It took just one phone call for KJ to ask Olivia to be his girlfriend. Three days later he asked the dance teacher from London to be his wife … and she accepted.
This was despite the fact he was banged up thousands of miles away in a tough US prison, where he was serving eight years for home invasion – a crime which he says he no longer regrets.
According to KJ, had he not been serving time, he would never have met the woman he proudly calls his wife. “I don’t regret this cos I would’ve never met Olivia,” said KJ, philosophically, speaking from St Louis Correctional in Michigan.
Olivia met KJ after she chanced upon the Write A Prisoner website one day as she was idly scrolling online.
She said: “I was scrolling on social media and came across inmates that were looking for a pen pal. I just came across this one picture. I can’t even pinpoint it to one thing, he just looked… I just couldn’t stop thinking about that picture.
“KJ and I spoke, just emailing, for 2 weeks and then he called for the first time. He asked me to be his girlfriend and then 3 days later he asked me to marry him.”
Olivia spoke to KJ on the phone every day and she says at their first meeting it was love at first sight.
“Absolutely it was love at first sight. Absolutely.”
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But with her talent, personality and good looks, it is hard to fathom why a woman like Olivia would agree to marry a convicted felon, locked up on the other side of the world.
Psychologist Emma Kenny says there are a variety of reasons why women fall for incarcerated men.
She said: “The allure of the forbidden can be incredibly powerful. For some women, the very fact that these men are incarcerated adds a layer of intrigue and excitement.
“The taboo nature of these relationships can make them feel more intense and passionate.
“The danger associated with these men can be thrilling, tapping into a deep-seated desire for adventure and rebellion against the expected female societal norms.
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“And some women who seek out prison penpals are driven by a sense of empathy and a desire to nurture.
“They often believe in second chances and the possibility of redemption. For them, the prisoners are not defined solely by their crimes but seen as complex individuals capable of change.”
Olivia is certainly quick to defend KJ and their relationship.
She said: “The people that wanna judge me for getting into a relationship with an inmate, let them judge me. His crimes don’t define who he is. They’re a decision he made before he knew me.”
And, as far as KJ is concerned, being locked up has been a learning curve.
He said: “I’ve come to believe that everything happens for a reason.
“I really needed this experience to reinvent myself.”
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But, judgement apart, there were a number of practical hurdles Olivia had to jump in order to marry KJ, who is adopted.
First, they had to find his birth certificate, which meant Olivia had to track down his adoptive parents.
After weeks of wrangling she managed to get the paperwork she needed – also enlisting the help of another UK prison bride, who knew how the system worked after also marrying a US convict.
When Olivia and KJ made their wedding vows, they had only spent 30 hours face-to-face and knew he still had two years of his sentence left to serve.
Olivia said: “I’m so happy that I’m finally married to him. I am probably the most consistent person that KJ’s had in his life.”
And she hopes that tying-the-knot has reassured him that she will always be there.
She added: “I’m gonna be there when he gets out. He’s got something to come home to. I’m gonna get everything sorted because he can trust me and he can rely on me.”
- The new series Prison Brides starts Monday 10th June at 10pm on Crime+Investigation and to stream on Crime+Investigation Play.
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