Olivia Nervo recounts how her whirlwind romance with Matthew Pringle turned into a nightmare of reproductive coercion, as he hid multiple relationships and children, manipulating her into pregnancy. Her case fuels a campaign for legal change in the UK.
Looking back, it was never going to be a typical love story. Olivia Nervo and Matthew Pringle's eyes first met across a throng of partygoers on Necker Island, the palm-fringed Caribbean resort owned by tycoon Richard Branson.
Liv, then 36, was there in a professional capacity; she and her twin sister Miriam had built an international following with their DJ act, Nervo, and they had been booked to play for the privileged clientele. When Matthew, a super-sweet and slightly nerdy 30-something businessman, approached her that night in November 2016, Liv admits there were no thunderbolts. There weren't any warning bells either, more's the pity.
While Liv didn't know it then, she had just met a man whose family were multi-millionaires. A man who, within weeks, would be love-bombing her with extravagant gestures, paying hundreds of thousands on a whim to cross the globe, just so they could hold hands. A man who said he longed to be the father of her child. A man who said he'd love her forever, and whom she loved back with all her heart.
A man who, it turned out, was a despicable liar. Because two years after that meeting in paradise, by which time Liv was six months pregnant, she discovered their love affair was rooted in deceit. That Matthew had been in relationships with two other women at the same time, one of whom was pregnant with his second baby, having already had another child that Liv knew nothing about.
To her horror, Liv found she had committed herself to a man she hardly knew. One, she feels, who deliberately tricked her into having his child, behaviour that went way beyond that of a cheat and was actually domestic abuse of an emotional nature.
Liv's case was cited in a parliamentary debate on reproductive coercion, manipulating a person's choice over a pregnancy as a means to control them, in March, when it was raised by MP Natalie Fleet in the House of Commons. Fleet is campaigning for a change in the law, calling for reproductive coercion to be recognised as a standalone criminal offence, a campaign Liv is supporting.
Liv's story exposes a form of domestic abuse that our legal system in the UK still struggles to recognise, Fleet said. Pringle admitted he had deceived Liv because he knew she would leave if he told her the truth and he wanted a baby with her. It demonstrates that he understood knowing the truth would have affected Liv's decision to have a baby with him. This is reproductive coercion.
It is about control over a woman's body, her choices and her future. While reproductive coercion is recognised in England and Wales as a form of controlling or coercive behaviour, which is already a criminal offence under the Serious Crime Act, reproductive coercion itself is not an offence. Along with her twin sister Miriam, Liv had built an international following with their DJ act Nervo, even co-writing David Guetta's When Love Takes Over.
Furthermore, in Liv's case, a High Court judge has said he was unlikely to find Matthew's behaviour amounted to reproductive coercion, despite branding his actions as reprehensible and coming under the heading of domestic abuse. Of course, this daunting legal quagmire was still a world away when Liv met Matthew under the balmy night sky of Necker Island, nearly ten years ago.
He asked if he could get her a drink and said he'd love to take her out, she remembers. A few weeks later, he flew to Tokyo to watch Liv, who co-wrote David Guetta's hit When Love Takes Over and has worked alongside Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears, perform. Details of his wealth, Matthew has been dubbed the honey king due to his ownership of businesses including Manuka Doctor honey, came out in layers.
Nothing about him screamed money, Liv says. We would just do normal things, like order pizza in my hotel room after a show. Yet by the end of their first year of dating, they had spent 115 days together in 22 different cities as Liv's touring career took her away from her home in London, and were constantly on the phone. She was further endeared to his complicated, vulnerable character.
He told me he had fragile mental health and he didn't seem to have many friends, Liv says. I wanted to be empathetic. While Matthew bonded with Liv's family, arranging a meeting with his mother, businesswoman Lynette Erceg, who for several years ranked as New Zealand's richest woman, proved impossible. Plans always fell through at the last minute.
Yet soon, the loved-up couple were talking babies. He seemed genuine. I believed he was committed to me and would be a good father, Liv says. We were using an app to track fertility; Matthew would fly out to meet me wherever I was at my most fertile.
In 2018, Matthew excitedly flew out to Ibiza to be with Liv to do a pregnancy test. When it showed positive, he hugged me for a long time. The joy was short-lived. Liv later discovered Matthew's web of lies, including simultaneous relationships and undisclosed children.
She felt trapped, pregnant with a man she barely knew. The emotional manipulation continued; Matthew would gaslight her, making her doubt her own reality. Liv eventually left him and gave birth to a son, who is now thriving. But the legal battle for recognition of reproductive coercion continues.
Liv hopes her story will help change the law, so other women can be protected from such manipulation. She is speaking out to shed light on this hidden form of abuse, urging society to understand that reproductive coercion is a serious violation of a woman's autonomy. The case highlights the gaps in the current legal framework, where coercive control is acknowledged but specific reproductive coercion is not a standalone crime.
Liv's courage in sharing her experience may pave the way for legal reform and greater awareness. Her story is a stark reminder that love can be deceived, and that the most intimate of relationships can become a battleground for control
Reproductive Coercion Domestic Abuse Olivia Nervo Deception Legal Reform
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