Tim Noonan fell in love at first sight with Peta-Jane “PJ” Madam, or at least that's how he'll tell it. The Australian couple got engaged after a whirlwind romance — and then stayed engaged for longer than expected. Soon after the engagement, Noonan went on the road for two years trying different culture’s “manhood rituals” for the documentary show Rite of Passage.
In the four years Noonan and Madam have been engaged, they’ve only been physically together for a total of four months. After such an unusual engagement, are they ready for marriage?
In the Netflix show Extreme Engagement, out July 12, Noonan and Madam find out. Here’s their big experiment: Noonan and Madam will travel the world for a year, learning about how different people treat the institution of marriage. If they can survive being together non-stop, in some of the most extreme locations in the world, then they can survive marriage.
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The first episode alone has its share of challenges, from possession ceremonies gone awry to a mysterious illness. All in an extreme engagement.
So, are Noonan and Madam still together?
Yes, Noonan and Madam are very much together — but they committed to preserving the show's mystery for the past two years.
While the show was filming, Noonan and Madam seemed to keep their relationship status a mystery. Until five days ago, when Madam posted a series of new photos, the last photo of her and Noonan on her Instagram feed was from two years ago.
In 2016, they launched the production company Wildman Films.
What do I need to know about Noonan and Madam?
If you lived in Australia, you would recognize Madam as one of the anchors of Channel Seven’s investigative news show, Sunday Night. She's originally from North Queensland, but now lives in Sydney with Noonan. In addition to being an accomplished journalist and producer, Madam is an advocate for endometriosis.
Noonan is an award-winning adventurer, filmmaker, and cinematographer. He's most well known for his show Rite of Passage. Since Noonan is the director of the Extreme Engagement as well as its star, he has the challenge of being objective about the couple’s problems and awkward moments along the way.
Over the course of their long trip, Madam also picked up some camera skills — but the learning curve was steep. “Forget all your journalistic achievements because they are no match for the hundreds of stupid buttons and wheels you’ve gotta spin on the camera,” Madam joked on Instagram.
Madam and Noonan travel to Indonesia, China, Brazil, and more. You'll have to watch Extreme Engagement to see if they end up at the altar.