Last week, I discovered the most iconic Instagram profile in existence (a bit late to the game, I know). I’d been sitting in the waiting room ahead of my doctor’s appointment, doing the ol’ scroll through the explore section, when I came across a woman dancing to Dope Lemon in a leopard-print bodysuit, chanting “make 2020 great”.
I then clicked on her profile, and read the bio: “Dumped for the younger woman after 26 years. My revenge – BE FABULOUS & LOOK FABULOUS!”
[jwplayer gxLFr3ky]
Her poses? Fierce. Her fashions? Fabulous. Her captions? Fucking inspirational.
‘Holy shit,’ I thought to myself. I simply had to know more about the person behind @dumpedwifesrevenge. Welcome Dianne Laurance, from Eagle Bay.
“What you see is me. What you see is the real me,” Dianne tells me, over the phone.
The infectious Instagram profile stemmed from a pretty brutal period in her life. The catalyst? Her ex-husband. “When he left me for the younger woman,” she reflects, “It was after 26 years, so you’re talking a long time, and it was a huge shock.”
“But, along with that, there came a lot of other dumps at the same time – my business of 16 years got caught up in the divorce settlement, I lost my home, I lost friends and I lost my mother in the middle of it all, as well. There were just so many dumps.”
Even through the tough times, however, her positivity shined through. “I’ve always been a really positive person but people around me, at the time, were just saying, ‘Dianne, you’ve looked the best you’ve ever looked.’ This was within weeks of it all happening.”
That’s when she decided to channel her resilience and infectious positivity into an Instagram account. “I thought, well, now I don’t have a business, I don’t have anything, I’m going to inspire others and help them to get over life’s dumps – not just a dump of the heart, but when life really dumps on you.” What an inspirational, entrepreneurial queen.
And just like that, @dumpedwifesrevenge was born. “I really do have a funny sense of humour,” Dianne says of the handle name. “I have always loved laughing at myself and [I] realised the revenge was going to be a positive revenge. Right from the start, I’ve never said anything nasty about my ex – I’ve never dwelled on that. It’s all about moving forward in a positive space.”
When it comes to filming, Dianne does it all herself. “I’ve got a tripod and I put my iPhone on it – I’ve got the new 11 because I think it gives you great pictures – and then I check to see… right, that’s about the right distance away.”
She admits that it can often be a mad dash to get in position after starting the self-timer. “If you have a look at some of the positions I’m in….”
View this post on Instagram
I find her content just so damn infectious, and judging by her fanbase, which is growing rapidly by the day, it’s safe to say that I’m not alone. “I feel amazed when people stop me, and I get stopped no matter when I am. They say, ‘are you the dumped wife?’ And I love that!”
So what does being fabulous mean to her?
“It’s about being your best self, whatever that is,” Dianne considers. “It’s an inner belief in yourself.”
“For me, it’s about looking in the mirror and saying, ‘Girlfriend, you’re fabulous’.”
All hail Dianne, the newfound queen of fabulosity. You simply have no choice but to stan.
