I moved to Bali with my husband, but paradise changed us: British TikTok influencer Carlie Donnelley, reveals how she’s going through a ‘really bad time’
A pair of thrifty TikTok influencers who ditched their dreary life in rainy Manchester to live out their dream island life in Bali have split up, MailOnline can reveal.
Carlie Donnelley, 37, and her partner Matt Dearing, 38, both from Denton in Manchester, took the plunge two years ago, moving their three children across the world to south-east Asia.
The family at the time jumped at the opportunity to sell their £365,000 three-bed in exchange for a similar size home on the Indonesian island that cost just £2,000 to rent for the whole year.
While they rented out the home in Ubud, the couple planned to kick off their own construction firm, called Serenity Living Bali.
They planned to build their own luxurious villa, as well as a number of other two, four and five bedroom properties to eventually sell or rent out.
But despite their intentions to ‘escape the rat race’ and ‘live financially free’, the couple, who had been together for 15 years, sadly split one year into their new life abroad.
Beautician Carlie, who has 11,000 TikTok followers, revealed that Matt moved out just 12 months into their new life abroad, leaving her a single mother abroad with three children under the age of 10.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline from her rented home in Bali, Carlie said: ‘Things did not go to plan but I am working on it. I am trying to now navigate this new life, on the other side of the world, on my own.
TikTok influencer Carlie Donnelley has told MailOnline how her dream life in Bali has gone sour after she split up with her partner two years after the family left Manchester for a new life there
Carlie and her partner Matt Dearing (pictured) took the brave decision to quit their lives in Manchester to try and achieve ‘financially freedom’ in Bali after they said they were tired of ‘living to work’. But their relationship hasn’t stood the test of time
‘I am living in paradise but also going through a really bad time in my life. It’s definitely not how I imagined things would be when we first moved to Bali but I still don’t regret it.
‘I would still absolutely recommend other Brits to come abroad here, the people are amazing, everyone out here is really friendly, people have ambition and drive.
‘People are striving to be their best selves and it’s definitely a more positive way of life. That’s helped loads during this time – it has been a roller-coaster of emotions.
‘The kids are happy here, they love it. It’s just me who has had a hard time with the breakup. But I am working through it. We are still co-parenting out here and doing the best we can for our kids.’
‘I hope other single mothers see what I am doing out here, creating a life for ourselves abroad thousands of miles from our families,’ she added. ‘It has been rocky, I am still trying to figure things out but it is doable and the positives are still outweighing the negatives.’
Carlie would not go into further details about the split but both parents have remained in Bali trying to continue with their own plans to get out of the dreary UK and provide a ‘better life’ for their children.
Carlie has now ditched her former Instagram account, which was filled with pictures of her and Matt, for a new one about ‘Bali living’ where she describes herself as a ‘mum of three’ in her ‘beach gal era’.
Her new life as a single mother-of-three living abroad has attracted a significant following, where she openly speaks about her heartbreak and how she manages day-to-day life.
And while she has thought about returning to Manchester to be closer to her family, for now, Carlie has stayed put on the island.
In another video, she said: ‘Two years ago I moved to Bali. It didn’t quite go as planned and I ended up as a single mum 12 months in.
‘Many times I’ve wanted to run back home to Manchester for family support but it was also a dream to leave the UK and create a better life for my babies.
‘So for them I stayed to see if I can make it work and what better place to heal than in Bali.’
In another post from earlier this year she wrote: ‘Crazy how life can be falling apart and coming together at the same time.
‘Going through one of the worst times in my life but also living the best time of my life.’
Two years ago the couple posed with their three children at Manchester Airport full of hope for their future lives together with hopes of cheap rent for £2,000 a year
The move was intended to give them financial freedom and enable them to spend as much time as possible with their three youngsters. But as Carlie told MailOnline this week, she said: ‘I am living in paradise but also going through a really bad time in my life.’
When she moved Carlie, originally from Denton, urged other parents to make the bold leap to Bali – just like her. But now she would urge caution having learned the hard way that living in a different country away from everything you know back home can be a challenge
Despite the hurt from the split, Carlie insisted Matt was ‘not a bad person’ and that people change when they move to a different country.
She said ‘when you move to another country you can become a whole new person’ and that despite having been together so long both changed.
Matt, who previously owned five houses in Manchester, is now nowhere to be seen on social media.
The couple’s accounts for their property development firm have been taken down and it is unclear what his life in Indonesia looks like now.
It is a far cry from the life they had envisioned for themselves when they initially decided to pack up and leave the UK.
The couple bought one-way tickets to the country in November 2022 – even though relatives thought they were ‘mad’ and thought they would not go through with it.
Carlie said that despite the struggles she is having as a single mother the positives of living in Bali still outweigh the negatives
Matt said at the time: ‘This was something we have wanted to do for years. A couple of times we would go over to Spain, and I was looking for cave houses as I wanted to go off grid.
‘In the UK it got to the point where I wasn’t spending much time with my kids. I would spend about an hour with them before bedtime.
‘I was constantly chasing bills and working. I did a lot of research into Bali as it has all-year-round tourism, and the weather is great.’
By March that year, the couple had found a plot of land to build their home on for £100,000.
Matt had said he grown tired of working ‘ten hours, seven days a week sometimes’.
He added: ‘The return on your investment here is amazing. We sold the UK house we were living in and doing up for £365,000. With that money, we were able to buy a 1,200 square foot plot of land to build two villas on.
‘We have struck gold – this is everything we want. For us, being financially free is literally freedom to do whatever we want with the kids, compared to working ten hours, seven days a week sometimes’.
‘I have always dreamed of dropping the kids off at school and picking them up – I can do that here.
‘The people here are lovely and show a lot of gratitude – it ticked all the right boxes’.
At age 24, Matt fantasised about earning a sufficient income, and having enough savings and investments to live a comfortable life.
But by the time he was 36, reality hit, and even though the savvy father owned a staggering five houses in Manchester, his dreams quickly turned sour when he realised he was nowhere near where he wanted to be.
He said: ‘At the time I owned five houses in Manchester, and I realised that in order for me to be financially free I would need ten of those but I wanted to do it quicker.
‘I was working so hard at home, I didn’t have much of a social life. I didn’t really go out partying – my main goal was that I wanted to be financially free.
This is the home that Carlie and Matt moved to for £2,000 a year featuring three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a ‘dated’ kitchen, and a small entrance road that permits scooter access
The couple sold their home in Manchester for £365,000 and bought a 1,200 sq ft plot of land for £10,000 that they wanted to build two villas on (like the one in this picture). They estimated that the two properties would cost £100,000, saving them £265,000
‘It was something I have been pushing for the last ten years. Because of the cost of living in Bali, it is something we will achieve quicker’.
Their family back in Manchester had warned the couple to ‘stop being silly’ and said ‘everyone was calling us mad’.
Matt said prior to the break-up that the move felt like ‘we struck gold’ with ‘every weekend being family weekend’.
‘The only thing about being out in Bali is you don’t have that support network anymore,’ he said discussing the disadvantages at the time.
‘We are hoping we get to the point where we can fly our family here and we are planning on coming back to the UK for two to three months at a time.’
Carlie has since been back to Manchester once to visit her unwell grandfather, while the kids have not left the country in two years.
