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Tammy Hembrow’s Post-Divorce Sale · Outspoken the Podcast

0:01
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
0:04
Speaker 1: hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
0:08
Speaker 1: Amy Torber and coming up on today's show, Tammy Hembrough
0:11
Speaker 1: puts her three wedding dresses up for sale, Paul Versace's
0:15
Speaker 1: high-profile friendship bust-ups and the disgusting mum-shaming of AFL commentator
0:21
Speaker 1: Abbie Holmes. But first, Matt Paul has taken aim at
0:24
Speaker 1: his former business partner and friend Ollie Frost. Now, Ollie's
0:28
Speaker 1: name may sound familiar to you because he is the
0:31
Speaker 1: husband of influencer Nikki Westcott. They recently got married in
0:35
Speaker 1: a very lavish wedding. Well, it was in Vogue. It
0:38
Speaker 1: was beautiful. Now, Matt, of course, used to be engaged
0:41
Speaker 1: to Tammy Hembrough and is an Ironman. So Matt is
0:44
Speaker 1: really not happy with Ollie because he invested in Ollie's
0:49
Speaker 1: restaurant called Maman back in 2020, and they had a
0:53
Speaker 1: big opening party. And The restaurant got a lot of
0:55
Speaker 1: attention over a dress Tammy Hembrough wore to the opening night. Yeah, well,
0:59
Speaker 1: it really was the place to be, especially for influencers. Yeah,
1:02
Speaker 1: it became a bit of an influencer hotspot. But less
1:05
Speaker 1: than three years after it opened, the business went into liquidation.
1:09
Speaker 1: And in November 2023, Matt told the Gold Coast Bulletin
1:13
Speaker 1: that Ollie had squeezed him out of the business and
1:15
Speaker 1: owed him money. And we reported on this story extensively
1:18
Speaker 1: at the time. So for all the details, we'll leave
1:21
Speaker 1: a link to that episode in the show notes. Yeah,
1:23
Speaker 1: I think that's a really good episode to listen to
1:25
Speaker 1: if you are interested, because a lot of people in
1:26
Speaker 1: our Facebook group obviously missed that one back in 2023
1:30
Speaker 1: and couldn't quite work out what was going on between
1:32
Speaker 1: Ollie and Matt. Now, despite Maman and several other restaurants
1:37
Speaker 1: of Ollie's going into liquidation in 2023, they actually continue
1:41
Speaker 1: to operate under another entity. So that entity has now
1:45
Speaker 1: gone into administration and Ollie and his business partner are
1:49
Speaker 1: currently challenging it in court. Yeah, and the Gold Coast
1:52
Speaker 1: Bulletin have been covering this story from the get-go. So
1:55
Speaker 1: they reported late last week that the four restaurants had
1:58
Speaker 1: entered administration because of a $ 1. 45 million debt. Now, Matt clearly,
2:04
Speaker 1: and rightfully so, has some big feelings about Ollie Froth.
2:07
Speaker 1: So he ended up sharing this news article to his
2:10
Speaker 1: Instagram story and wrote, that's a very long and expensive
2:14
Speaker 1: list of debt. I won't be holding my breath to
2:17
Speaker 1: get my money back. He also decided to comment on
2:19
Speaker 1: the Gold Coast Bulletin's Instagram post about this story, writing,
2:23
Speaker 1: couldn't happen to a more deserving bloke.
2:26
Speaker 2: Today, I am joined by Paul Versace, who you might
2:29
Speaker 2: know as Style by Bloom.
2:31
Speaker 1: Paul is one of Australia's most sought after fashion stylists.
2:37
Speaker 1: Olivia Rogers has confirmed she's no longer friends with her
2:40
Speaker 1: longtime stylist, Paul Versace. Back in March, we reported that
2:44
Speaker 1: the friendship was over after Paul wiped all traces of
2:47
Speaker 1: Olivia from his personal Instagram account and Olivia hired a
2:51
Speaker 1: new stylist. Last week during an Instagram Q & A,
2:54
Speaker 1: Olivia admitted she'd received a lot of questions about Paul,
2:58
Speaker 1: so wanted to address it. She wrote, he moved to
3:00
Speaker 1: Sydney and we are not working together anymore. Sometimes friendships shift,
3:04
Speaker 1: but I will always wish him nothing but the best.
3:07
Speaker 1: In terms of this friendship, the pair were self-confessed best friends.
3:11
Speaker 1: This wasn't just a working relationship. They holiday together overseas,
3:16
Speaker 1: attended a lot of events together. He even featured on
3:19
Speaker 1: her podcast as her best friend. And Olivia even called
3:23
Speaker 1: Paul her rock during her divorce to Justin McKeon. So
3:26
Speaker 1: there seems to be a lot more to it than
3:28
Speaker 1: just the fact that he's moved to Sydney. Well, when
3:30
Speaker 1: we discussed their friendship breakup back in March, we actually
3:33
Speaker 1: wondered if the bust up had anything to do with
3:36
Speaker 1: Paul's friendship with Olivia's ex Morgan Waterhouse. Because Paul was
3:40
Speaker 1: actually the one who introduced the pair back in 2023. Yeah.
3:44
Speaker 1: I mean, it seemed like that possibly could have been
3:46
Speaker 1: the reason. However, Paul also played matchmaker with Olivia and
3:50
Speaker 1: her new boyfriend, Hugo. So they were out at a
3:52
Speaker 1: nightclub together and Paul spotted Hugo on the dance floor
3:55
Speaker 1: and said, here's someone that you need to meet. So again,
3:58
Speaker 1: it seems very unlikely. that he's team Morgan after this
4:02
Speaker 1: breakup if he's introducing Olivia to her new boyfriend. That
4:04
Speaker 1: is true. I mean, it appeared that there was potentially
4:06
Speaker 1: more to this story because Ellie Gonzalez has entered the chat.
4:10
Speaker 1: So it seemed like Ellie had a pretty similar relationship
4:13
Speaker 1: with Paul that Olivia had. So he styled her for
4:16
Speaker 1: her wedding and in the Vogue spread about her big day,
4:19
Speaker 1: Ellie referred to Paul as her good friend. And it
4:22
Speaker 1: appears they may no longer be friends anymore because Ellie
4:26
Speaker 1: no longer follows Paul or his styling account on Instagram.
4:29
Speaker 1: And the pair have stopped working together. Paul does still
4:33
Speaker 1: follow Ellie, though. I don't know if that's just to
4:35
Speaker 1: save face. So days after Olivia's Q & A, Ellie
4:39
Speaker 1: did her own. And she replied to a comment that said,
4:42
Speaker 1: I notice you no longer work with a certain someone
4:45
Speaker 1: and have unfollowed him. And Ellie responded, if you've noticed
4:48
Speaker 1: I'm no longer working with or spending time with someone
4:51
Speaker 1: and unfollowed them, dot, dot, dot, it's for good reason.
4:54
Speaker 1: I don't tolerate disrespect, lying or bad behavior, especially from
4:57
Speaker 1: people who call themselves my friend. Following this, I also
5:01
Speaker 1: found out some pretty horrendous things this person had been doing.
5:04
Speaker 1: Once I see someone's true character, I am done. I
5:07
Speaker 1: want to make it clear. We are not sure if
5:09
Speaker 1: Ellie is actually talking about Paul Versace, but the internet
5:12
Speaker 1: has been putting two and two together because of the timing. Yeah,
5:15
Speaker 1: and Paul is still working with a lot of influencers.
5:18
Speaker 1: So he recently styled Tammy Hembrough for Sydney Fashion Week.
5:22
Speaker 1: And within the last week, he also worked with Lucy
5:24
Speaker 1: Jackson and Nikki Westcott. Yeah, so he still works with
5:27
Speaker 1: Australia's top influencers. Now on the topic of Olivia Rogers,
5:31
Speaker 1: I do want to discuss the shade that she threw
5:34
Speaker 1: at her ex-husband, Justin McKeon. So this video of her
5:37
Speaker 1: went viral on TikTok and it started out by Olivia
5:40
Speaker 1: showing herself looking really happy and cheersing a glass of
5:43
Speaker 1: champagne at a restaurant. And it had the caption, what
5:46
Speaker 1: do you mean he drained the life out of you?
5:49
Speaker 1: The video then transitioned to vision of her crying in
5:52
Speaker 1: the car, without makeup on and her skin was all
5:55
Speaker 1: broken out and she looked incredibly sad. Like her eyes
5:59
Speaker 1: looked so different. Now I was reading all the comments
6:02
Speaker 1: and there were a lot of women saying, oh my gosh,
6:04
Speaker 1: I feel you so much. This happened to me when
6:07
Speaker 1: I was in a toxic relationship and Olivia was replying
6:09
Speaker 1: a lot of interesting comments back. But one thing I
6:12
Speaker 1: noticed was there were these men in the comments going,
6:16
Speaker 1: the only difference is that you're not wearing makeup. And
6:19
Speaker 1: they were trying to push this agenda. And then Olivia
6:21
Speaker 1: ended up sharing a follow-up video saying, actually, this is
6:24
Speaker 1: me without makeup at the time compared to me without
6:27
Speaker 1: makeup now. And the difference was ridiculous.
6:30
Speaker 3: Yeah.
6:31
Speaker 1: As we discussed recently, I think Olivia is feeling a
6:33
Speaker 1: lot more confident coming out and sharing these details about
6:36
Speaker 1: her relationship with Justin because of all that has come
6:39
Speaker 1: out about him recently.
6:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.
6:41
Speaker 1: I think that definitely plays a part in this. There
6:43
Speaker 1: was one comment that really stood out to me as well.
6:46
Speaker 1: Someone wrote, but I'm confused. You always posted such cute
6:48
Speaker 1: videos and pics together. And Olivia responded, it's easy to
6:51
Speaker 1: get someone to smile for a few seconds for a photo.
6:54
Speaker 1: You don't see what goes on behind the scenes. And
6:57
Speaker 1: I think we all need to remember that when we
6:59
Speaker 1: do see this really cute couple content that it doesn't
7:02
Speaker 1: necessarily mean people are happy. A lot of the time,
7:04
Speaker 1: the people that put out these big declarations of love
7:07
Speaker 1: on social media are the ones that are having relationship issues. Well, sadly,
7:11
Speaker 1: it seems like Justin's relationship with Tani Leeson may be
7:14
Speaker 1: over because someone has spotted him on Hinge. Yeah. I
7:19
Speaker 1: find this topic really difficult to talk about because Tani
7:21
Speaker 1: has only recently just given birth to their son, Arlo.
7:25
Speaker 1: And from the get-go of the birth announcement, it seemed
7:28
Speaker 1: like something was off. Justin didn't feature in it. They're
7:32
Speaker 1: not following each other on Instagram. And Tani's been posting
7:34
Speaker 1: a lot about, you know, how proud she is of
7:37
Speaker 1: the way that she's been managing to parent. And, you know,
7:40
Speaker 1: reading between the lines, it's on her own. I just
7:42
Speaker 1: feel so terrible for her. Like some days I feel.
7:47
Speaker 3: so good and I'm just like you know feeling so
7:50
Speaker 3: positive and then you just get like waves of like
7:54
Speaker 3: different emotions.
7:58
Speaker 1: Tammy Hembrough has revealed she's selling her three wedding dresses
8:01
Speaker 1: a month after announcing her divorce from Matt Zukowski. Tammy
8:05
Speaker 1: shared the news on her Instagram story calling on her
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Speaker 1: 17 million followers to hit her up with offers.
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Speaker 4: Guys I don't know if this is a little bit
8:15
Speaker 4: unhinged but i don't really care to be honest i
8:18
Speaker 4: want to get rid of my wedding dresses um obviously
8:23
Speaker 4: they i like i was going to keep them originally
8:26
Speaker 4: but obviously they don't really hold the sentimental value anymore
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Speaker 4: so if anyone wants to buy.
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Speaker 1: One let me know give me up now kate this
8:38
Speaker 1: decision has divided the internet for more reasons than one Yeah,
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Speaker 1: it has been a hot topic in our Facebook group
8:44
Speaker 1: and also on our Instagram account. And what people seem
8:47
Speaker 1: to have the biggest problem with is the fact that
8:50
Speaker 1: at least one of Tammy Hembrough's wedding dresses appears to
8:53
Speaker 1: have been gifted as part of a partnership. So the
8:56
Speaker 1: dress in question is the most iconic of the three.
8:59
Speaker 1: It's Tammy Hembrough's Vera Wang blush pink ceremony dress. And
9:04
Speaker 1: while Tammy or Vera Wang have never disclosed the details
9:07
Speaker 1: of their partnership, It was clear that there was a
9:10
Speaker 1: transactional nature to this relationship. Yeah, because in February, Tammy
9:15
Speaker 1: documented her journey to find her wedding dress to her
9:18
Speaker 1: 17 million Instagram followers. So she shared a reel entitled,
9:21
Speaker 1: Come Try on Wedding Dresses With Me at Vera Wang.
9:25
Speaker 1: She also shared a video to TikTok where she showed
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Speaker 1: herself trying on the dresses her mum and sisters had
9:30
Speaker 1: picked for her. And she asked her followers to comment
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Speaker 1: the one they liked the best. I mean, clearly this
9:35
Speaker 1: was an exercise in boosting engagement and it worked. So
9:38
Speaker 1: both videos got millions of views. And Vera Wang's account
9:41
Speaker 1: commented underneath the TikTok, we loved having you and your
9:44
Speaker 1: family in today, Tammy. You looked absolutely stunning in all. Now,
9:49
Speaker 1: while there clearly was a partnership between Tammy and Vera
9:52
Speaker 1: Wang in February 2024, it was rather confusing because a
9:56
Speaker 1: month earlier, Tammy was on Matt Sikowsky podcast and she
10:01
Speaker 1: was talking about how she'd already chosen her wedding dress.
10:05
Speaker 1: And Matt's co-host Anna McAvoy chimed in saying that Tammy
10:07
Speaker 1: had shown her the dress at her New Year's Eve party.
10:11
Speaker 1: Then suddenly a few weeks later, Tammy shared that Vera
10:13
Speaker 1: Wang had gifted her a box of goodies. So clearly
10:16
Speaker 1: they were like, hang on, We want Tammy to wear
10:18
Speaker 1: our dress, not this other one. Well, it was clear
10:21
Speaker 1: that Vera Wang was targeting influencers because the collaboration with
10:25
Speaker 1: Tammy came off the back of Tammy's friend and fellow influencer,
10:28
Speaker 1: M Davies, being invited to Vera Wang to try on
10:31
Speaker 1: wedding dresses. And this was after she complained about her
10:34
Speaker 1: experiences at Palace Couture and Stephen Kalal.
10:37
Speaker 4: Yeah.
10:37
Speaker 1: So it seems likely that Vera Wang struck up this
10:39
Speaker 1: partnership with Tammy. So we don't actually know what the
10:42
Speaker 1: terms of this partnership deal were. But after finding out
10:46
Speaker 1: how much the dress cost, I would be very surprised
10:48
Speaker 1: if this was a pure contra deal because a lot
10:50
Speaker 1: of people presumed that Vera Wang was going to create
10:53
Speaker 1: a custom gown for Tammy, but she actually ended up
10:55
Speaker 1: choosing a design that many other brides had worn. It
10:58
Speaker 1: was an off the rack design. So the dress ended
11:01
Speaker 1: up costing around $ 12, 800. Of course, this hasn't taken into
11:05
Speaker 1: consideration a range of customizations or alterations, but regardless, I
11:09
Speaker 1: hardly doubt Tammy would produce a reel in TikTok for
11:12
Speaker 1: a brand for only $ 12, 800. I mean, potentially if the
11:16
Speaker 1: dress had been custom made because the most expensive Vera
11:18
Speaker 1: Wang dress retails for $ 47, 000. So potentially that could have
11:23
Speaker 1: covered the cost of the social media coverage. Yeah, I mean,
11:27
Speaker 1: that just indicates that there may have been a paid
11:29
Speaker 1: element to the wedding dress deal. Yeah, I think it's
11:31
Speaker 1: highly likely that she was paid to promote the brand. Now,
11:35
Speaker 1: media outlets have wrongly been reporting that Tammy was dressed
11:38
Speaker 1: by Vera Wang for all three wedding looks. Her second
11:41
Speaker 1: gown was actually the Vivienne Westwood Camille gown. And her
11:44
Speaker 1: final look of the big day was a Carla Gill dress.
11:47
Speaker 1: It's unclear if she was gifted these dresses from the
11:50
Speaker 1: other designers, but she never produced specific social media content
11:53
Speaker 1: for them. In saying that, though, all three wedding dressers
11:56
Speaker 1: were featured in Vogue's spread about the wedding. The weird
11:59
Speaker 1: thing is I would have thought with the Vera Wang
12:00
Speaker 1: deal that she would have been told she has to
12:02
Speaker 1: exclusively wear Vera Wang. Well, I was thinking maybe she
12:05
Speaker 1: did purchase one of these gowns beforehand and that's the
12:08
Speaker 1: dress she was talking about that she'd already bought on
12:10
Speaker 1: Matt's podcast. Well, what are your thoughts on Tammy potentially
12:14
Speaker 1: making money from selling a dress that she didn't pay for?
12:17
Speaker 1: I find these conversations interesting because I can totally understand
12:21
Speaker 1: why it annoys people because It always seems like influencers
12:24
Speaker 1: are getting freebies and it seems unfair. But we've got
12:28
Speaker 1: to remember, this isn't just a one-sided transaction. Tammy gave
12:31
Speaker 1: Vera Wang a lot of exposure. I think it's because
12:35
Speaker 1: Tammy's so rich, though, that people think, well, why does
12:37
Speaker 1: she need that money? Yeah, but then I think we're
12:40
Speaker 1: undervaluing the work that influencers and other content creators do
12:43
Speaker 1: because You know, it may seem easy to create social
12:47
Speaker 1: media content, but there is an element of skill involved
12:49
Speaker 1: and also the fact that she has cultivated this audience
12:52
Speaker 1: by constantly sharing her life and creating content. I get
12:55
Speaker 1: all of that, but I just think it looks bad
12:57
Speaker 1: from an outside perspective. I mean, I saw a lot
12:59
Speaker 1: of people were saying that maybe she should donate the
13:01
Speaker 1: money to charity. And I actually think that that would
13:03
Speaker 1: be a really nice move and also a really good
13:06
Speaker 1: PR move. I mean, let's be honest though, the whole
13:08
Speaker 1: point of Tammy announcing this wasn't to get a good
13:11
Speaker 1: deal on the dresses. It's not like I need a
13:13
Speaker 1: cash injection. It was a massive fuck you to Matt Sikowsky. Yeah, exactly.
13:16
Speaker 1: That's why I don't think she actually thought it through.
13:18
Speaker 1: I don't think she expected to probably get that backlash.
13:22
Speaker 1: Another big part of this conversation about Tammy selling her
13:24
Speaker 1: dresses centered around whether you'd actually want to buy a
13:27
Speaker 1: wedding dress that was a product of divorce, particularly from
13:30
Speaker 1: a marriage that only lasted seven months. We ended up
13:33
Speaker 1: putting a poll on our Instagram asking if it's bad
13:36
Speaker 1: juju buying a wedding dress from a failed marriage. And overwhelmingly,
13:40
Speaker 1: the response was yes. I saw a lot of people commenting, though,
13:44
Speaker 1: that it's good for the environment.
13:46
Speaker 2: Yeah.
13:46
Speaker 4: And I agree.
13:47
Speaker 1: I mean, if you go to an op shop, for example,
13:50
Speaker 1: some people will buy their dresses secondhand or on different websites.
13:53
Speaker 1: You don't know who wore the dress. You don't know
13:55
Speaker 1: if the marriage worked out. Amy, I think that's very
13:57
Speaker 1: earnest of you thinking people are buying wedding dresses from
13:59
Speaker 1: op shops. There's a website called Still White that sells
14:03
Speaker 1: designer secondhand dresses. I actually had a quick look to
14:06
Speaker 1: see if Tammy's was up there because I'm like if
14:08
Speaker 1: she was taking it seriously. She'd be selling it on
14:10
Speaker 1: a reputable website like that, not just saying, oh, everyone
14:13
Speaker 1: give me your best offer and your DMs. Because is
14:15
Speaker 1: she going to really go through all her DMs and
14:17
Speaker 1: see what people are offering? I think she should put
14:19
Speaker 1: it on eBay because it's a bit of a talking point. Like, oh,
14:22
Speaker 1: this is the dress that Tammy wore to her wedding
14:24
Speaker 1: with Matt Zukowski.
14:25
Speaker 3: Yeah.
14:26
Speaker 1: The thing is, as you said, Amy, a lot of
14:28
Speaker 1: the time if you were purchasing a wedding dress, you
14:30
Speaker 1: wouldn't even know the backstory behind it. And I don't
14:32
Speaker 1: think you're going to be putting that in the little
14:34
Speaker 1: description of the dress. Oh, I actually got divorced.
14:36
Speaker 3: No.
14:37
Speaker 1: Some other people were saying that it could be a
14:39
Speaker 1: really good formal dress and I agree. Like just as
14:41
Speaker 1: a talking point, can you imagine if you rocked up
14:43
Speaker 1: to your school formal and you said, yeah, this is
14:45
Speaker 1: Tammy Hanbrode's old dress? It actually got me thinking about
14:48
Speaker 1: how a lot of A-list celebrities' iconic outfits are now
14:52
Speaker 1: shown in museums. Maybe at Outspoken we should get a
14:56
Speaker 1: GoFundMe and purchase it and set up an influencer museum.
15:00
Speaker 1: We could do that or we could wear it as
15:02
Speaker 1: a Halloween costume. I don't think the price that Tammy
15:04
Speaker 1: will be wanting from this dress we could cover just
15:07
Speaker 1: for a Halloween costume. Yeah, well, Matt is yet to
15:10
Speaker 1: respond to the wedding dress drama. He might open up
15:12
Speaker 1: about it on his podcast. But this week, he recently
15:15
Speaker 1: spoke about his 30th birthday celebrations. And so he had
15:19
Speaker 1: a Christmas in July themed party at a pub with
15:21
Speaker 1: his family and friends. I mean, as a fellow Christmas lover,
15:24
Speaker 1: I actually thought this was pretty cute. Yeah, it looked
15:26
Speaker 1: very wholesome and like they all had a good time.
15:28
Speaker 1: But Matt ended up revealing on his podcast that his
15:31
Speaker 1: 30th was meant to be very different. Now, he didn't
15:34
Speaker 1: say this on his podcast, but it turns out that
15:37
Speaker 1: Tammy's recent trip to New Zealand with her kids was
15:39
Speaker 1: actually meant to be a trip to celebrate Matt's 30th birthday.
15:43
Speaker 1: So he ended up elaborating more on his Instagram. And
15:46
Speaker 1: it was actually in response to a rude comment someone
15:49
Speaker 1: wrote on one of the pictures from his 30th. Someone wrote,
15:52
Speaker 1: weird ass theme since your ex-wife just had Christmas in July.
15:56
Speaker 1: And Matt replied, so I have been planning my 30th
15:59
Speaker 1: for months, but you think it's weird because my ex-wife
16:01
Speaker 1: went on a trip that was booked for my birthday
16:03
Speaker 1: and still did all the stuff we had planned. Nah,
16:06
Speaker 1: I think that's weird. So that comment is in reference
16:09
Speaker 1: to when Tammy was in New Zealand, I think it
16:11
Speaker 1: was on the second day of her trip. She took
16:12
Speaker 1: her kids to this street that was all lit up
16:16
Speaker 1: with Christmas lights. And it was a part of this
16:17
Speaker 1: Christmas in July celebration. So clearly she posted it as
16:21
Speaker 1: a bit of a burn to Matt and it got
16:24
Speaker 1: the reaction that she wanted. What was she meant to do?
16:26
Speaker 1: I mean, she probably bought this trip for Matt as
16:29
Speaker 1: a birthday present. What, she's just not going to go
16:31
Speaker 1: and the tickets are going to go to waste? Oh,
16:33
Speaker 1: I completely agree. Like, of course, go on the trip
16:35
Speaker 1: and enjoy yourself if you've paid for it. I also
16:38
Speaker 1: think it's quite telling because often if you're the person
16:40
Speaker 1: that's been broken up with or you've been the one
16:43
Speaker 1: that's wronged, you're more likely to go on a trip
16:46
Speaker 1: like this as a fuck you. Well, yeah, do vengeful things. Now,
16:49
Speaker 1: despite Matt saying that he wouldn't be talking about the
16:52
Speaker 1: breakup on his podcast, he made a lot of references
16:55
Speaker 1: to it during Wednesday's episode. So he spoke about how
16:59
Speaker 1: it's been an emotional rollercoaster and how his confidence has
17:03
Speaker 1: been knocked. And conveniently, Anna and Matt then got on
17:06
Speaker 1: a confidence coach to talk about how to get your
17:09
Speaker 1: confidence back. Do you think this is an attempt to
17:12
Speaker 1: garner sympathy for Matt? Yeah, I do. And it's interesting
17:16
Speaker 1: because I feel like Tammy's been doing a similar thing.
17:18
Speaker 1: Like she'll post TikTok content where she's looking really happy,
17:21
Speaker 1: but then she'll have to add in like, oh, you know,
17:24
Speaker 1: I've been feeling really down, but this has made me
17:26
Speaker 1: feel better. It seems like they just keep having to
17:28
Speaker 1: justify like, no, I'm the one that feels bad. No,
17:30
Speaker 1: I'm the one.
17:31
Speaker 3: Yeah.
17:31
Speaker 1: We also dropped in this episode that he will eventually
17:34
Speaker 1: talk about the breakup. I think it's only a matter
17:38
Speaker 1: of weeks before we hear more about it.
17:42
Speaker 2: I always took my no's, and there's been more no's
17:45
Speaker 2: than yes's, but I always took those no's.
17:47
Speaker 1: As a not right now.
17:48
Speaker 2: But you better believe I'm going to be back here
17:50
Speaker 2: in three months' time and I'm going to be knocking
17:51
Speaker 2: on your door and we're going to be having this
17:53
Speaker 2: same conversation.
17:55
Speaker 1: Football commentator Abbey Holmes has copped a disgusting barrage of
17:58
Speaker 1: abuse online and after announcing she's returning to work seven
18:02
Speaker 1: weeks after giving birth to her son, Brax. The 34-year-old
18:05
Speaker 1: was labelled selfish and told to stay at home and
18:08
Speaker 1: look after her baby by keyboard warriors. This story has
18:12
Speaker 1: made me so angry, but I'm not actually surprised because
18:16
Speaker 1: as you know, Kate, mums get judged for every decision
18:19
Speaker 1: they make. Yeah, this really pissed me off, particularly when
18:22
Speaker 1: you look at the industry that Abby works in. I mean,
18:24
Speaker 1: how many footy players have returned, you know, days after
18:27
Speaker 1: their wife's given birth to play football. Or they've continued
18:30
Speaker 1: to play football and their wife's given birth on the
18:32
Speaker 1: same day and everyone's like, oh, it's so great of them.
18:35
Speaker 1: I mean, the most disappointing thing about this was a
18:38
Speaker 1: lot of the nasty comments actually came from women. Now,
18:41
Speaker 1: Abby shared the news of her return to Instagram on Thursday, writing,
18:45
Speaker 1: see you next Friday. And she tagged 7AFL for Essendon
18:49
Speaker 1: versus Bulldogs. Time at home has been amazing and will
18:52
Speaker 1: continue to be amazing. But I'm so ready to get
18:54
Speaker 1: back into it a couple of days a week doing
18:56
Speaker 1: something I really enjoy. I'm excited for little Brax to
19:00
Speaker 1: see his mama back doing what she loves and to
19:02
Speaker 1: be able to play two roles that I'm super passionate about,
19:05
Speaker 1: being a mom and working on the footy. This, of course,
19:08
Speaker 1: wouldn't be possible without the support of my seven AFL
19:10
Speaker 1: family and super dad. We're so lucky to have you.
19:14
Speaker 1: See you next week. Abby also released a statement reiterating
19:17
Speaker 1: that she was only going back to work for two
19:19
Speaker 1: days a week. She said, coming back to work fills
19:22
Speaker 1: me with so much excitement. I've missed the team, the
19:24
Speaker 1: buzz and being part of the action. She went on
19:26
Speaker 1: to say, being a mum has changed me in the
19:28
Speaker 1: most incredible ways. But one thing that hasn't changed is
19:32
Speaker 1: my passion for my career and the game. I couldn't
19:35
Speaker 1: be more ready to be back. It's interesting that she's
19:37
Speaker 1: had to release two statements to clarify that it's only
19:40
Speaker 1: two days a week and she still enjoys being a mum.
19:43
Speaker 1: And I can see why, because as you said, this
19:44
Speaker 1: backlash was disgusting and she was clearly expecting it. Yeah,
19:48
Speaker 1: I mean, the double standards are just out Can you
19:50
Speaker 1: imagine a male commentator having to put out a press
19:53
Speaker 1: release saying, oh, I'm coming back to work? I also
19:56
Speaker 1: found the line really interesting where Abby had to say
20:00
Speaker 1: how passionate she still was about her work, because it's
20:02
Speaker 1: almost like this is the line she would have had
20:04
Speaker 1: to tell her bosses. Like, I am really like, I
20:07
Speaker 1: do want to come back to work.
20:09
Speaker 2: Yeah.
20:09
Speaker 1: I think it's that old tripe that women get fed
20:11
Speaker 1: that you might think that you want to go back
20:14
Speaker 1: to work, but once you've had a baby, everything in
20:17
Speaker 1: your whole life is going to change and you're just
20:18
Speaker 1: going to want to be at home looking after your baby.
20:20
Speaker 1: And that's fine if that does happen to you, but
20:22
Speaker 1: it's also fine as a working woman. If you're like, actually,
20:25
Speaker 1: do you know what? I still want to do my career.
20:28
Speaker 1: I still love it. Well, it reminds me a lot
20:30
Speaker 1: of when Sophie and I were both pregnant and We
20:32
Speaker 1: felt like we had to keep reiterating to our PR
20:35
Speaker 1: clients that the business is still going to be running.
20:38
Speaker 1: We're going to return to work. Yet my husband, he
20:40
Speaker 1: also runs a business. He never once had to have
20:42
Speaker 1: that conversation with his clients that he was returning to work.
20:46
Speaker 1: So it really pisses me off. And there's also a
20:49
Speaker 1: lot of pressure that women in TV face because there
20:52
Speaker 1: is this notion of it's a real cutthroat industry and
20:55
Speaker 1: you can be replaced. And also forgotten because- I know
20:59
Speaker 1: Abby has clearly stated that she wants to be back,
21:02
Speaker 1: but there would be an element of, God, if I
21:04
Speaker 1: don't get back to my job, as you said, I'm
21:06
Speaker 1: going to be replaced. People are going to forget me
21:08
Speaker 1: and I won't get this gig again. Well, someone that
21:10
Speaker 1: I used to work with in the TV industry, she
21:13
Speaker 1: had to come back to work after having a baby.
21:14
Speaker 1: I think it was like two weeks after giving birth
21:17
Speaker 1: because her boss literally told her, well, the audience is
21:20
Speaker 1: going to forget you. So you've got to come back.
21:22
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a different scenario because it sounds like
21:24
Speaker 1: that's not what she wanted to do. But I think
21:26
Speaker 1: it's all about women being being able to do what
21:29
Speaker 1: they want after they have a baby. And if they've
21:31
Speaker 1: got the support, if her husband is able to look
21:34
Speaker 1: after their son, you know, not babysit, you know, it
21:37
Speaker 1: is his job also to take care of his own child. Well,
21:40
Speaker 1: he's probably back at work the other five days as
21:42
Speaker 1: well and no one's having a go at him. But
21:44
Speaker 1: also I'm assuming she gets paid pretty bloody well there.
21:46
Speaker 1: So it might be a financial decision that is best
21:49
Speaker 1: for the family.
21:50
Speaker 2: Yeah.
21:50
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of women actually want to
21:52
Speaker 1: return to work because you lose such a sense of
21:55
Speaker 1: identity when you have a baby. And a lot of
21:58
Speaker 1: the time it can be isolating. So I think that
22:01
Speaker 1: Abby should be celebrated for this decision. I think she's
22:03
Speaker 1: a great role model to other women who might be
22:06
Speaker 1: thinking about having a baby. They can look at that
22:09
Speaker 1: and go, well, yeah, you can have a baby and
22:10
Speaker 1: you can also have your career. In saying that though,
22:13
Speaker 1: there are a lot of women who aren't as lucky
22:14
Speaker 1: as Abby and they might not get the option to
22:17
Speaker 1: return in a part-time capacity or have the flexibility to
22:21
Speaker 1: be able to do that with you know, the support
22:24
Speaker 1: that they have. They might not have a partner that
22:26
Speaker 1: can facilitate that or they might not have a village
22:29
Speaker 1: around them. So there is a lot of privilege also
22:31
Speaker 1: involved in making that decision. Oh, definitely. Stephela Smith, she
22:34
Speaker 1: also weighed into the drama over the weekend and she
22:37
Speaker 1: made some really great points. So she said, honestly, over
22:40
Speaker 1: people having a public opinion on what a woman should
22:43
Speaker 1: and shouldn't do as a new mum. It's not your family,
22:46
Speaker 1: so shut your trap. This is a woman who has
22:48
Speaker 1: fucking earned her place as a commentator for the AFL
22:51
Speaker 1: and kills it. She also loves her job and has
22:54
Speaker 1: always been an incredibly driven woman. You can love motherhood
22:57
Speaker 1: and embrace motherhood and work. Abby, much like myself, is
23:01
Speaker 1: in a fortunate position where she can do bits and
23:03
Speaker 1: pieces of work without returning full-time early on. For some women,
23:07
Speaker 1: they don't have the option and either have to return
23:09
Speaker 1: full-time or want to return full-time and that is up
23:13
Speaker 1: to them. A mother's mental health is imperative to the
23:15
Speaker 1: health of the baby and for all of us, different
23:18
Speaker 1: things fill up our cup. Her choice may look different
23:20
Speaker 1: to what you would do But who bloody cares? Keep
23:23
Speaker 1: your opinions to yourself or your bloody friendship group chat
23:26
Speaker 1: if you really need to share them. I couldn't agree
23:29
Speaker 1: more with Steph. She hit the nail on the head there.
23:33
Speaker 1: Why do people feel the need to comment on the post?
23:36
Speaker 1: Like if you're not going to wish Abby well in returning,
23:39
Speaker 1: then just shut the fuck up. I think it also
23:41
Speaker 1: didn't help the way that the media reported on this news.
23:44
Speaker 1: So Seven News bizarrely ran with the headline, much loved
23:48
Speaker 1: seven star makes career move. just seven weeks after having baby.
23:53
Speaker 1: And Sky News wrote, seven presenters shock career announcement after
23:57
Speaker 1: birth of first child. And it got worse. So within
24:00
Speaker 1: Seven News' article, it read, the new mum, however, won't
24:03
Speaker 1: be jumping back into full-time work straight away. Instead, planning
24:07
Speaker 1: to work two days a week while managing her maternal duties.
24:12
Speaker 1: What are we living in the 1950s? In terms of
24:15
Speaker 1: Seven's headline about saying just seven weeks after baby... To
24:19
Speaker 1: be fair, and I don't really like to be fair
24:21
Speaker 1: towards Channel 7, but I will in this instance, maybe
24:24
Speaker 1: they're building it up as in it's impressive that she's
24:26
Speaker 1: back from such a short time. Yeah, well, there was
24:29
Speaker 1: a lot of articles that mentioned the fact that Abby
24:31
Speaker 1: had had a C-section as well saying, yeah, I can't
24:34
Speaker 1: believe that she's back. I mean, you might be right,
24:36
Speaker 1: but can I point out most men return to work
24:39
Speaker 1: after four weeks of having a baby. Well, my husband
24:41
Speaker 1: had three weeks off, so yeah.
24:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
24:44
Speaker 1: I mean, again, I understand that they're not recovering. And
24:46
Speaker 1: did your husband put out a press release to explain
24:49
Speaker 1: why he was back at work? No, he did not. Well,
24:52
Speaker 1: that is where we're going to leave things today. If
24:54
Speaker 1: you do enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate it
24:57
Speaker 1: if you could leave us a five-star review. And if
24:59
Speaker 1: you do want to hear more content from us, we
25:01
Speaker 1: drop a subscribers-only episode every Thursday where we discuss extra
25:06
Speaker 1: influencer topics. It's a lot of fun. We're a little
25:09
Speaker 1: bit more unfiltered, I would say. This podcast was recorded
25:14
Speaker 1: on the traditional land of the Kaurna people of the
25:17
Speaker 1: Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to elders past and present.