Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Sophie Torbah and coming up on today's show, Georgia Love opens up for the first time about his split from husband Lee Elliott, Shameless Media's Off Brand Interview and our Friday Debrief But First, speculation is mounting that Tammy Hembro and Matt Sakowski are on a break, with the couple appearing to live in separate states. Kate, the Love Island contestant,
was missing from his step son Wolf's birthday celebrations. Yeah, for those playing at home, that's three special events in three weeks, so Easter, Tammy's birthday, and now Wolf's birthday. To be fair, Wolf's biological dad, Rhees Hawkins was also missing from the celebration. This makes me feel so sorry for Wolf because, if anything, it seems like he and Matt have developed quite a special bond over the past year.
They seem to do a lot of boy activities together, and it's clear that Wolf is really looking at him as a father figure. I mean, he is his stepdad now, and it's not why Tammy was hiding the fact that he wasn't there. She documented the celebrations across her Instagram, TikTok, and snapchat. She even shared vision of her setting up the party by herself without her wedding rings on. You could see she was very emotional in the lead up
to his birthday as well. He turned ten, and she was talking about how he's always been that constant fixture in her life. And I wonder if it's because she's reflecting on some of her failed relationships that Wolf and her kids have been there through all of it. Well, thankfully, it seemed like Wolf had a good time despite Matt not being there, and Tammy said Wolf had the best day ever. So they went laser skirmishing and go karting, and afterwards he cut cake at home alongside his mum,
his aunties, and younger cousins. Again, it was quite clear that Matt wasn't there. Wolf was just such a sweetheart. This is what he said to his family after they brought out the cake, just making my birthday better. To know where he's getting this English accent from. This is a big point of discussion on TikTok. Everyone is like he speaks so proper, He's so well spoken. Where did this voice come from? It's definitely not a Gold Coast accent. It is very sweet.
Now.
That night, Tammy revealed she and Wolf were having a Marvel movie marathon in her bed, making it even more obvious that Matt wasn't there. Now, Matt also didn't wish his steps On a happy birthday on Instagram, similar to the way he ignored Tammy's birthday. He did, however, dedicate a photo dump to his sister's Golden Retriever puppy, so he shared five photos of him cuddling up to the puppy at a local footy game in Melbourne. Now, this post seemed to anger a lot of Matt's followers, and
it led to them asking what is going on? There was a user called Meghan who asked why he wasn't on the Gold Coast celebrating his steps On's birthday, to which he replied, these photos were taken four weeks ago. The woman then said, but you weren't in Tammy's snap or anything for Wolf's birthday today, and he said, who said I wasn't, Meghan? Focus on your own life now. Matt ended up deleting those comments, but Megan had already screenshot them and ended up uploading the exchange to her
own Instagram story. So on a Reddit thread, she explained that she tagged as many people as possible, one of those being Tammy Hembro, who ended up viewing the story. Now, it seems like that public pressure caused Matt to then upload a photo the following day of him and Wolf sitting next to each other at a cafe with blue love hearts. It does seem like the photo was an old one though, and not from the recent celebrations.
Yeah.
I mean it tricked me because when I saw this pop up on Sunday, I was like, oh, he must have been there. But as you say, Kate, I think it did look like an old photo. Yeah, I think it was one from the archives. And I just feel so sorry for Wolf in this situation because, as you touched upon, Sophie, Tammy and Matt were very public about how much Wolf adored Matt when they first got together, and it was probably so nice for him to have
this father figure around, especially with his dad living in Balley. Now. Matt spoke at length on the Inherited podcast this week about what a blessing and privilege it is to be a step dad, particularly considering his struggles with fertility. We will discuss the full interview later on, but when he was asked about what the key is to being a supportive step parent, Matt said he liked to respect boundaries.
So he explained he doesn't like to intrude, but he does jump in when Tammy needs his help.
He then said this, but I keep a friendship with him, like me and Wolf for best buds. Like honestly, he's like a little mini me. Me and him get along, we watch movies together. I literally I'll go out or go to the shop or something like I've got to go do something and can come? Can I come? And like literally like run and grabby shoes and me and him will go like just out of the shop or go get a coffee.
I have had that sentiment shared from a lot of step parents who they don't want to overstep the boundary and necessarily discipline someone else's kids, particularly when they're a little bit older. It's nice to see that they clearly have a strong bond, but again, it makes it even worse that he wasn't there for Wolf's birthday. I mean, surely it just proves there's a lot going on behind the scenes. I mean, the Daily Mail is reporting that sources close to the couple have firm that they have
quietly split, with Matt relocating back to Melbourne. So they quoted a source of saying Matt and Tammy are on a break. They're not saying it's over for good, but for now they're taking time apart. They're both emotional people and they've decided to put their marriage on pause for now. Look, I usually call a bit of bullshit with The Daily
Mail's sources, but this feels bang on. Maybe they don't necessarily have an actual source who said that, but they have some sort of intel and this is the way that they're telling this story.
Yeah.
Well, all of this is coming as Tammy Hembro continues to appear on her social media without her engagement rings on. I mean, I've lost count at how many times Matt and Tammy have unfollowed each other and refollowed each other. But now Tammy's best friend has jumped in on the action.
So Isabella Law's also unfollowed Matt over the weekend. I think Tammy and Matt have made the choice that they're not going to continue the unfollowed, but clearly the friends can do whatever they want, and this is a very big statement from one of her best friends. Yeah, I mean, if you look at all their social media behavior, Matt
has not congratulated Tammy on her business. He's not liked or commented on any of her posts, and with Matt appearing on the Inherited podcast again, Tammy didn't pump that up or say anything about it. He did upload that weird photo dump though last week, where she appeared in a couple of the photos. They were individual photos of her, so it's almost like he's trying to say we're still together, but then we haven't actively seen them in the same
spot for weeks. Yeah, I mean, I took one for the team and I listened to Matt's podcast this week and he couldn't have made it any more obvious that he's moved back to Melbourne. The saddest part is I think he and Anna were trying to get people off
the set, but they failed miserably. So Matt brought up how he'd received a bunch of messages off the back about sharing that he went to the movies by himself, and he referenced Tammy and her kids, saying, Oh, I like to go to the movies with my partner and step kids, but if no one's interested in going to a specific movie, I'll just go by myself. Well that
must be nice for him. I mean, Tammy's at home getting the kids to bed, organizing all of the admin when it comes to them, and he's out of the movies.
Yeah.
Well, Anna then went on this spear about how she would hate to go to the movies by herself, but the one thing she does by herself is go get a coffee and a croissant from her local cafe. She then dropped this, in fact, you've been in my area recently quite a lot working.
Oh yeah, yeah, I don't really talk about my work too. So I've been working for my dad. So he obviously has a company down in Melbourne which I used the pool company that I used to work for, and I was doing a bit of work while I was up on the Gold Coast FORUIM here and there. But he's had some people leave, some people retire, so I've come down now to just be on the ground. It's easy. We found it was easier that way to like, you know, go see the clients, go see the boys on site
and all that sort of stuff. So I've been down, yeah, helping him out a fair bit. So it's good to be back out there.
Aren't they expanding to the GC?
Well, yeah, there is talk of that, definitely looking into that. I'm just you know, seeing sussing stuff out, getting contractors, seeing building licenses and all that sort of stuff. So we're looking into that.
Yeah, I'm so confused. I thought Matt apparently still worked for his dad's company on the Gold Coast, So does that mean he left his job to marry Tammy. Therefore, now that they're seemingly on a break, he's had to go back to his job in Melbourne to pay his bills potentially. I mean, I feel like his dad could find another contractor to help him with the job that Matt's doing. I don't think Matt is so indispensable in this role that they couldn't heal his job anywhere else.
So he's got to leave his wife and step kids in order to keep everything together in this business. You think he might reference the fact that, oh, you know, I've been flying back on the weekends to the Gold Coast to see Tammy. Light there was no reference of her. I mean, this pool company in question is called PJ. Poul's and it has been a Matt's family for the last fifty years. So his grandfather started it and his dad ended up taking it over. Funnily enough, Matt has
been working at this business for years and years. He actually appeared on an episode of The Block back in twenty twenty one assisting a team with their pool. Oh I did hear an influencer updates. Again, I don't know the validity of this, but someone sent in saying that they continually see Matt at least four times a week on a local Melbourne walking track. I actually seen that floating around TikTok too. But then even today he shared him on a walk with the background looking like Melbourne.
He was incredibly cold, he had a beanie on. There was like frost coming out of his mouth. That definitely wasn't the Gold Coast.
And he was.
Talking about how he was doing the camping out at the MCG with entrepreneurs and I was like, you could make it more clear mate, that you're not living on the Gold Coast. I mean, I think Anna was trying really hard to help push this narrative that he and Tammy were still together, like saying, well aren't they expanding to the Gold Coast? But Matt couldn't even take the bait. Yes,
she's clearly trying to desperately help him out. Now we have to talk about the Inherited podcast because, as you touched on, Kate, Matt appeared on it this week and there was a lot of surprise that Shameless would platform someone like him because the episodes are known for being quite deep discussions with very well known Australians. There was a bit of backlash there. I mean it was the shortest episode that they've ever had, so it ran for
thirty seven minutes. They usually run for around fifty minutes to over an hour. I felt so bad for their host, Ruby Hall, because she was having to work in overdrive to extract anything from Matt. So she would ask a question and it almost come back at her with like a yes no response, or something very short that didn't lead on to anything like that is a interviewer's worst nightmare. Yeah,
she really earned her paycheck after that interview. I mean, clearly, the majority of the interview was always going to be about Matt's relationship with Tammy, but there were a few interesting tidbits about what matt was doing before his appearance on Long Island. So he spoke about how he did some catwalk modeling for five years and apparently he modeled in London and Milan. After that he became a restless
This was my favorite part of the chat. So his stage name was Charlie Matthews and he was known, according to Matt, as the guy who won the genetic lottery. You could tell Ruby was like, what the fuck is this guy serious? She said something like, I'm not familiar with that character, because I think she thought it was a well known character, not something that he's just come up with himself. Because he was looking about it as if she should know who Charlie Matthews was. And it's
an amateur wrestling thing. It wasn't like a big deal. And he spoke about how part of his role was to actually arrogant whilst he was going out onto the boxing arena, and how he would flick his hair to the hit the other boxes. It was fucking hilarious. I would pay good money to see some of this wrestling.
Well.
Someone in our Facebook community has shared that Charlie Matthews has his own Instagram account, so there's some vision and photos on there.
To go to.
How many followers has he got. I think it was like two thousand. Look good on him. It would take a lot of confidence to get out there, but this just makes me feel like he is very much into being famous, getting his name out there, trying to attract attention. Yeah. Well, on the topic of fame, Matt spoke about how he regularly goes to therapy to deal with the intense public scrutiny, and when asked if there was a time that the pressure of media noise had gotten too much for him, he said this.
Yes, quite recently, coming out to what was meant to be the most It was the best moment of my life, the best day of my life. A lot of people wanted to take it down, and it hurt people that didn't know me, for one, and then people that did who were just out for revenge and wanted to be evil. It just her. It sucked to see that. I thought people were better than that, and it was disappointing to see.
He was really throwing some serious shade at his ex gen there. And what he's referring to is it a couple of weeks before his wedding, Jen seemed to give some information to so dramatic. So Meghan Pisetto had this series of podcasts where she was really diving into how there seemed to be some crossover when he first started dating Hammy and potentially he had apparently slept with Jen. Yeah,
well it clearly affected him leading into his wedding. Matt really did praise Tammy for the way she can block these sorts of things out on the media scrutiny. We also didn't help in the lead up to their wedding was that I feel like it was a month or so before they unfollowed each other on Instagram. Again, that was I think a couple of days before their joint ucks party, So they really weren't doing themselves any favors.
I definitely not. I mean, it seems like there is a class between Matt and Tammy on the way that they like to address things. So Matt said people in his camp have advised him not to address things, but he said it gets to a point where sometimes he just wants to shut things down and tell the truth. I can see that it would be very frustrating, particularly because he is always made to look like the bad guy.
I mean, it just made me think about that episode he did on his podcast where he tackled those grand pre cheating allegations head first, But it just made him look really bad because he and Anna, I know, they've got a podcast and they've had it for many years, but they are not media trained, no. I mean. It was also interesting to hear him discuss on Inherited how he and Anna quite often clash heads and how they've had arguments in the podcast studio, which I mean is refreshing.
We argue all the time. But it was interesting. I wonder if he is a bit hot headed when it comes to his relationships with people and his way of dealing with it is perhaps having a shouting match. Well, what I got from that is that Anna mackinvoy is the brains behind the operation, and she wants to get into media and wants the podcast to be better. Well it's interesting because she does now have her own spinoff podcast about motherhood, which he clearly is not involved in.
Because yeah, he was saying that she's always wanted to plan out the episodes and know what they're talking about, whereas he just preferred to rock up and do it off the cuff. I mean. It seems like Matt has also gone down a Reddit rabbit hole recently, so he spoke about how toxic anonymous forums are about him and Tammy.
This is what he said, And it's just like, how are you of a people that you don't know so bitter and so angry and just want to like and to be frank like they're fans. They're like full fans, Like they're taking our content from different platforms and posting about it and making theories about it and going on their own like spirals, and it's just nuts to see. When I get it sent to me, I'm like, what the fuck?
I mean, he does have a bit of a point there. I'm not a fan of these toxic threads and faceless communities who just go to town on people. And you would feel as though, if these people are that invested in your life, they are a bit of a fan. I mean, but they keep giving them material to talk about.
That's what I don't get. It's like, Okay, have your fights privately, but don't go on unfollow each other and do these things and make it really obvious that you're not at special occasion, I guess that, but it's when people take it too far. I've seen some awful threads commenting on his body. I've seen screenshots of people taking photos of him in the pool and commenting on his fasique, which would be tough for anyone. I mean, I think we think, oh, men aren't affected by these comments, but
they definitely are. I mean, it's unusual that men's bodies are being commented on, really, I.
Mean it is.
But again, that's a lot of the conversation that I've seen people saying, Oh, he's not very good looking. I mean, he was on Love Island. He's obviously a good looking guy. Well, he plays a wrestler that won the genetic Lotto, so
he obviously is good looking now. Matt also spoke about the early stages of his relationship with Tammy, and he seemed quite reluctant to give a real timeline on those early moments, claiming he didn't know the exact times, and when asked if he and Tammy had discussed marriage before he proposed three months into the relationship, Matt said this, Yes we.
Spoke about marriage. Yes we were planning on eloping, and I just thought to myself, came back to Melbourne to do something and I spoke to Anna and I told her she was one of the people I told we had a date booked in at the courthouse and she said, well, you know you're going to the Mold Ives in like four days when you do something there. So my idea was originally to get like a promise ring and be like, look,
I understand I'm not doing it traditional. But then I saw a ring there and it was it was gorgeous, and I fell in love with it and I was like, okay, So I got an engagement ring for her, yeah, and then did the proposal, organized it quickly with the people at the Mold Dives. I said, look, I'm planning on proposing. Can you organize like a thing for me, in organize a dinner? Yeah, Yeah, to dinner. Yeah.
Might the only one that was super confused by that because reading between the lines, what I think happened is that they planned to elope to the mal Dives and then make it legal at the Registry office upon their return. I mean, I feel like a bit of PhD on this topic at the moment. I feel like I've listened to way too many podcasts about this but I think what he was saying is that they initially planned to
elope and to get married at a courthouse. Her sisters then got involved and told them that it was a terrible idea, So then he thought, well, I'm going to the Maldives. I'm just going to propose anyway. It's so weird though, because then they'd already discussed marriage, so that the proposal was just fake. Well, the proposal was I think the sister's way of making them have at least a year leading up to it, so it gave them room to get to know each other a bit more.
I mean, it's just looking more and more like this whole thing was staged. I don't think that it was staged. I just think that they are both impulsive people who had these conversations and it was a bit of a fuck you to everyone else who doesn't think our relationship is serious. I cringed so hard when Ruby asked, what was it that made you first fall in love with Tammy or was it love at first sight? And he said, well, look at her, she's incredibly hot.
Oh.
And then it was backed up by the fact that she also liked movies, horror movies or movie it's such a buff. He seems like a twelve year old kid. I mean, he is reading Goosebumps. I don't want to go hard on him at reading Goosebumps because on an episode of their podcast, Anna Mack and Boy was saying how sorry she felt for Matt that everyone was having a go at him about reading Goosebumps because good on him for trying to read. So yeah, I can see where she's coming from him, and this is a real
person at the end of the day. I think it's just hard because he comes across as such a character, like he seems like this quintessential himbo, particularly with the wrestling. But when I listen to him on podcas, I don't hate him, Like he seems sort of sweet. He just seems like this again golden retriever energy, this puppy dog. He doesn't seem to know any better. Yeah, which is sort of like it's not alluring, but it's sort of like sweet, you know what I mean, Like you're not
feel a bit sorry for him. Yeah, it's like they need to take a microphone off him because he just doesn't know what he's saying. But I don't think he's a bad person. Like he is quite entertaining on podcasts. He says how it is, But I don't necessarily think it makes him a particularly good partner, particularly for someone who's got three small kids. I think Tammy needs someone who's a bit more mature. Yeah, it's probably not the
right match to take on three step children. Now, as we predicted, Matt spoke about his fertility, and it's not the first time he has but for those who are yet to hear and speak on the topic, he confirmed he is unable to naturally conceive as he has no sperm. He is hopeful a surgery maybe able to help the situation, but the result is unknown until he undergoes it again. This was a section of the podcast where I felt slightly sorry for Ruby because I had a bit of
a gig because it is a serious topic. But Matt said something about, oh, yep, I've got no swimmers, and it was just said in such a comical way that it was almost a way that you share it with another man, not necessarily a young girl who's interviewing you.
Yeah.
I think in that moment he didn't know quite how to articulate himself. I do want to give him a lot of praise, though, because it's not something we hear men talk about, and he was very open about it. So yeah, I think hats off to him on that regard.
I don't want to feel like I've let anyone down, which is so silly, because it's not about anyone else, It's just about us.
Georgia Love has tearfully opened up for the first time about her split from husband Lee Elliott. The former bachelorette admitted it feels weird calling him her ex husband, and spoke candidly about the impact her twenty twenty one cancelation had not only on her marriage, but her mental health.
So if this interview comes two months after the couple announced their separation, yeah, it was back in early March, so a couple of days before their upcoming fourth wedding anniversary when Georgia and Lee confirmed the news, and they had been growing speculation for quite some time that a breakup announcement was on the cards. They hadn't been seen publicly together for four months, and they weren't wearing their
wedding bands. Also, Georgia was on a solo trip in New York over Christmas, so everyone felt like something was going on. In the background. Yeah, it was like we were just waiting for this statement to drop, and they did confirm it in a joint statement shared on their Instagram story, ruterating that there was no drama or bad bladen, that they had simply grown in different directions. There was a big emphasis put on the fact that they would be remaining friends and had a lot of respect for
one another. I mean we see this a lot in statements put out by couples. Yeah, it is sort of the go to line.
Now.
There was a lot of sadness around this announcement because they were one of the Bachelor's biggest success stories and they seemed like such a solid couple. There were a lot of theories floating around at the time about what actually caused the split. I know, we had a lot of people sliding into our DM saying it was x Y and Z that caused the breakdown. I mean, no
one knows what happens behind closed doors. I mean, one thing that is clear is that everyone felt like they had this vested interest in the couple because we've watched their love story unfold online and when it ends, you feel like you deserve to know what happened. I think also because they appeared so solid and to have the perfect relationship, people then assume that something drastic has happened
in order for that split to happen. And we haven't really heard either party really open up about the separation and how they're feeling until now. I mean, we have seen from Lee over the past couple of weeks some firsts that. I mean, we're not complaining about the photos that he's been uploading. He's been renovating his deck and he kept big deck actually, Kate. Yeah, and there's a lot of deck puns. I mean, he's known to like puns. He and Georgia love used to do a lot of
puns on the Instagram stories together. Yeah, And I mean, I don't think anyone's complaining that he's been getting his shirt off in the photos, but it seems like it's a bit of a first trap for some new ladies out there. That's the impression that I'm getting. It didn't thrill me, and I wouldn't have been happy if I was Georgia.
Yeah.
Yeah, and those photos have led me to think what is actually going on behind the scenes. This would be very difficult if you were Georgia seeing these posts, and she chose to open up for the first time about her separation on Mom and Me as No Filter, where she spoke to Kate Langbrook. And I really think that this was the perfect platform for her to open up on, particularly because Kate was just so warm and sensitive during
this interview. I love Kate Lanebrook. She is just like a big, warm hug and when you listen, I mean I cried several times during this interview. I just loved how patient she was with Georgia. She wasn't pushed too much to get anything out, and that's why I think we got so much from her. Yeah, she seemed to have this genuine care for Georgia, almost like a motherly figure. It's also interesting to note that Georgia works for Mama Mia.
She has had a podcast on the network for a couple of years now called Everyone Has An Ex So she realized that was a MUMA meter. So she probably also felt confident that the interview would be respectful and they wouldn't cross any lines or throw in any rogue questions. I mean, I did feel awkward the segue initially when Kate said, I mean, you've got a podcast called Everyone Has An Ex? And you have an ex. I was like, oh,
but then after it was dealt with such sensitivity. Yeah, it was that comment that led Georgia to kind of be at a loss to what she refers to Lee as, let's have a listen to what she said.
When did you start to realize that you and lay your beautiful husband ex husband ex husband?
Well not yet, really, I don't know.
I don't know what you're still in that muddy Yeah, we're agreed to separate, but where Yeah, there's certainly no paperwork anything done or that takes a long time.
Anyway, I feel very weird calling him my ex husband. He doesn't.
And this is also this made me feel as though maybe this separation isn't final. Oh me too, I was like, is this opening the door for some sort of reconciliar Yeah, because she made a point of saying that they're still very much ingrained in each other's lives and she is never going to look back at their relationship as something she completely moves on from. I mean, either it's the fact that maybe she's leaving the door open, or potentially it's so fresh that she just isn't able to even
move on at this point. It made me wonder if it was Lee that was pushing the end of the relationship. I mean, they said it was mutual, but it did seem like she wanted to be back with him.
Yeah.
Well, she spoke very wistfully about the relationship and said that they had this beautiful life together and it feels like she's not really ready to close the door yet on it. I enjoyed listening to Georgia speak on this podcast because I actually don't listen to her. Everyone has an ex podcast. I only see her and social media, which isn't the best platform for her. I don't think.
No.
I think this was a way better platform for her, And it reminded me of why I liked her so much when she was on The Bachelor. Yeah, because unfortunately, I mean, she's the same age as us, we're millennials, and I think she has looked at platforms like TikTok and Instagram reels and thought, Okay, I've got to jump on some of these trends. I've got to do comedic videos. And I don't think that they're the best fit for
her because they're landing. Well, yeah, they're not landing. They can be taken out of context, and I don't think it's the true essence of who she is as a person. She's very intelligent, That's what I took from this whole interview, and it was very clear that she had the intelligence to understand this intimacy that the public feel like they have with her and Lee because everyone watched her fall
in love on TV. And she said that she understands this sense of entitlement that the public have because they've been very invested in her nine year love story. And what really seemed to weigh heavy on her during this interview, and something that I didn't even consider, was this sense that she had let the public down due to this separation.
Is what she said, and I understand that.
So that's been a big part of what has been difficult about making the public announcement that we have decided to separate, because.
I don't want to feel like I've let anyone.
Down, which is so silly because it's not about anyone else.
It's just about us.
But people have been so wonderful following our story along since the start, and I feel sorry I'm getting teary about this because it's so silly because it's not about anyone else. But so many people say often that they look at our relationship and feel like that gives them hope, yes, that they'll find their person. And really, yeah, I've been very sad about feeling like I've let people down or we've let people down very much.
Believe in love. Have not fallen out of love.
There has always been deep love there that I don't want people to be disappointed.
Listening to this, I just thought it's clear that she's a perfectionist, that she doesn't want to ever disappoint everyone. She's an A grade student, she's always done well at her career. Well, I think what her is that she was not only breaking the illusion for other people, but for herself. Yeah, because it would be hard admitting that, whilst your relationship looked really perfect online, that you were struggling and there were things going on behind the scenes.
It's almost like you're dropping this mask and it would be feel very exposing. I know we've spoken our podcast a little bit towards the end of last year about whether Georgia and Ly were together, and it made me feel bad when I heard Georgia talk about the toll the public scrutiny took on her in saying that, though she said she understood it because she's a journalist. Yeah, And she also spoke about how tough it was to actually decide when to go public with the news of their separation.
Here's what she said, with Lee and I separating, one of the hardest parts of that has been choosing to enter into a period of loss and grief again, right, because I'm so tired, and it was very, very hard. At the end of last year, there was a lot of speculation around whether we had split. You know, we were being followed a bit to see if we were seen together, or whether we were wearing our wedding rings
or anything. And I understand that that's part of being in the public eye, especially because we met in a public way. I do understand that, so I don't begrudge that, but it was very very hard while I was trying to come to terms with what was happening. Because Lee and I have made this decision together doesn't mean it makes me happy.
It doesn't.
I'm really really sad about it, and trying to process that myself.
Was hard enough.
Deciding to or knowing when was the right time to put it out there publicly, which no one should have to, and no we didn't have to, but we felt like that was the right thing to do. But that's not a reason to stay in something either.
It was really hard to hear her breaking down so many times during this interview, but I think that a lot of people going through the same thing would take a lot from it. One thing that I wasn't aware of was just how quickly Georgia lost her mum following the airing of the Bachelorette. So her mum, Belinda, sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer, a day after the Bachelor
finale aired. I just can't even comprehend how difficult that would have been for her, because she spoke about the fact that that year she had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. When she said at the timing did ring a bell? I remember it was quite close to the finale and they actually had to cut her pressed to a short. So normally the Bachelorette and her partner would do this big press tour and talk to every radio station, but thankfully she didn't have to
do that while she was grieving. It was clear that it was really special for Georgia that Lee got the opportunity to meet her mum before she passed away. But what I found really interesting was the fact that he first met her extended friends and family at her mum's funeral, And I think that just demonstrated what a special personally is. That this was the start of their relationship and he was able to support Georgia through this unimaginable grief that
she was going through. And during the interview, she came to this realization that Lee has always been by her side during those really difficult times. Here's what she said, I've never.
Had to go through a really hard period without him, yes, which I probably never thought about that really until just then.
Happn't the first bad thing that ever happened to me was losing my mum. So give me a hand, oh my darling.
Yeah, and I think that's a really hard part of this as well. We are helping each other through it as much as we can, but realistically there's obviously parts that we can't either. Yeah, it's hard. I've just never I never expected to be here.
I actually cried during that bit. And then again when Georgia was speaking about how difficult it is going through the separation without her mom and just wishing that her mum was there. This is what she said.
One thing I really have grappled with and that's been very difficult for me, is.
The fact that Lee met mum.
She was very, very sick he did, but she knew him.
Yeah, she died.
Knowing I was with him.
That I feel.
Sad that she.
Thought my life was going one way and it has that path has changed.
I think it's so easy to go on social media and dehumanize people and forget that they are real people that go through things. And you look at Georgia Love and the nine years that she has been in the spotlight. She's had, as she said, the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. I mean, losing her mum and now going through a marriage breakdown publicly, and also her cancelation. I want to talk about that.
Yeah.
Well, Kate Lanebrook made a point of saying at the start of this episode that listeners would fall in love with Georgia, and I think that this interview has really given her the redemption arc that she needed because when she first appeared on the Bachelorette, she was incredibly popular. I think she was seen as being Australia's Sweetheart. Essentially, it was a great series. He had Maddie Jay who was runner up. Obviously Lee won the show. It was
the golden time for the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Yeah, it was such a feel good show. But then fast forward a couple of years in twenty two, one Instagram story
changed the perception that many people had of Georgia. So, while she was working as a reporter at Channel seven in Melbourne, she posted a video of a cat sitting in the window of a Chinese restaurant and wrote shop attendant all lunch, alongside some crying face emojis, and instantly, George's post was widely condemned and slammed as being racist. I remember seeing the story and being like, did she mean to post that on close friends or was this a private message that has gone live to a story.
It was just unbelievable and at the time, anti Asian hate campaigner Alissa Hoe described George's actions as reckless. She said, it makes me sick, just as much as it makes me genuinely sad to think people like her can so openly share things that completely disregard the harm they caused to the Asian community now. Georgia did immediately apologize for the offense that she caused and thanked her followers for calling her out and said that she would learn from
this and do better now. As a result of the post and the backlash, Georgia actually ended up losing her at Channel seven. I didn't realize that. No, I didn't either. I was quite surprised when I heard her talking about it because I think a lot of people were calling out Channel seven saying that she needed to be fired, but I didn't know she actually did get fired.
I hate the term canceled, but that's the term that people use a few years ago, and I lost my job after that.
Why was this in twenty twenty one?
Yes?
Was this the cat? Yes? Picture the cat in the restaurant?
Like this is so crazy to even say that is a sentence, But that lead to you losing your job?
It did.
I posted something on Instagram that I didn't realize on posting that would or could be taken as offensive. I was immediately called out on that and told that it was and was mortified. Immediately took it down and apologized, But I had upset and offended a lot of people.
In that it is interesting to reflect on the timing of that incident. So it was at the end of twenty twenty one, when Sydney and Melbourne were in and out of lockdowns and there was this massive crackdown on influences and people holding them to account. I mean, that's when our podcast really took off. Yeah, it was at a time when everything felt very amplified online, and I think it was also due to the fact that the only news that was really out there was about COVID
or about online indiscretions. Because no one was getting out and about, there wasn't much going on. Everyone was very angry, and Georgia said that this is why she thinks there was such a huge reaction to that incident. I mean, in saying that she did acknowledge that the timing didn't take away from the fact that she offended people, but she did say that she felt like there was an element where people were harsher on her because she's a journalist and should have known better. I mean, that was
my mindset. I think she also said that people felt like it was a bit of a sport to condemn reality star contestants as well, so it was a bit of a mix. It was really interesting to hear her take on opinion pieces which were written about her at the time. She said that she was used as an example of the worst type of racism, and most of the commentary came from people that she didn't associate with.
So I'm assuming that she's saying that those a journals that she hasn't crossed paths with before, because it would be really weird to be in the media and to know how they operate, but to then have your fellow peers writing about you. Well, from memory, I think it was someone from her newsroom or used someone that used to work with her that wrote this opinion piece on her slamming her, and she obviously wanted to put it out there that that person never reached out to her to discuss it privately.
Well.
She essentially said that she wanted those people to tell her, face to face what she did wrong and give her ways to learn from it. I can't say I agree with her take there because I don't think it's up to people, particularly those from those marginalized communities, to give up their time to do so. They're giving up their time by putting their words into an article. I don't mean to sound like a pr statement, but you meant to put the time in to do that for yourself
and work out what was wrong about it. Yeah, you don't expect others to do it for you. The thing that does make the story a little bit different from her perspective is that she did work in the meat, So maybe she felt like people should have given her the heads up that they were going to write about her and give her the respect of seeing where she was coming from. I think that's probably what she more meant to say, but maybe it didn't come across like that.
She did say at the time she felt like public enemy number one and it really harmed her mental health for quite some time. She said it was a really difficult time for Lee as well, because he was trying to pick her up throughout it. He's how she said the cancelation changed her.
If anything, that period has made me more guarded, not guarded about what I say, really guarded in myself.
Put a lot of walls up from that.
That period really damaged me and really has changed me as a person. Not my nature or my core, but the way I react to things or where my mind jumps to.
You know, still to this day, if or when my boss calls me, my heart sinks and I go, oh God, what's happened. What's happened? I can't shake that.
And you know, I've done work and I've moved on from that period in my life.
But it really has changed me. It made me probably.
Go inwards a lot more and be a bit more independent in myself because it's probably taught me that you can only rely on yourself everything you do and say you're the one that's accountable for Again.
I really appreciated her insight into this cancelation because it's one of those things where you see it and then the news cycle moves and you forget about it, but you don't really know the long term effect it has. Ye particularly because it sounds like it did affect her marriage somewhat. And there I think there's been this whole idea lately that no one can truly be canceled, but I feel like in this case, she was because she
copped the ultimate punishment. She lost her dream job, and it's severe impacted her mental health and also seemingly her relationship had changed her as a person. I suppose the word canceled means you know the show's over and there's no coming back from it, so people definitely are punished by their actions online, but there always is a bit of a redemption arc, and as you said earlier, I think that this interview is a great start for her return.
It's time again for our Friday debrief and it always makes me think of those listeners who message saying that they eat McDonald's when they listen to the Friday episode. I let's get that out of my head. That was a happy moment for me. I felt like, Yeah, we've chosen the right day to release it, because there's nothing better than like I love when I associate a particular day with a podcast coming out, like it's almost your signal that the week is almost over, you're getting to
the weekend. Yes, I'm glad that we can be that podcast for some people. Now I need some help from the listeners because it's five weeks out from my son Jack's birthday and I still haven't set a location for
his birthday party. So he is a winter baby, and I'm finding that really difficult because I'd love to go down to a park and just set up a party there and have it really easy because I don't want to have it at my house after seeing you stress about your baby shower and you know, having to clean it all up, and I've got two golden retrievers there that are probably going to steal food from the state. Honest, the cleanup wasn't the worst bit. It was the fact
that we had Reno's happening at the same time. Yeah, I don't have a lot of time, and the one thing I want to focus on is actually making a beautiful cake, making a few desserts, getting some nice decorations, and having a fun time. So I'm thinking I might have it at a pub, but then there's not a lot of space for the kids to crawl around and do stuff. And the shit thing about having it at a pub is do you have to then have a bar tab for everyone? Well, I think if it's a
kid's birthday party, you don't. People aren't meant to be drinking at it. Well, my son is going to be a June baby too, And that is the shit thing about having a birthday in winter, because generally you could just go down to the park, you have a couple of their skis out, some soft drinks, like a barbecue, but this weather makes it difficult. Yeah, I want to know if anyone has any suggestions for a location, because I was looking into holes. They're also drab and they
don't really look very nice. My husband was paying me out, saying, Oh, it's all for the grammar. I'm like, no, it's about the atmosphere going into a hole, you know, when it smells like kids, dirty feet, like the gym. I would offer my house to you as a bit of a venue so you don't have to clean up, But that potentially is the week that I'm going to be having my son, so I don't think that that would be the best idea. Well, if you're not here, I could just you know, set it up here. I have one
last question though, to the listeners. I am tossing up between which cake to make in the Women's Weekly cookbook, so obviously Jack can't choose at this point. So the birthday party is going to be like Teddy Bear's picnic. There's a theme going around called berry First Birthday. So you're one of those basic bitches who's doing the Teddy Bear theme for your kid's birthday? Yes, i am. I decided that about six months ago that that's the theme. I wanted to do, not Lemons. I mean I loved
out every leventh. No, it's not a citrus theme. Now there is a cake in the Women's Weekly Cookbook that is a teddy Bear. I might post it on our Instagram story. So I thought, well, do I do the teddy bear or do I do the iconic one? The one will probably save you a lot of time if you end up having to do it at your Well that's what my husband said. He goes, I'll just do the one because I'm scaredule stress too much about the teddy Bear, but that maybe want to do the teddy
Bear even more. I don't know why we put all these pressure in ourselves, because then you end up not actually enjoying the lead up. I decided when I was having my in laws over to randomly make cinnamon scrolls, which I'd never made, and then over Easter I thought it was a good idea to make hool Cross buns from scratch. I feel like this is some weird nesting thing that's going on. Well, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to eliminate the difficult job so I can
focus on the ones that I want to do. Because one thing about having a baby that I've been looking forward to the most is organizing a birthday party. Look, I think number one thing is lollies, cheese platters, and getting some desserts from the bakery down the road. That's what I did for my baby shower. It was a godsend not having to make too much. Don't put too much on your plate. Just make the cake and order
some extra food. Well that's why I'm thinking the pub because it's catered and then I just bring the cake and we don't have to clean up after. Oh, that sounds like a good option to me. I want to talk about my nurseries. So I thought that I was going to be one of those pregnant women who had it all organized months before. But you were giving me so much it about my nursery. Yeah, but it's because we've literally had so many other renos to do that this has been sort of the last one on our
list because it's supposed to be the easiest. So this year we've done up our kitchen. We've also done up our laundry, We've done up our lounge rooms. Woman in a pursuit for making your home hotel, that's right, hotel handcot. We've done up our outside area. We've got a new deck, so this has really sick or deck deck. I mean it's a big deck, isn't it. It's really full and short though on our list of priorities. But the room currently is full of boxes. So I've got my cot
and everything sorted. I've got like a dressing tab, I've got a lot of the things ticked off, but they're not made and the room is not ready. So over the weekend we are locking in a time to have carpet put in our bedrooms, which is going to be quite a task because then we're like where is everything in the room's going to go? But luckily our actual plan for the nursery are doing quite a simple one.
I'm being a beige mum, so it's going to be a very vibrant white color and then I'm going to have a lot of browns and those sort of tones throughout the room. But I'm just so excited to have it done because I've been seeing all of these like nesting videos where mums put in all of the clothes and they sew all of the little essential items and the nappy caddies, and I really want to do all of that. I'm just feeling a bit stressed that it's
not done. I mean, if you're not planning to do all of your feeds in the nursery, then I wouldn't stress too much about having it perfectly organized, because your baby doesn't end up sleeping in there overnight until way later on. But I feel like it's a safe space, at a calming space where you can do your feeds, you can do all of your changes. I just want to have it organized and I will put up a bit of a nursery to it once it is done.
I have to put that out there and make myself accountable. Well, on that note, we better leave you to start your nesting journey now. This podcast was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to Elder's past and present, and if you do love the show, please make sure you are subscribed and leave us a review.