of them comes from a political background.' 

Holly Valance attended Nigel Farage's announcement on Monday in London, as he announced he would stand for election. She claimed she helped persuade him

Holly Valance attended Nigel Farage's announcement on Monday in London, as he announced he would stand for election. She claimed she helped persuade him

Holly Candy (née Valance), 41, has thrown her support behind Nigel Farage. Pictured (L to R) with husband Nick Candy, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage at Mar-a-Lago

Holly Candy (née Valance), 41, has thrown her support behind Nigel Farage. Pictured (L to R) with husband Nick Candy, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage at Mar-a-Lago

The Brexiteer, pictured with his girlfriend Laure Ferrari,  at his 60th birthday in March

The Brexiteer, pictured with his girlfriend Laure Ferrari,  at his 60th birthday in March

Lizzy Cundy also attended the party, and called him the GOAT - the greatest of all time

Lizzy Cundy also attended the party, and called him the GOAT - the greatest of all time

In June 2013, Miss Ferrari posted on Twitter a link to a newspaper feature asking 'Why do more women want to bed Nigel Farage over David Cameron?'

But it was only four years later that their working relationship became romantic - and more political. 

She was originally Mr Bloom's parliamentary assistant then head of public relations to a European Parliament grouping led by Mr Farage, and was a candidate for a small Right-wing party known as Debout la République (Arise The Republic) at European elections in 2014. 

The party, later renamed Debout la France, was one of ten nationalist parties that make up the ADDE group, which was set up in 2014 by Ukip and funded by the European Parliament.

In March 2015, she was elected as executive director for the ADDE's think tank, the IDDE. 

The two organisations shared an office in Brussels but Ms Ferrari moved to London, setting up a consultancy firm from an address in Clapham.

Ms Ferrari then spoke alongside Ukip politicians and other Brexit campaigners at public events in Dorset and Norfolk ahead of the EU referendum in 2016.

Mr Farage was drenched by a model now charged with assault after being mobbed by crowds in what he described as the 'most patriotic' town in Britain

Mr Farage was drenched by a model now charged with assault after being mobbed by crowds in what he described as the 'most patriotic' town in Britain

Kirsten Farage at the Ukip spring conference in Margate in 2014. She split with Nigel in 2017

Kirsten Farage at the Ukip spring conference in Margate in 2014. She split with Nigel in 2017

Ms Ferrari was born in 1979 in Epinal, eastern France, making her 15 years Farage's junior

Nigel Farage is greeted by his French girlfriend Laure Ferrari after finishing third on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Ms Ferrari stood for far-Right French party Debout la Republique (Arise the Republic) at the 2014 European Parliament elections, but the party failed to win any seats

Ms Ferrari stood for far-Right French party Debout la Republique (Arise the Republic) at the 2014 European Parliament elections, but the party failed to win any seats

In 2017 she was spotted staying with Mr Farage, but he said they were friends.

The new Reform leader said he was giving Miss Ferrari 'short-term help' with her accommodation because she had nowhere else to go and needed money.

Asked if he had slept with her, he said: 'I'm not answering ludicrous questions, like have you ever held her hand, ever had dinner with her.

'She is someone I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn't cost her any money. It's a working relationship. You can inflate it however you want to.'

But that working relationship turned to romance.

Born in 1979 and raised in Epinal in North-East France, Miss Ferrari moved 90 miles to study English at the University of Strasbourg, and then spent two more years there doing a master's in communications.

After her studies, she took out a bank loan and opened a clothes shop in Strasbourg called Urban Flavor, as 'I couldn't see myself working for someone else'.

But the business did not flourish and financial difficulties led her to work as a waitress in the evenings - where she met her now partner.

Mr Farage's partners have largely kept a low profile.

In a rare interview his German-born second wife Kirsten Farage spoke out to deny he is racist, insisting he does not have a ‘bad bone in his body’ and the accusation 'hurts him'.

‘If he was a racist I wouldn’t be with him. I don’t think he has got a nasty bone in his body – he is not a bully, he likes things done properly,' she said.

Mrs Farage added: ‘It hurts him being personally attacked but it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable because I know he is not a racist.’

Mrs Farage, who is notoriously publicity shy, broke her silence in 2016 to paint the father of four as a dutiful family man who enjoys watching Dad’s Army, though she admitted he was often so busy that they only saw him on television.

She told the Daily Telegraph her husband’s ‘hectic’ lifestyle – in which he drank and smoked too much, skipped meals and lived on adrenalin – made her fear for his health.

Hamburg-born Kirsten kept a very low profile and was rarely seen in public. At Ukip conferences, she sat anonymously in the audience.

She worked from home and rarely visited Ukip’s HQ in London’s Mayfair, which she described as a ‘freak show’. 

Eight months after he was seen with Laure at a London property, Nigel Farage’s wife of 18 years moved out of the family home in Kent.

Friends said it was a sign that he was ‘getting serious’ with Ms Ferrari.

Nigel Farage’s wife of 18 years has moved out of the family home – eight months after The Mail on Sunday revealed he was living with French politician Laure Ferrari (pictured with Mr Farage in 2017)

Nigel Farage’s wife of 18 years has moved out of the family home – eight months after The Mail on Sunday revealed he was living with French politician Laure Ferrari (pictured with Mr Farage in 2017)

Laure was staying with Nigel at his London home - but insisted it was a work arrangement

Laure was staying with Nigel at his London home - but insisted it was a work arrangement

In his early 20s Nigel Farage had the first of several brushes with death, when he was run over by a car in Orpington, Kent, after a night in the pub.

He sustained severe injuries and doctors feared he would lose a leg.

But it would also lead to marriage and two children. 

Mr Farage was treated by a nurse called Grainne Hayes - who became his first wife.

He had two sons with Ms Hayes, who are both now grown up.

After splitting with Ms Hayes he married German-born bond trader Kirsten Mehr in 1999.

She and Mr Farage met in Frankfurt in 1996, while he was travelling on business - and still married to his first wife.

Of the moment he met Kirsten, he once said: ‘She was a stunning government bond broker whose brisk efficiency at first sight belied her ethereal appearance. She could have stepped into a pre-Raphaelite painting no questions asked.’

Later, he explained in typically flamboyant style: ‘My marriage, which had been on ice and torpid with its claws bound for so long we had both forgotten it was alive at all, finally expired.’

The couple divorced in 1997 and Mr Farage married Kirsten in 1999. They have two children.