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It wasn’t exactly a conventional wedding ceremony. The bride, Dawn Walker, 52, was wearing a blood-red satin gown and had a red bow pinned in her jet-black hair. The groom, Thomas Nutt, 45, who was powerfully built, filled out his grey suit, adorned with a red tie. Both had three children from previous marriages, and Dawn was also a grandmother. They’d been together for three years, but Dawn’s family were concerned about the union. Her sister Lisa felt that Thomas controlled Dawn and isolated her from friends and family. During their relationship, Thomas had even served prison time for assaulting Dawn. She had also contacted a former partner of his, on Facebook, after finding out she had a restraining order out against him. And she had sent Dawn photos of the injuries Thomas had…

Luiza Kosykh claims she didn’t know the 700-year-old tree she posed naked in front of was sacred. However, the viral shot captured by the Russian national in Bali was enough to infuriate the local community and resulted in her swift arrest and deportation. The case is one of a growing number of incidents involving unruly visitors, as tensions between foreign influencers and locals on the Indonesian island reach boiling point. Once known as a laid-back surfer’s paradise, Bali has become a popular backdrop for “content creators” looking to promote their picture-perfect lifestyles. The streets of towns such as Canggu and Ubud are lined with aesthetically pleasing cafes and bohemian clothes stores seen as perfect settings for attracting Instagram and TikTok likes. According to the province’s bureau of statistics, the number of foreign visitors…

The disappearance and presumed murder of Sydney heiress Juanita Nielsen might be one of Australia’s most baffling mysteries, but now the quest to finally solve the 46-year-old case has gained new momentum. Last month, the NSW Police announced a $1 million reward for information surrounding the events of July 4, 1975, when newspaper publisher and anti-real estate development advocate Juanita stepped into a Kings Cross club, never to be seen again. “Juanita Nielsen disappeared at the prime of her life,” Police Minister David Elliott said. “Despite the passage of time, police and this government remain committed to obtaining information about her disappearance.” The reward announcement comes in the wake of months of new exploration into the case. It marked the first time an Australian journalist was killed because she was attempting to reveal…

It was a spring day when Delia Balmer walked into a busy pub. The 41-year-old Australian-born nurse was bored and knew the Camden Town, London pub had the best jukebox in town. People-watching by herself at the bar and sipping on a beer, it wasn’t long before Delia was approached by a man. While she found his intense stare slightly unsettling, he offered to buy her a drink. John Sweeney was a carpenter from Liverpool, UK. He told Delia he’d worked on building sites all over the world, including Germany and Australia. A travel lover herself, Delia was impressed and told John about her travels to India, Mexico and Central America. The pair ended up chatting all evening and soon they were dating. John was keen, sending flowers and helping her with DIY in her new…

As family, friends and fans continue to mourn the sudden loss of MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo, a picture is emerging of how the talented chef spent his last days – and it’s one that would give many comfort. Back in Melbourne briefly to promote the cooking show’s new season, Zonfrillo enjoyed a long and large lunch with his close mate and fellow judge Andy Allen on Saturday, April 29, during which they shared their excitement about the premiere and what the future held for them both. “It was a three hour catch-up about what we’d been up to, about the show, about the future,” shared an emotional Allen on a special edition of The Project paying tribute to the 46-year-old Scot. “We just talked each other’s ears off. It was so…

Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi had only one thing in common when they first noticed each other on the international tennis circuit in the late ’80s: a shared love for the sport. She was a fierce but humble competitor who quietly dominated thanks to a diabolical forehand, raking in Grand Slams and even Olympic gold for Germany in Seoul. Despite a similar winning record, Andre was Steffi’s polar opposite: a loud-mouthed, hard-partying American who beat down his opponents as much with his gregarious on-court antics as he did with his canny baseline game. He used drugs, didn’t make the practise courts until well after lunch time and married actress Brooke Shields in 1997. Meanwhile, Steffi was at training by breakfast, closely watched over by her father, Peter, who was determined his daughter wouldn’t burn…

“I told her she had good legs and she should show them.” – Christina Stambolian The revenge dress In September 1991, designer Christina Stambolian was working at her boutique in Beauchamp Place when Princess Diana strolled in with her brother, Earl Spencer. The siblings had been out for lunch at Diana’s favourite restaurant, San Lorenzo, when they decided to do some shopping. That trip led to the creation of one of the most talked-about dresses in history: the black silk crepe cocktail gown with an asymmetric ruched bodice and side sash, which Diana wore on June 29, 1994, the night that Prince Charles admitted having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles on national television. Combining the dress with her favourite sapphire, pearl and diamond choker, which matched her engagement ring, and scarlet nails, Diana…

Walking into the job interview, my stomach was swirling with nerves. Having emigrated from Kenya to Australia in 2015 to study disability and community services, I’d graduated and was looking for my dream job. Chatting with the team of recruiters, I was comforted by the warm smile of a man on the panel. ‘We’ll be in touch in a week’s time,’ he advised. I was thrilled when I was offered the job. Then a few days later, an email popped up. I’m the guy in the wheelchair from the interview, the message read. Introducing himself as Phil Eling, he asked if I wanted to meet for a friendly chat. I’d barely noticed at the time that Phil, then 29, was in a wheelchair, but I remembered his warmth. Meeting for coffee a week later, we got along like a…

Tucking into dinner, I smiled across the table at my bestie, Sandy, then 79. ‘We’re turning 80 next year and I think we should do something big to celebrate,’ she said. ‘Go on,’ I encouraged. ‘Why don’t we travel the world in 80 days – like the book?’ she suggested. ‘That’s a brilliant idea!’ I beamed. She meant the classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, where the characters strive to circle the globe in less than three months. Sandy and I had met 23 years ago when my husband Kelly and I organised medical missions to Zambia, flying doctors and nurses out there to treat sick locals. Sandy, a doctor, had just lost her husband Donald, and wanted to volunteer. ‘We’ll book you onto the next trip,’ I smiled. From then on, Sandy…

At first glance, 11-year-old Virsaviya Borun-Goncharova looks just like any other energetic pre-teen. She loves to sing and play with her little brother, Ervin. But behind her love of life and vibrant smile, Virsaviya is living with a rare condition that affects just one in a million. Diagnosed at birth with an extremely rare disorder called Pentalogy of Cantrell, Virsaviya’s rib cage and abdominal muscles did not form properly when she was in the womb, which led to her heart developing at the surface of the skin outside of her chest. Virsaviya was also found to suffer from a hole in her heart, which means she struggles when her oxygen levels drop and she gets light-headed and dizzy. She has to be incredibly careful to avoid any type of contact with her…

Charming”, “country” and “old school” – that’s how Married at First Sight’s Jake Edwards was described ahead of his TV debut. But in a bombshell interview with New Idea, his ex-fiancée, Paige McCuskey, claims he is anything but! Having dated for a little over four years, Paige says she was “shattered” when she uncovered Jake’s three-month affair with another woman, just two months short of their dream wedding. It was a moment Paige, 33, says left her emotionally wrecked and nearly broke. But as she explains in our exclusive chat, no pain has compared to watching Jake, also 33, walk down the aisle on the country’s most popular show, in a wedding she never got to have. When did you first discover that Jake was cheating? In September 2020. He went out to watch…

For Where to Buy, see page 190.…

Wandering through my uni campus, I made my way to my first psychology lesson. As I took my seat inside, I spotted the lecturer at the front of the class. ‘I’m Dr Burger,’ he smiled to the students. ‘But you can call me Terry if you like.’ I was 18 years old, and it was my first week at uni. Dr Burger was very intelligent, a great teacher and always really supportive of us students. We soon discovered he was 57, married, and he had two daughters in their 30s. Later that year, it was the end of term and our last day with Dr Burger. ‘Feel free to add me on Facebook,’ he announced to the class. ‘If you ever have any questions.’ A bunch of us added him. Soon after, I picked up some shifts at a…

Your entertainment backstage pass! Exclusive iterview! He's the homegrown actor whose résumé includes stints on some of Australia's most successful TV shows and movies. From the iconic Picnic At Hanging Rock and the title role in The Great Macarthy opposite Barry Humphries to presenting on Better Homes And Gardens and a five-year stint on McLeod's Daughters, John Jarratt, 70, has become a fixture on both big and small screens. But aside from success in Australia, the veteran actor – whose career spans a whopping 50 years – also now enjoys international fame, thanks to the unlikely success of homegrown horror flick Wolf Creek, in which he stars as murderous psychopath Mick Taylor. It's a character that is the polar opposite of his plethora of good guy roles. “I'm better known for playing goodhearted, Aussie nice guys,”…

I’m not asking for special sympathy as I tell this story. Because most couples come to the point where I did when one of them dies, leaving the other to mourn. It happens all the time, and the one left behind has to face the reality that they are alone. But Vivien’s death was personal. We had been married 45 years, and we loved each other to pieces. We’d had an exciting life together. I’d met Vivien just after I returned from running a hospital in the Peruvian Amazon for a year. The stories from that time that I shared with her were enough to seduce her to not only marry me, but to want to share more adventures together. It was so easy to fall in love with this beautiful,…

Olly Mann presents Four Thought for BBC Radio 4, and the podcasts The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped and The Retrospectors YESTERDAY I MET LIZ; a highly intelligent woman in her fifties. She’s a school friend of my mate Brett, and she’s spent the last 20 years working in brand marketing. As a result, she has a swimming pool. And a designer handbag. And a silly job title I can’t quite bring myself to recall: "Chief Inspiration Leader" or "Treasurer of Top Ideas" or something equally cringe, calculated to put the FUN in "strategy-led market research". She’s very smart, I said to Brett. “Yes,” he replied. “What a shame she’s wasted her brain, rather than doing something PROPER”. I smiled at this and indicated agreement—I knew what he meant; it’s not like she’s…

Ilove you,’ Maria said as we wrapped up our daily phone call. ‘Love you too,’ I said, smiling at the thought of my kind, joyful, 24-year-old daughter. I had no idea this was the last time I’d hear her sweet voice. Whether she was helping her big brother Joshua, then 27, or buying me beautiful flowers for Valentine’s Day, Maria was always thinking about other people. ‘Mum,’ she announced excitedly one day in 2017, ‘I’ve applied to be a teacher in Korea. I can’t wait.’ ‘That’s wonderful!’ I said, hugging her, but knowing how much I’d miss her. A few months later, she pulled me aside at church. ‘There he is!’ she said, pointing out a young man across the crowded room. His name was Nick. He’d moved here from Singapore to study and was in…

Ron Wilson wasn’t expecting to find love a second time around – certainly not through a chance meeting at his son’s cafe, followed by a friendly chat about his dodgy knee! Yet that’s how the widower and former Network Ten newsreader met his fiancée, Ness Richa, 18 months ago. ‘I WAS CONCERNED MY CHILDREN WOULD HAVE RESERVATIONS’ Blissfully unfazed by their 30-year age gap – Ron is a youthful 67, while Ness is only 37 – the adoring duo are busy planning a rustic winter wedding in NSW’s Hunter Valley, followed by a skiing honeymoon in New Zealand. “We’re not teenagers anymore, we know what and who we want in life, so let’s get on with it,” the SmoothFM breakfast radio presenter tells New Idea. “We want to build a life together. It’s no…

One mum has become a medical marvel after she conceived twins – three weeks apart! Rebecca Roberts, 39, fell pregnant with her daughter, Rosalie, when she was already carrying her son, Noah. Known as a ‘superfetation’, there have only been a few recorded cases of this phenomenon across the world. It’s a rare event in which another egg is released in ovulation and another successful pregnancy occurs while the woman is already pregnant. On September 17, 2020, Rebecca, a children’s clothing maker from the UK, gave birth to Noah, weighing 2.09kg, and Rosalie, just 900g. Her husband Rhys, 43, was by her side. Rosalie was transported to a specialist hospital for 95 days. Noah remained in hospital for three weeks and three days before going home to meet his 14-year-old sister, Summer. “We feel really…

Olivia Vivian and Ben Polson won the hearts of Australia when they fell in love while competing on ratings juggernaut Ninja Warrior. Sadly, the dreams they once shared of growing old together have now been dashed, as New Idea can reveal the couple have called in quits. In an exclusive chat with us, Olivia admits her split from Ben after five years has been “heartbreaking”. “Our relationship was loving, respectful and fun, but in that last year, we started to want different things and drifted apart,” the former Olympic gymnast, 33, tells New Idea “It wasn’t messy. Things just fizzled out romantically and we became companions rather than lovers.” While the split was amicable – with both parties moving out of the home they rented together – it was a decision not made lightly. “For…

Celebrating his 68th birthday on January 18, Kevin Costner was feeling upbeat. “Don’t believe what they say about getting older,” he posted alongside a photo of himself in a cowboy hat and jeans. “Each passing year is a gift, and it gets better and better with time.” Well, Kev? It’s complicated. The actor was reportedly stunned when his wife Christine Baumgartner filed for divorce on May 1 after 18 years of marriage. “It was not anything that he wanted or sought,” a source told People magazine. “If he could change the situation, he would.” A representative for Costner also alluded to the Yellowstone star’s surprise in an official statement: “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr Costner having to participate in a…

KITCHENS 01 SPECIAL FEATURE Greg Natale Greg Natale Design, Surry Hills, NSW; (02) 8399 2103 or gregnatale.com. With its elegant detailing and sophisticated accoutrements, this kitchen in a Brisbane riverfront house is as much about entertaining as cooking. Interior designer Greg Natale finessed the blending of form and function with a fluted, black-stained timber ceiling and joinery trimmed in brass; marble splashback, benches and flooring; and contemporary lighting. It creates the framework for a pared-back space that works yet wows. A cocktail bar vibe is introduced via velvet-covered Verner Panton stools ringing the end of a lavish Pavonazzetto marble island, setting the scene for convivial gatherings lit by the soft glow of Apparatus Studio lanterns. 02 FAMILY MATTERS Anna-Carin McNamara Anna.Carin Design Studio, Rushcutters Bay, NSW; (02) 9360 8662 or annacarindesign.com.au. The kitchen in designer Anna-Carin McNamara’s own…

Hippocrates gave us the heads up around 320BC when he said all disease begins in the gut. If only we’d taken his word for it. The good news is that science has caught up, and we now know that our gut microbiome – a term that describes the trillions of bacteria and microbes that live there – plays a crucial role in our health and sense of well-being. “The depth of the microbiota is hard to fathom,” says Will Bulsiewicz MD, a gastroenterologist and author of an excellent new book called Fiber Fueled. “The numbers are so astronomical … and it’s a wondrous magical community with amazing healing powers.” Even better, it’s possible to change the health of your gut with your next mouthful. In the dark Given the power the gut…

The 2002 killings of Melbourne millionaire socialite Margaret Wales-King and her husband, Paul King, by her son Matthew Wales was labelled ‘The Society Murders’ for the way revenge tore the prestigious family apart and resulted in tragedy. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the shocking case, in which a son unleashed a ferocious attack on his mother, who he claimed dominated his life, and stepfather, who he blamed for breaking up their family. What made the case so bizarre was that Wales lied repeatedly about his crime, yet left a trail of obvious clues that police followed – which led to him being charged with the double homicide. The case became so infamous, it resulted in the book, The Society Murders, and a 2006 Logie-winning telemovie starring Georgie Parker and Matthew Le…

I sat back in shock as the words I’d heard sank in. ‘I’m your aunt Abbie,’ the lady on the phone had said. ‘Your mum Sheryl’s sister.’ She’d tracked me down after finding a photo of me as a baby, with my name on the back. Aged 26, I’d been longing to find my birth mother after learning I was adopted 16 years earlier. I’d had a wonderful childhood with two loving parents but, as a teen, I’d look at women in the supermarket and wonder,Could that be my mum? When I asked my parents, they told me something bad happened, but refused to divulge more. Nothing could have prepared me for what my aunt said next. ‘I’m so sorry. She was the victim of serial killers,’ she revealed. Distraught, the news made my head spin. They told me…

Although the newly-minted monarchs took pride of place at the ceremony, those born to rule in the future managed to steal the spotlight on several occasions. The Prince and Princess of Wales were standouts on the day, with their three children – Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 – melting hearts across the globe. Kate looked positively regal in an ivory Alexander McQueen silk crepe gown, embroidered with the national flora of the United Kingdom. The 41-year-old opted not to wear a tiara for the historic occasion, instead donning a silver bullion and crystal headpiece by British milliner Jess Collett. Charlotte coordinated with her mum in a matching dress and headpiece. And although George played a key role in the Coronation – as a Page of Honour to…

DEMI & NIC CAGE PACK ON PDA Demi Moore was all smiles as she embraced Nicolas Cage during filming of their new movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. The action-comedy sees Nic playing a fictionalised version of himself, who he accepts a $1 million offer to attend a superfan’s birthday. Despite being two of the biggest names in Hollywood during the ’90s, this marks the first time Demi and Nic – who was allegedly kicked out of a steakhouse for a ‘drunken tiff’ days earlier – have shared the screen together. SANDRA & HUGH TEAM UP AGAIN! Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant are reportedly reuniting on-screen for a Netflix rom-com! “This is a huge coup and Netflix is seeing nothing but dollar signs in teaming them together,” an insider tells New Idea…

Last month, John Herron should have been celebrating his precious daughter Courtney’s 27th birthday with her. Instead, the father-of-three watched helplessly as the man who confessed to brutally bludgeoning his eldest child to death was cleared of murder. Henry Hammond, 28, was homeless when he killed aspiring social worker Courtney with a tree branch, before hiding her body in Melbourne’s Royal Park very early on May 25, 2019. Courtney’s injuries were so severe, the mortician struggled to put her broken body back together before she was buried – leaving her family unable to see her to say their final farewells. But last month, Hammond was found not guilty of murder because of mental impairment, with the court ruling he was in the grips of a schizophrenic relapse. He was ordered to spend 25 years…

When they first met at a dinner party in New York hosted by playwright Lillian Hellman, Roald Dahl ignored Patricia Neal and she found him to be unbearably rude. Patricia was a huge Hollywood star of cinema’s golden era, having made her name two years earlier in The Fountainhead opposite Gary Cooper, and was expecting to attract more attention from the little-known Englishman. Roald was handsome, yes, an RAF officer, also a secret agent and a journalist, but hardly in her starry stratosphere, and at the dinner he seemed more interested in talking to composer Leonard Bernstein than her. “By the end of the evening, I had quite made up my mind that I loathed Roald Dahl,” she noted. Yet, he was good at an awful lot of things. He was a…

The Worldwide Developers Conference is one of the most hotly-anticipated events on any tech journalist’s calendar, offering Tim Cook and Co an opportunity to show the world what lies ahead for iOS, macOS, and more. This year’s WWDC kicks off on June 6 in Cupertino, and with long-rumored products expected to be unveiled, it could be the biggest event yet. LIFTING THE LID ON iOS 16 Unless Apple has made any last-minute changes to its naming system, the chances are that we’ll see iOS 16 unveiled at the June conference. Due to the sheer number of iPhones in existence, iOS is often the show-stopper at any WWDC, introducing new features, tools, and capabilities to make iPhones even more advanced. At this time of the year, we usually hear a whole host of…

What was the biggest surprise in writing your new book, The Palace Papers? How incredibly difficult it is to fit in that system. You know it’s a gilded cage; you know that there’s all these constrictions. But by the end of it, I just felt like I’d been trapped in a mothballed cupboard with people banging on the door trying to get out. You note that “even at her most bitter ebb with the royal family, [Diana] was always a monarchist.” How would she have performed as Queen? The irony was that at the very end of her life in the ’90s, she and Charles became on quite cordial terms. Today, in her 60s, she would have been in her prime. I believe she would have been an absolutely superb Queen. You…

The pain brimming behind her eyes was almost too much to bear. ‘How long do you think you’ve got?’ the kidney specialist asked my partner Jayde, then 32. Jayde was waging an almighty losing battle with stage four cervical cancer. Her body was so frail, she’d had stents in her kidneys under local anaesthetic, as a general could’ve killed her. ‘You need to decide whether to watch a TV boxset, or something shorter,’ the specialist smiled. In that moment of honesty, I saw relief flood through Jayde. Finally, someone had given her permission to let go. Jayde had always been full of life. A lively sales executive, she threw herself into everything. It was why I loved her. She’d even parachuted out of a plane for her 30th birthday. But in April 2016, excessive bleeding and excruciating…

Her kidnapper is behind bars and will be for the foreseeable future, but 5-year-old Cleo Smith is still suffering from the lingering trauma that she experienced during her harrowing 18-day ordeal back in October 2021. “She still has her sad nights, her nightmare nights,” Cleo’s mother Ellie Smith told 60 Minutes on May 14. “She doesn’t have the words to explain what she’s sad about, she just knows that’s how she feels, so they’re just sad nights. Her nightmare nights are the worst nights.” It’s been over 18 months since Cleo was snatched in the dead of night as she slept next to her parents and little sister, Isla, on a camping trip in Western Australia. Upon discovering their little girl was missing Ellie and Jake Gliddon, Cleo’s stepdad, frantically searched the…

THE NIGHTS ARE THE HARDEST, when he lies there on his cot, the whine of the air-raid sirens in his ears and his phone still buzzing beside him. Its screen makes his face look like a ghost in the dark, his eyes scanning messages he didn’t have a chance to read during the day. Some from his wife and kids, many from his advisers, a few from his troops, surrounded in their bunkers, asking him again and again for more weapons to break the Russian siege. Inside his own bunker, the President has a habit of staring at his daily agenda even when the day is over. He lies awake and wonders whether he missed something, forgot someone. “It’s pointless,” Volodymyr Zelensky told me at the presidential compound in Kyiv, just…

I COULD FEEL MYSELF SUFFOCATING. Each step down the bedrock passageway brought me closer to what I’d long imagined: the pool of khaki water, the flooded tunnel it hid, and the moment I’d have to enter that darkness. The crumbling grandeur of a pyramid loomed above. Here, at the ancient necropolis of Nuri in Sudan’s northern desert, Kushite royals were laid to rest millennia ago in a series of underground burial chambers beneath mighty pyramids. Now the chambers were flooded with groundwater leaching from the nearby Nile. Archaeologist Pearce Paul Creasman, funded in part by a National Geographic Society grant, was leading a team that would be the first to attempt underwater archaeology below a pyramid. Initially, I’d been calm, even excited, about going along to photograph this ambitious and risky…

@chefmattmoran IT HAD JUST SNOWED at Matt Moran’s farm in regional New South Wales when delicious. chatted to the chef. “It’s the earliest it’s snowed for who knows how long,” he said. “And as soon as we have that first proper cold snap, I go into soup mode.” Comforting, hearty, healthy – “soup mode” is essential once winter hits. “Plus, the great thing about soups is you can use up vegetables that are a little old,” says Moran. “Throw in tomatoes that are a bit overripe, or if you go to a farmers’ market and find a guy who sells lots of onions, or capsicums, or great celeriac, grab them! You can make a whole meal out of an ingredient that’s plentiful and at its peak.” And it’s not just veg that gets…

KALEY & PETE’S REBOUND ROMANCE! Kaley Cuoco announced her divorce from Karl Cook last week – but it seems a new romance with Pete Davidson could already be in the works. According to sources, the pair grew close while filming their movie, Meet Cute. “They didn’t act on their attraction, but this was a meeting of the minds that pretty much put the nail in the coffin on her marriage,” says a pal. Kaley’s divorce comes just three years after she and Karl tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in 2018. This is the second divorce for Kaley, who was previously married to tennis star, Ryan Sweeting, from 2013 to 2016. MERYL’S WEDDING JOY Meryl Streep’s lookalike daughter, Grace Gummer, secretly tied the knot with musician, Mark Ronson. Announcing the news on…

DEADLY SLEEPOVER When Payton Leutner went to Morgan Geyser’s for a slumber party in May 2014, she had no idea her life would soon be hanging in the balance. Payton and Morgan, both 12, had been besties for two years, but that changed when Morgan met Anissa Weier. Morgan had become obsessed with the fictional horror character ‘Slender Man’ after Anissa, also 12, told her about him. The tall, thin, faceless man wearing a dark suit, who was said to abduct children, had been invented for an online contest in 2009. But the line between fact and fiction soon blurred, and some people began believing he was real. Payton didn’t understand Morgan and Anissa’s fascination with Slender Man. ‘It kind of frightened me a little bit,’ Payton admitted to the US ABC News. On that fateful night,…

Staring at the message on my phone, my world tilted. Welcome to the fam! I read, over and over – four little words that, at 31, changed my life. And it was all thanks to my cancer diagnosis. I’d ignored the signs for months. Every time I’d spotted the red raised skin on my right breast, I just shrugged it off. It’s probably nothing, I told myself. I’m sure it will sort itself out. But as the lump grew bigger and the pain greater, I knew I had to get it looked at. The worry on the doctor’s face was immediate when I finally got it checked in July 2021. A biopsy was arranged and, three weeks later, I was told I had breast cancer and would need a mastectomy. To manage my feeling of panic,…

Maggie Beer is a good woman. If you cracked her open like a perfect free-range egg, you would find goodness in her soul.The Weekly’s food director, Fran Abdallaoui, says what she admires most about Maggie is that everything she does – from championing local growers and seasonal produce to developing better food for our elders – is grounded in a sense of kindness, conscience, generosity and care. When I mention this to Maggie, she laughs self-consciously, but when pressed to explain why she is this way, she begins thoughtfully, “I think it comes from life … I think it comes from life and from your parents. Having empathy is really important. Also, I was brought up in an interesting time, when things were … simpler and the ethics were entrenched. The…

Glancing at the large holes in the wall in the hallway, and the elderly Greek lady standing in front of me, I sighed. All cases of domestic violence are sad, but elder abuse – abuse against older people – is particularly hard. ‘Does he punch holes in the wall?’ I asked, meaning the poor lady’s grandson. She shook her head. ‘No, he puts my head through the wall,’ she said quietly. It sounds shocking, but, as a security and risk consultant, it was one of so many heartbreaking stories of domestic violence I’d heard. I was just glad I could help. My family always taught me and my siblings the importance of helping others. So it wasn’t a surprise when, at 16, I joined the police force as a cadet. As a young officer in the patrol van,…

Retirement sure looks good on Travel Guides favourites Kevin Moloney and Janetta Stones! It’s a gloriously sunny day when New Idea arrives at the couple’s stunning home in Maldon, Victoria. We’re here to get an exclusive look at their lives away from the popular Channel Nine travel series. As you might expect, no two days are the same for the dynamic duo – although their mornings have something of a routine. Janetta gets up and enjoys a long walk, then she and Kevin download the daily papers and catch up on the news over a cup of tea. The textbook definition of a green thumb, Kevin, 65, spends a lot of his time maintaining his prized garden. When he’s not pottering around in the flower beds, he can likely be found in his…

In short, 5G is a mobile network that delivers fast internet on your smartphone, and at home too if you choose it as your main internet connection. But to get these improvements you need a 5G smartphone and to be within the reception area of a 5G tower. All the models in this test support 5G networks. But you also need to make sure you’re on a 5G plan with your mobile network provider, as some of the cheaper plans exclude 5G access. This means you may have a 5G mobile, but you’ll only be able to get 4G performance. Apple first introduced 5G support in its iPhone 12 range released late in 2020, so if you own an older iPhone you won’t get 5G. Samsung released 5G versions of its Galaxy…

Gone TOO SOON Farewell funny girl Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Kirstie Alley has died at 71 after a short, fierce battle with cancer. Versatile, feisty and funny, she’s remembered for her role as Rebecca Howe in Cheers, and for Veronica’s Closet. In Look Who’s Talking she played opposite John Travolta, who said theirs was “one of the most special relationships” of his life. Her son, True, and daughter Lillie Parker shared that her “zest and passion for life ... leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did.” Women we love Songbird Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Christine McVie died last month at 79. Mick Fleetwood said, “Part of my heart has flown away ... I will miss everything about you”. Doctor Spice Geri Halliwell-Horner (Ginger Spice) has received an honorary doctorate for contributions…

Not so long ago, the name Elizabeth Holmes would have been used with a certain amount of admiration and awe. As the CEO of her own company at 19, Holmes was rubbing shoulders with some of the richest and most influential people in the world. Her picture was splashed on the front of magazines and her position as the youngest female, self-made billionaire was well reported. With her black turtlenecks, startling blue eyes and deep, husky voice, the new golden girl of Silicon Valley was pinned as the Steve Jobs of the healthcare world. Holmes’ blood-testing company, Theranos, was going to change everything and high-profile investors, like Rupert Murdoch, scrambled to write million-dollar cheques to be part of it. The only problem was that her world-changing product didn’t actually work. Whether it was all…

Love – that’s what I saw when I looked at the tall, handsome man’s face. As the music pumped around us, Nick, then 35, was busy selling T-shirts and CDs at the merchandise stand at the back of the room. We’d met on tour nine years earlier, when I was catering for a band called The Magic Numbers. And love was instantaneous. Even though we’d split after two years, I never forgot Nick Alexander – he was the love of my life. When he flew into Paris where I was living, in November 2015, I was thrilled to see him. The following night I joined him at the Eagles of Death Metal concert in the Bataclan concert hall, where Nick was working. I was so happy that we were reunited. But at 9.40pm, I heard…

During his school days, Morgan Scholes often got teased about his famous father. If he was winning an argument, chances were a classmate would turn around and try to unnerve him by asking: “How can Molly Meldrum be your dad? Everyone knows he’s gay!” Growing up in Molly’s crazy world did have some downsides. But the good times – like a banjo lesson from Sir Paul McCartney – far outweighed the bad for Molly’s adopted son. “I’ve only come to fully appreciate it later in life,” Morgan, whose late mother was close friends with Molly, tells New Idea. “There was always something interesting going on at Molly’s place and it broadened my mind, opened me up to possibilities. “There was a time that Dad apologised to me, said he knew I’d had it…

It’s hard to imagine anyone more destined for life in Ramsay Street than current cast member, Jemma Donovan. Born and raised in London, the 21-year-old is not only the daughter of one of Neighbours’ most famous alumni, Jason Donovan, she’s the granddaughter of Terence Donovan and half-niece of Stephanie McIntosh – both of whom have also had major roles on the Aussie soap. Needless to say, Jemma immediately felt at home when she arrived in Erinsborough almost three years ago in the role of Harlow Robinson. “I’ve grown up not only knowing the show, but what an amazing platform and training ground it is for young actors,” Jemma tells New Idea. “I feel so fortunate to be part of it. The show has such a legacy.” Here, the popular star shares her life in…

Merging the lives of two families into the one household is always a delicate business. It’s something that was at the front of interior designer Anna McMillan’s mind when she set about redecorating the home she shares with her partner James, their children Liz, 19, Connor, 19, and Gabi, 17, plus two dogs and three cats. “Blending the two families has been an adjustment for all of us,” she says. “Decorating this house was about being respectful to each person’s emotional connection to their home and creating a space we could all enjoy and call our own.” Located on Sydney’s Lower North Shore, ‘Camelot’ is a two-storey sandstone house built in 1905 with breathtaking views of Chinamans Beach. “Prior to James buying the property, it had been in the same family…

Since the Taliban swept to power in August 2021, I had travelled to Afghanistan several times as an international correspondent for the BBC. The shambolic nature of their takeover and the little experience the one-time insurgents had in running a country meant I was able to freely travel to places that were once deemed the most dangerous on Earth. I was now heading back to the country, following a two-week break in Sydney to visit my parents. I was slightly nervous about making this journey. A lot had changed since my last visit in June 2022. Women had been banned from universities, from public parks, from going to gyms; they could no longer travel long distances in the country or abroad without a male chaperone. The Taliban had also issued an…

Molly Heath, 30, Mornington Peninsula, Vic As I skated around our campsite, my five-month-old, Coco, watched me. ‘Come and have a go,’ I grinned at my baby girl, who was sitting with my parents, Lucy and Rob. Standing Coco up on the skateboard, I held both her chubby little hands and carefully rolled the board along the path. Squealing with delight, she loved it! So, every day, I began rolling Coco around. Two months on, I took her to an empty skatepark. Arming my bub with elbow and knee pads and a helmet, I gripped her hand and rolled her up a ramp. While she was skating, her gummy grin stretched from ear to ear! I’d skated and surfed – safely, of course – during my pregnancy. Maybe Coco caught the board bug in my tummy? I thought. By nine months,…

I was born in Melbourne, Victoria and currently live there with my amazing husband and two small children. For as long as I can remember, I have always loved drawing, painting and creating. I was always happiest in my own little world with a pencil in my hand and nothing but the image I was trying to create in my mind. It was my escape and my talent, and I loved it. When I was young I would mostly draw animals, in particular, horses. I would draw or paint them over and over in many different styles. I had no real knowledge of the different mediums or papers available, and for which style of art they were best used. I drew and painted on anything I could get my hands on, including…

ALFA ROMEO – BENTLEY YOUR COMPLETE NEW CAR BUYER’S GUIDE WHAT IT ALL MEANS PRICE Recommended retail figure at time of publication (asterisk indicates driveaway price) ENGINE TYPE L, in-line; V, vee; F, flat. Number of cylinders. T, turbo; S, supercharged; D, diesel; H, hybrid; E, electric SIZE Litres or kWh POWER kW TORQUE Nm TRANSMISSION M, manual; A, auto; D, dual-clutch; C, CVT WEIGHT Kerb, kg 0-100 km/h, acceleration in seconds (Wheels as-tested figures in italics) FUEL CONS Consumption in litres, or kWh, per 100km RON Octane of fuel required, as numbered, or D for diesel RESALE percent, 3-year resale in Glass’s ISSUE TESTED month/year DRIVE A, all-wheel; F, front; R, rear. Any figure in bold is our own estimate. BMW – FORD YOUR COMPLETE NEW CAR BUYER’S GUIDE WHAT IT ALL MEANS PRICE Recommended retail…

Every year for the past five years, two families from the same town, who both had miracle quadruplets just eleven days apart, come together for an adorable Christmas photo shoot. Mums-of-five Virginia Johnson, 39, and Kylie Szafranski, 30, became friends after discovering each other online following the birth of their quadruplets in 2017 – and were shocked at the uncanny similarities between their two remarkable families. ‘IT’S LIKE A BIG PARTY WHEN WE ALL GET TOGETHER!’ While Virginia and her husband Victor, 48, had three girls and one boy – Ava, Olivia, Madelyn and Victor Jr. – Kylie and her husband Phil, 41, welcomed three boys and one girl – Damon, Gideon, Theo and Emery. Both mums also have one more child. Kylie is mum to River, 7, while Virginia also has an…

Settling down in the dorm, I ignored the shrieks in the night as I drifted to sleep. Even at age nine, I knew life at Centrepoint – a commune promising a utopian life – was different. There were communal showers, no toilet doors and free love everywhere. But for me and my siblings Angie, then 15, Karlos, 14, and Bonnie, 11, it was home. We hadn’t always lived there. Sadly, our mum, Jane, suffered mental health issues, so we were often put in respite care. I’d attended 14 schools, and there often wasn’t enough food. So when Mum heard of healing therapy at Centrepoint run by Bert Potter, then 60, it promised the support she craved. Moving there in 1985, it felt like an oasis. Adults worked in the garden or were in therapy,…

Picture the scene. We’re in the tiny country town of Kilkivan in Queensland’s Gympie region and at the end of a dusty driveway “that seemed to stretch forever”, a precocious seven-year-old clicks ‘record’ on her dad’s dictaphone as she rushes around the house interviewing members of the family. Our intrepid cub reporter would hum the ABC news musical fanfare and proclaim in as deeper voice as her developing vocal cords could muster: “Here we are, it’s the seven o’clock news and Mr Whipam, what have you got to say?” as she held the recording device under the nose of her younger sister, Trudi. “I couldn’t even pronounce Whitlam, that’s how young I am,” explains Lisa. “Then Trudi would start talking in this very deep voice. We only knew that men had those…

Hello girls! How was your morning at Dad’s?’ I asked my daughters Cameron, then 10, and Bonnie, eight, as they walked in the door. It was Christmas Day, and my mum Jan, 64, was helping me whip up a roast and a trifle in the kitchen. By 11am, we packed up the food and drove down the road to my friend Ruth’s place for lunch. There were 20 of us, and for hours we ate, laughed and played fun games like charades and Pictionary. As the day came to an end, I cleaned up with the adults. It’s still really wet outside, I thought, ducking out to the recycling bin with an empty wine bottle. We’d had a lot of rain in the past month. I’d only taken a couple of steps when I slipped…

Mum, if I do extra chores, can I buy a bow and arrow?’ asked my son Whyatt, then nine, at home one day. ‘I’m not sure about that, darling,’ I replied, nervous. Whyatt was always getting into scrapes. The year before, he’d broken his arm playing handball and fractured a leg jumping off a bunk bed. But I didn’t want to wrap him in cottonwool. We lived on a farm and, like my other boys, Harlen, 13, and Wailen, 12, and my girls, Santana, nine, and Nirvana, seven, he was very sporty and adventurous. He was at his happiest fishing, yabbying or riding his motorbike. ‘Please Mum,’ he begged. It was hard to say no. Whyatt had been born a premmie without a heartbeat, and survived against all odds. So I always call him my superhero. ‘Well,…

In 2015, I announced to my partner, Steve, that we should buy a farm so I could have a large garden and, also, a place out of the city where we could spend our weekends. Up to that point, we had been living in an apartment, where my passion for growing things was confined to our balcony – I spent most of my weekends tending our tiny patch of green. While I looked for a property for us to buy, I enrolled in a horticulture course at TAFE three nights a week and spent my free evenings reading about and watching YouTube videos on gardening. During that time, I rented a small vacant block of land and started to implement what I was learning. We found Rosedale Farm near Orange, NSW…

Royal WEDDING A queen’s blessing When Queen Rania of Jordan celebrated the marriage of her daughter, Princess Iman, 26, and venture capitalist Jameel Thermiotis, she had one thought in her heart. “I pray this next chapter in your life brings you as much joy, love, and laughter as you have brought us over the years,” she wrote. The Jordanian Princess wore an exquisite Dior gown that was custom-designed by creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. Women we love Blooming generous Sam Bloom has donated $100,000 to Project Spark, a program led by SpinalCure Australia, to help Australians like Alex Richter (above, right) living with a spinal cord injury. Ace umpire In its 125-year history, Wimbledon has never had a female referee – until now. Former player Denise Parnell, 62, will replace Gerry Armstrong as the tournament supervisor. A Stella…

Rewind the clock to 1994, and the names Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise were on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Both had enjoyed success with their respective breakout films, Thelma & Louise and Risky Business, but their names were finally in lights together co-starring in Interview with the Vampire. The double act prompted critics to rightly predict that the new A-list had arrived. With their matching upbringings in rural Missouri and similar trajectory to fame, many expected Brad and Tom’s days on set of the Anne Rice adaptation would start a lifelong friendship. But it soon became clear that would never be the case. “He bugged me,” Brad complained at the time. “There came a point in filming that I really started resenting him. He’s North Pole, I’m South.” Things didn’t improve as time…