Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Something to Talk About Mastella podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Lamarquin, your host, and this year I have
Speaker 1: had the privilege of sitting down with some of the
Speaker 1: biggest names in the country. Because when Estralia's celebrities are
Speaker 1: ready to talk, they come to Something to Talk About.
Speaker 1: We're continuing to publish across the summer break and we'll
Speaker 1: be back with a brand new episode on January twelfth.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, each day for the next two weeks,
Speaker 1: we'll be revisiting some of your favorite episodes from the
Speaker 1: past year, and I'm happy to report that there have
Speaker 1: been a lot of popular episodes, but out of the
Speaker 1: fifty we released in twenty twenty four, we've narrowed it
Speaker 1: down to ten conversations to revisit over the summer break,
Speaker 1: and today you'll hear from David Campbell on the decision
Speaker 1: that changed everything for him. David, who is of course
Speaker 1: the son of Ozzie Rock legend Jimmy Barnes, join me
Speaker 1: in the Something to Talk About studio to mark a
Speaker 1: milestone ten years since he decided.
Speaker 2: To stop drinking.
Speaker 1: At a time of year when many Australians are reconsidering
Speaker 1: their relationship with alcohol and reflecting on their resolutions for
Speaker 1: the coming year, we decided it was a perfect time
Speaker 1: to revisit David's Canada about breaking the cycle of alcohol
Speaker 1: addiction in his family and how his sobriety has impacted
Speaker 1: his marriage. David Campbell, you and I have a lot
Speaker 1: to talk about, but I want to start by going
Speaker 1: back a long time ago, in a galaxy far away,
Speaker 1: as Star Wars fans might say, you and I sat
Speaker 1: alongside one another on a panel on the Today Show.
Speaker 1: Kyle Stefanovic was hosting your co host today of Today Extra,
Speaker 1: Sylvia Jeffries was a fellow panelist, and little old me
Speaker 1: was sitting on the other side of you, And there
Speaker 1: was a discussion where you revealed that you had given
Speaker 1: up alcohol.
Speaker 2: A year earlier.
Speaker 1: I would want to unpack that moment with you in
Speaker 1: a moment, but before we talk about that day in
Speaker 1: April twenty fifteen, I'd actually like to go back twelve
Speaker 1: months earlier, to April twenty fourteen, because we're about to
Speaker 1: hit the ten year milestone where you decided to.
Speaker 2: Give up alcohol. Yeah, what brought it on?
Speaker 1: And when you made that choice, did you think it
Speaker 1: was going to be permanent ten years on or was
Speaker 1: it more of a short term let's just see what
Speaker 1: I do here.
Speaker 3: No, when it happened, it felt definitive. If going back
Speaker 3: to that time, I was, you know, we'd had Leo
Speaker 3: at Leasta night had Leo, and we were very much
Speaker 3: conscious and aware. I know those sound very wanky terms,
Speaker 3: but we were of like, how are we going to
Speaker 3: raise our child? How are we going to do this?
Speaker 3: You know, we both had you know, had our own
Speaker 3: issues and traumas in our childhoods, but really wanted to
Speaker 3: be the best parents we could be. And you know,
Speaker 3: as to type a type people raising a child, you know,
Speaker 3: we're really trying our best. And I'd been touring a lot,
Speaker 3: and I'd always had, like with my relationship with alcohol
Speaker 3: from my teens onwards was either problematic like binge or
Speaker 3: abstaining completely. And so I would go through like years
Speaker 3: and years and years of never drinking, and then I
Speaker 3: would drink a lot, and then years and years years
Speaker 3: not drinking again. So it was really coming and going.
Speaker 3: And then at least when I got together, we had
Speaker 3: a great time. We're having a wonderful you know start
Speaker 3: to our marriage. We would drink a bit. We would celebrate,
Speaker 3: and at the same time, I was having great success
Speaker 3: with an album. So you would have midweek and they'd
Speaker 3: be just champagne delivered to you. We'd be like, let
Speaker 3: it be rude not to have champagne and so, and
Speaker 3: then you'd go out in the road and you would
Speaker 3: drink with your band, and then you would drink after
Speaker 3: the show, because you're putting on late these parties in
Speaker 3: every city you go to. And it mounted up and
Speaker 3: mounted up, and I was putting on an awful amount
Speaker 3: of weight. And I was because you eat recovery food
Speaker 3: and you sleep longer and all the sort of stuff
Speaker 3: that you know you shouldn't be doing, but you know
Speaker 3: you're young, you don't have kids. So when Leo came along,
Speaker 3: we're having kids. We were trying to clean up our
Speaker 3: lives and be healthier and work out and do that
Speaker 3: sort of stuff. And I was still touring, and I
Speaker 3: was doing morning TV with Sonia, and I'd just got
Speaker 3: that gig, and I was really mindful of like I
Speaker 3: was getting better at it. I was very sweaty to
Speaker 3: start with, as you remember, but I was getting I
Speaker 3: think better at it. It takes a long time, and
Speaker 3: I was still working and going on the road too,
Speaker 3: and I had this feeling when I was on the
Speaker 3: road of being bored with drinking. So my band would
Speaker 3: drink and I would sit there and be like, I remember,
Speaker 3: like going, okay, let's have a drink. And it was
Speaker 3: this weight was starting to hit me with it, this
Speaker 3: sort of feeling of like I have to do this,
Speaker 3: this is what I should be doing, should be celebrating
Speaker 3: with my band as opposed to do I want to
Speaker 3: as before I know, my band and I partied and
Speaker 3: had great times and got drunk and had played poker
Speaker 3: all night. That was fun, but all of a sudden
Speaker 3: it wasn't becoming fun anymore, and it was playing on
Speaker 3: my mind. And I was listening to a lot of
Speaker 3: podcasts at the time, and I was in therapy and
Speaker 3: saying to my therapist, keeps coming up that I'm listening
Speaker 3: to people who are sober and talking about their sobriety,
Speaker 3: and she's like, well, we do you want to explore that?
Speaker 3: I'm like, I don't know, I don't know if I
Speaker 3: want to explore that, and then the story comes with
Speaker 3: a lot of name dropping. So forgive me, but Dan
Speaker 3: Akroid was in town and Lisa and I are deep nerds,
Speaker 3: and he came on the show to promote Crystal Head vodka.
Speaker 3: Now this isn't dan Acroid's fault. I need to preface this.
Speaker 3: It's a great product. I'm not here to endorse it.
Speaker 3: But if you do drink, it's lovely. But it's crystal
Speaker 3: Head and it's a vodka, and it's like and it's
Speaker 3: alien head looking jar And he came on and we
Speaker 3: did some Blues Brothers songs on TV and he invited
Speaker 3: me to his night with his fabulous wife, Donna, who
Speaker 3: was inspired like us. So I was really moving irtie
Speaker 3: out and he'd signed some bottles for us, and Lisa
Speaker 3: and I had a great time, and we'd had some
Speaker 3: VOD people with him, and blah blah blah. Got to
Speaker 3: the end of that weekend, I was coming up to
Speaker 3: my holidays. It was our first big family holiday. We
Speaker 3: were going to Broom and Lisa and I were like,
Speaker 3: should we on Friday night watch Ghostbusters have some Crystal
Speaker 3: Head vodka. That seems like the tribute to Dan Akroyd
Speaker 3: for the week Absolutely. Now, mind you, by this stage,
Speaker 3: I did not have much to drink I don't know
Speaker 3: what happened, or maybe I lost count, but I wasn't blackout,
Speaker 3: drunk or anything like that. We went to bed relatively early,
Speaker 3: felt good. I woke up the next morning, as I said,
Speaker 3: nothing to do with the product, but my body was
Speaker 3: rejecting it. And even for someone who drank as much
Speaker 3: as me, I was going, Lisa's going, what's going on?
Speaker 3: I'm like, I don't know. I can't stop being sick.
Speaker 3: Excuse me your listeners for being that graphic. And so
Speaker 3: can we delay the We can't delay the flight because
Speaker 3: it's broom. What are we going to grow? And I'm
Speaker 3: you know, you get the sweats and you think I can't.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I'm getting about to get on
Speaker 3: the plane. This is I'm ruining the entire holiday here.
Speaker 3: And then I heard Leo, who would have been three,
Speaker 3: not even three at the time, say our dad's not
Speaker 3: well and I'm hugging the porcelain, and you know you're thinking,
Speaker 3: and you had no, no, no, no, I don't want
Speaker 3: to be sick. And I heard that and I'm like, no, no,
Speaker 3: this can't happen. He can't see this, he can't register
Speaker 3: this as a core memory.
Speaker 4: I grew up around a lot of alcoholics. I grew
Speaker 4: up seeing alcohol abused. I grew up around like my dad.
Speaker 4: You know, you grew up in working class people who
Speaker 4: don't have a lot of money.
Speaker 3: You see domestic violence, you see the problems it causes.
Speaker 3: I knew that people had problems when I was growing up.
Speaker 3: I knew what Leo knew, and it was just shrugged
Speaker 3: off as that's just what you do. Well, this is
Speaker 3: how we are. Or somebody then the problem gets too
Speaker 3: much and they're sent away, and then they come back
Speaker 3: and oh, she's a drinker. I just the horror went
Speaker 3: through me as well as everything else. My body was expelling.
Speaker 3: I got on the plane, I slept a lot on
Speaker 3: the way to broom. My body recovered and we got there.
Speaker 3: It was piping hot. We sat down at lunch this beautiful,
Speaker 3: you know, Cable Beach Resort, which is lovely, the most
Speaker 3: idyllic place, and Leah was having nuggets and chips and
Speaker 3: Lisa and I sat down and we were just got
Speaker 3: mineral water and stuff like that, and she goes, you okay.
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, I'm out, and she goes, what do
Speaker 3: you mean. I said, I'm not going to drink anymore.
Speaker 3: I'm done, and she's like, oh, okay, and I said,
Speaker 3: you do you. I am not going to judge you,
Speaker 3: but and I told her what we've just discussed and
Speaker 3: she's like okay, and she goes, well, I don't know
Speaker 3: if I'm ready yet, and I'm like, you don't have
Speaker 3: to be ready, but just to let you know. That
Speaker 3: was the moment for me. And a month later she's
Speaker 3: just like, this is boring. And she'd had her own
Speaker 3: thoughts about alcohol as well, which I won't speak to
Speaker 3: because they're hers, and she's like, I'm out. So we
Speaker 3: had clarity together. And to answer your question, I actually
Speaker 3: didn't know if it was going to be permanent. Why
Speaker 3: in my heart I did. I just didn't know. I
Speaker 3: knew it was over. And one thing that I got
Speaker 3: from my grandmother and from my dad, I think they're
Speaker 3: very willful people, and I think I can be very
Speaker 3: more so. Back then, I was very definitive and like,
Speaker 3: that's it, it's over. And I've sort of been lucky
Speaker 3: enough that I wasn't deeply addicted, though I did. As
Speaker 3: I think I say in the column, I have stared
Speaker 3: into the darkness of that room of my own addiction
Speaker 3: and looked very much at it, but I never felt like,
Speaker 3: oh God, I could do with a drink. Once it
Speaker 3: was over, it was like, oh, what a relief. It's over.
Speaker 3: I don't have to think about it again. I don't
Speaker 3: have to worry, and I don't have to worry about
Speaker 3: what Leo may think of me. And so that was
Speaker 3: the greatest thing. And it's been a blessing. It's such
Speaker 3: a blessing. It's the best. I feel like a convert.
Speaker 3: I'm more chill about being a convert now than I
Speaker 3: was on the Today Show a year later.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you were pretty chill.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I was. I felt like it
Speaker 3: blurted out of me.
Speaker 1: I rewatched it again last night ahead of our conversation today,
Speaker 1: and in fact, we'll put a link in the show
Speaker 1: notes to the amazing piece that you wrote and that
Speaker 1: contains the video in it, so if you do want
Speaker 1: to have a look at it. I went back and
Speaker 1: watched it again last night, like I say, And so
Speaker 1: just to go back exactly to where we started with
Speaker 1: that moment. April twenty fifteen, you are co hosting your
Speaker 1: own morning show. You would come on as a guest
Speaker 1: panelist on the Today Show as I mentioned, and Karl
Speaker 1: Stefanovic is the host, Sylvia Jeffries and I the fellow panelists.
Speaker 1: There was a story in the news that involved one
Speaker 1: of the many moments in our culture in Australia here
Speaker 1: about glorification of booze culture. And Karl initiated the conversation,
Speaker 1: and I suppose the inference was can we just laugh
Speaker 1: this off as a country we were all getting a
Speaker 1: bit serious, or is this a more concerning conversation around
Speaker 1: booze culture in Australia And you said, I hate this
Speaker 1: And there was a cold fury, which I know sounds
Speaker 1: the opposite of chill, although there's still a coolness.
Speaker 2: See what I did there, But it was on the rocks.
Speaker 2: You did not lecture.
Speaker 1: You repeatedly said in the course of that conversation that
Speaker 1: you were exactly what you were just saying earlier what
Speaker 1: you said to Lisa on the morning that you made
Speaker 1: that decision, and she wasn't quite You said, this is
Speaker 1: my decision. I'm not transferring this judgment. I don't expect
Speaker 1: anyone else. I've just made this decision for me. What
Speaker 1: you were calling out at that moment though, was the
Speaker 1: just on the present alcohol saturated world in which we live.
Speaker 1: You know, as you said, Dan Akroyd is one of
Speaker 1: millions of people that is perpetuating this. Tell me about
Speaker 1: that moment because to this day, I don't know whether
Speaker 1: you knew you were going to go public on National
Speaker 1: TV with the revelation that you've given up alcohol.
Speaker 3: No, because we were sitting there before the segment, and
Speaker 3: it was something about it, and it was Shane Warn
Speaker 3: interviewing people, the late great Shane Warn, who I knew,
Speaker 3: and I didn't know him very well, but I knew
Speaker 3: awesome guy. So it was nothing to do with Shane
Speaker 3: or his legacy or anything, but it was about the
Speaker 3: culture of are we getting on? How good is this,
Speaker 3: how we're going to celebrate, And because of the way
Speaker 3: it was clipped together, which wasn't Shane's fault, it made
Speaker 3: it look like that was the only thing he was
Speaker 3: talking about. And so for that it just I don't
Speaker 3: know where it came from. Sarah. I would never I
Speaker 3: wasn't going to ever just sort of get on and
Speaker 3: not let your people, but also admit what I was
Speaker 3: going through and what I decided. It didn't feel significant,
Speaker 3: and I didn't want to be the story, and it
Speaker 3: just it came out of me, out of and I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, here we go, it's coming out of me.
Speaker 3: I'm going to have to say something. And there it was,
Speaker 3: and it was there and out and definitive. And I
Speaker 3: was so scared of the reaction after that because of
Speaker 3: you know, there's so many points in my life and
Speaker 3: my father is one of them. You know, his addictions
Speaker 3: and alcohol had been well documented. But I had the
Speaker 3: Last Stand poster on my bedroom wall as a kid,
Speaker 3: with him holding up at and a bottle of vodka
Speaker 3: and knowing that that was the epitome of strength, and
Speaker 3: here is the man that I look up to doing this.
Speaker 3: And I wouldn't be the only one had that poster,
Speaker 3: and I wouldn't be the only one seeing my sports
Speaker 3: stars get drunk and or a movie star or someone
Speaker 3: who's influencing in their life have that. And here I
Speaker 3: was like bucking against that, and I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 3: this is just the bits. What am I doing? Why
Speaker 3: am I saying these things? Or do I look like
Speaker 3: a hypocrite? But I couldn't stop. And then I wrote
Speaker 3: the column, and what was astounding about that admission for
Speaker 3: me was I put it up on Facebook and it
Speaker 3: was probably one of the biggest reactions I've ever had
Speaker 3: in my life. There was very few people called me
Speaker 3: a flog. There were some it's the Internet, but it
Speaker 3: was so many men who reached out to me saying,
Speaker 3: how did you do it? How can I do it?
Speaker 3: Or I'm six days sober, or I'm thirty years sober,
Speaker 3: and women too, saying it was the best decision I
Speaker 3: ever made. I had so many people saying I don't
Speaker 3: know how to stop. What's your advice? And I would
Speaker 3: try and write back to people. I felt responsible and
Speaker 3: I wanted to help. I wanted to be They're all
Speaker 3: of their sponsors in that moment, but at least it
Speaker 3: started a conversation amongst a small group the people that
Speaker 3: might have been influenced. And it's a conversation now that
Speaker 3: I see. I certainly didn't start it, but you see
Speaker 3: it generationally generationally start to ease off. You're seeing people
Speaker 3: including I was so interesting last year seeing David boonebin
Speaker 3: An interviewed, did you see that? No? Somebody on a
Speaker 3: sports channel was interviewing him about you drank thirty two
Speaker 3: beers on that plane ride blah blah blah, and he said,
Speaker 3: and it was extraordiny. He said, I feel so much shame.
Speaker 3: It gets brought up all the time. I think about,
Speaker 3: this is what my kids hear about me. This is
Speaker 3: my legacy. And you could see it like wow. I
Speaker 3: mean even I grew up with that, like the heroic
Speaker 3: tale of the Odyssea, like tale of drinking that he
Speaker 3: had on that plane, and even he's like, no, that's
Speaker 3: not my legacy. I can't have that for my kids.
Speaker 3: It was the same thing that I felt, and I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, yeah, I still relate to that. I
Speaker 3: still feel that so passionately. And I think a lot
Speaker 3: of other people are struggling with that now and coming
Speaker 3: to terms with that. But then I look at younger
Speaker 3: generations of people who actually, boost is not much of
Speaker 3: a thing for guys anymore.
Speaker 1: You use the word shame in the piece that you wrote,
Speaker 1: so when you talk about that with David Boone, it
Speaker 1: was a word that you used yourself right about especially
Speaker 1: being a father, as you say, you're a father of three,
Speaker 1: but your twins were yet to be born, your son Leo,
Speaker 1: that you really felt that the piece that you wrote
Speaker 1: it did go viral, So yeah, I can only imagine
Speaker 1: the avalanche of correspondence that you received for people that
Speaker 1: haven't read it. Like I said, well, we'll put a
Speaker 1: link into show notes. But it was David Campbell. My
Speaker 1: family's alcoholism stops with me. So it had many threads
Speaker 1: to it, including that intergenerational conversation that you've talked about.
Speaker 1: You've referenced your dad of course, Jimmy Barnes, and that
Speaker 1: famous Cold Chisel iconography. I also remember that, you know,
Speaker 1: my older brothers used to watch that concert all the time.
Speaker 2: It's there on stage. Absolutely great concert.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to ask you a little bit about
Speaker 1: the reaction, and there was an avalanche of support from
Speaker 1: where I was looking. But I know, even on the
Speaker 1: panel that day, there's also that defensiveness because people feel
Speaker 1: and I'm sure some people.
Speaker 2: Listening feel the same. So I wanted us to both
Speaker 2: address this that this is not.
Speaker 1: About critiquing anyone else's choices or lecturing or any of that. I,
Speaker 1: as I said, sat next to you on panel, Now,
Speaker 1: I don't try to make this podcast about me. The
Speaker 1: reason I keep talking about that is because I was
Speaker 1: there with you at that moment, and I'm glad that
Speaker 1: I was, because I considered myself very privileged to then
Speaker 1: say to you, look, I think this would be amazing
Speaker 1: if you want to write about it, And I'm so
Speaker 1: grateful that you did. I think you know, you always
Speaker 1: look back at a few different pieces if you're lucky enough.
Speaker 1: And this was pre Stella. Your twins weren't born, Stella
Speaker 1: wasn't born. I mean a lots happened in the nine
Speaker 1: years with Peace exactly, I mean totally the same, yeah,
Speaker 1: Billy and Betty Stella.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, listen, I see the work you
Speaker 3: do with Stella. I know how big it is.
Speaker 2: It's all, isn't it exactly?
Speaker 1: But the way that the conversation has progressed is astounding. Now,
Speaker 1: I sat there that day and I was not necessarily
Speaker 1: defensive because you and I agreed, and in fact, you say, oh,
Speaker 1: Carl's going to be really shocked, Sarah that you agree
Speaker 1: with me.
Speaker 2: But I also said, but I don't live that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm in the culture saying, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I'm so stressed. I just can't wait to get home
Speaker 1: and have a glass of wine. You're talking about the
Speaker 1: champagne being delivered or something good's happened. Let's crack open
Speaker 1: the champagne. Rewatching that video again last night, you said
Speaker 1: to me, no, no, no, like, that's that's not what
Speaker 1: this is about.
Speaker 2: I'm not here to judge that.
Speaker 1: The reason I'm mentioning that is because something there got
Speaker 1: planted in my mind that day and the way that
Speaker 1: you were listening to podcasts and hearing that voice discussing
Speaker 1: it with your therapist. I clearly had a voice in
Speaker 1: my head for a few years going, you know what,
Speaker 1: I think it'd be better if alcohol wasn't a variable
Speaker 1: in my life. And so four years ago I climbed
Speaker 1: aboard what we call the sober curious movement. I'm like you.
Speaker 1: I thought, Oh, it might just be a week a month.
Speaker 1: See how I go four years later? Pretty sure I'll
Speaker 1: never have a drink again in my life. Wow, that's
Speaker 1: really why I congratulations, thank you, and I've you know,
Speaker 1: referenced you a couple of times where I have spoken
Speaker 1: about it. Came on one of our sister podcasts, Healthish
Speaker 1: with Felicity Harley a couple of years ago. You were
Speaker 1: one of the people that I called out just because,
Speaker 1: like I said, that's what this conversation is about. If
Speaker 1: there is nothing here for you, I mean, please listen,
Speaker 1: because David Campbell is freaking amazing.
Speaker 2: Okay, but that's okay.
Speaker 1: But it's so valuable if it is something there for you,
Speaker 1: because as we know, you can't be what you can't see.
Speaker 1: And all of those things tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: dc about the defensiveness, because sometimes if I'm out for dinner,
Speaker 1: I can see people tense up a little bit, as
Speaker 1: though I'm going to frown with disapproval if they have
Speaker 1: a couple of wines. I like, you could not stress enough.
Speaker 1: No judgment, Honestly, this is just a decision for me.
Speaker 1: Do you still encounter a little bit of that defensiveness?
Speaker 3: Not as much as I used to when I first
Speaker 3: I like to always say, I mean, this is a
Speaker 3: very busy thing to say. The first logos is the hardest,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Or saying about the the.
Speaker 3: First Christmas party might be the hardest. Whatever it is
Speaker 3: in your world is always going to be the hardest first,
Speaker 3: because people go, you're not going to have a champagne.
Speaker 3: How do you celebrate? If you want to toast something
Speaker 3: at a wedding? How are you going to toast them.
Speaker 3: I might with my water. What are you talking about?
Speaker 3: This is not even real. This is just a good luck.
Speaker 3: You can say good luck. But people do project, and
Speaker 3: I that's so. I'm really I think it's beautiful that
Speaker 3: people project. I think the people that means that it's
Speaker 3: it's not defensiveness. People are curious, they're empathetic. They can
Speaker 3: feel something and it makes them go oh, I don't
Speaker 3: want to I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 3: Or if people are curious, they want to ask questions.
Speaker 3: I actually think it's a beautiful thing that people project
Speaker 3: and are curious and want to ask questions. I mean,
Speaker 3: I certainly don't stand here as the spokesperson of sobriety
Speaker 3: with my history, but I think it's great that people
Speaker 3: ask those questions and discuss these things and want to
Speaker 3: get into the nitty gritty about it. Because the more
Speaker 3: you do talk about this stuff, because I learned that,
Speaker 3: you know, there's friends of mine who are Italian or Greeks,
Speaker 3: that a wine at dinner since there were teenagers is
Speaker 3: not a big deal. You look at blue zones. I'm
Speaker 3: really into blue zones. Right now, A lot of people
Speaker 3: live to one hundred the Blue zones, they have a
Speaker 3: glass of wine every day. So it's even my like
Speaker 3: nature of wanting to be healthy for as long as
Speaker 3: I can. Well, that's not going to be me, so
Speaker 3: maybe I'll have a shorter life. Who knows, But I
Speaker 3: think it's you know, people are so curious and so
Speaker 3: wonderful about asking questions, and if they I don't think
Speaker 3: it's uncomfortable if they if they feel uncomfortable, I try
Speaker 3: to make people please, don't be uncomfortable. Ask me whatever
Speaker 3: you want. But I also say I drank all the booze. Guys,
Speaker 3: I know what's going to go with your you know
Speaker 3: that's going to taste better with this wine. You know,
Speaker 3: I really really deep dived and I really enjoyed myself,
Speaker 3: and then it stopped and then it was over. And
Speaker 3: now it's a relief for me. But what's interesting that
Speaker 3: I still have people go I've not been drinking for
Speaker 3: like eight weeks. I'm really enjoying myself. I'm like, great,
Speaker 3: if you want to talk further on that, I'm right here,
Speaker 3: or take my phone number or whatever. And if not,
Speaker 3: how good to have a break. It's good for the body,
Speaker 3: get fit, get over it, drop it away for the summer, whatever,
Speaker 3: and then get on the margaarita's have fun. I can't
Speaker 3: do that. And it's actually, let me rephrase that, I
Speaker 3: think after ten years, it's not that I don't think
Speaker 3: I can't do that. I actually think I do have
Speaker 3: good willpower. I think if I decide, like, oh, I'm
Speaker 3: going to go and have a few drinks again, or
Speaker 3: I'd like to go to a winery and go to
Speaker 3: a cellar door, I actually just don't want to do
Speaker 3: that anymore. And I am scared of what it could
Speaker 3: lead to. I do believe I have good willpower, but
Speaker 3: I don't want to push myself in those ways. That's
Speaker 3: not where I want to go. I stand by what
Speaker 3: I did, and I stand by my kids doing it.
Speaker 3: And my kids talk about drinking all the time, and
Speaker 3: what's champagne like. I'm like, it's bubbly. Have it when
Speaker 3: you're old enough, you know. And that's the same with
Speaker 3: I hate to bring it up because it makes me look,
Speaker 3: as we've said before, very punishable. But you know, because
Speaker 3: when I went plant based two, my kids eat meet,
Speaker 3: you know, and they're probably going to drink and they'll
Speaker 3: talk to me about it, and hopefully we can have
Speaker 3: a nice open talk and discussion about the history in
Speaker 3: our family and why I chose that, and hopefully that's
Speaker 3: going to be good for you guys, and that you
Speaker 3: can move forward with thatever choices you make safely and
Speaker 3: you know, with an open mind.
Speaker 2: Let's talk a.
Speaker 1: Bit about your family. Then you mentioned your beautiful wife, Lisa.
Speaker 1: You've been married fifteen years now. I was going to
Speaker 1: ask you about well, not as you say, that's her
Speaker 1: story to tell, but just in terms of how long
Speaker 1: she had also decided to trial not drinking. I didn't
Speaker 1: realize that it was so early you were saying, really
Speaker 1: a month after you so, I mean, if you're comfortable
Speaker 1: answering this, is she still not drinking?
Speaker 3: Yes, yourself, And it's the best decision we've both made
Speaker 3: for our relationship. It's given us clarity. It's given us
Speaker 3: like there was a lot. I mean when you are,
Speaker 3: as I said, we're too type a personality. So when
Speaker 3: we did like celebrate and drink where first of the party,
Speaker 3: last to leave, even that doesn't make us blind drunk.
Speaker 3: We just love to be around people and we love
Speaker 3: to live life fully. But that does have a negative side.
Speaker 3: Effect where you are too tied the next day. And
Speaker 3: that's where in the first few years of our relationship,
Speaker 3: and I said, I spoke to my therapist that was
Speaker 3: a former couples therapist that we went to in our
Speaker 3: first year because Lisa had come out from England after
Speaker 3: three weeks of knowing me, we'd fallen madly in love
Speaker 3: and we were then going out on tour with a
Speaker 3: band and getting to know each other again. It was
Speaker 3: a lot of pressure, and we went to couple's therapy
Speaker 3: to go, how can we do this better? How can
Speaker 3: we learn to not fight and or fight better and
Speaker 3: know how to we can listen to each other. So
Speaker 3: we did that and we went to this a couple therapists,
Speaker 3: and the therapists like, after like six or eight months,
Speaker 3: I think, you guys have done everything you need and
Speaker 3: you don't need to come back. I'm like, she doesn't
Speaker 3: have to come back. I'm staying And so I stay
Speaker 3: with my therapist and I go back every couple of
Speaker 3: years to her. But I think for us, it's about
Speaker 3: like having the energy to show up and not have
Speaker 3: I mean, there's so much and I mean, god, you
Speaker 3: have multiple kids, as anyone knows there's so much drive around,
Speaker 3: there's so many whitesapp groups, There's so many things you
Speaker 3: need to do, as well as running whatever work you do,
Speaker 3: whether you're a plumber or whether you are a stay
Speaker 3: at home parent. It's a lot for me. I don't
Speaker 3: have the energy level then to be exhausted from booze.
Speaker 3: I like to go to bed early. We like to
Speaker 3: sleep as much as we can because we lost a
Speaker 3: lot of sleep with one of our kids, so now
Speaker 3: we really cherish our sleep. If we're throwing booze into
Speaker 3: that mix, I think my fear is that we would
Speaker 3: have we wouldn't be as tight as we are now.
Speaker 3: And I so value her. I mean, she's away at
Speaker 3: the moment, so I could get emotional, but you know,
Speaker 3: she is just she's changed my worldview, She's changed who
Speaker 3: I am as a person in the best way. But
Speaker 3: yet she's also supported and refound things that I was
Speaker 3: when I was younger, that were the pure things about
Speaker 3: me that were missing from me when I got into
Speaker 3: the industry that was covered up by anxiety or messed
Speaker 3: around with booze or you know, or ego, or where
Speaker 3: I stand in an industry with my dad and chips
Speaker 3: on shoulders. She's helped me see me for who I am,
Speaker 3: and I can be myself with her, and I can
Speaker 3: be vulnerable with her, and I can be you know,
Speaker 3: I can cry all the time with her if I
Speaker 3: want to. And also she's my best friend.
Speaker 1: And you touched upon how the two of you navigate
Speaker 1: this with your three children, you know, answering questions what
Speaker 1: do champagne taste like? Leo, who really was the catalyst
Speaker 1: for this decision for you, is thirteen. Now, do you
Speaker 1: have any idea how you'll discuss this with him and
Speaker 1: your two younger children through the teenage years, given that,
Speaker 1: as you've talked about, there's such an intergenerational conversation here.
Speaker 1: You interviewed your dad, Jimmy for cover a Stellar back
Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen when he released his first memoir, and
Speaker 1: you said at the time, you know, this booze is
Speaker 1: everywhere in this book. You know your dad was so
Speaker 1: candid about his experience, obviously his father also being an alcoholic,
Speaker 1: severing those ties. When do you initiate that conversation, if
Speaker 1: at all? And this is a very big question. I'm
Speaker 1: throwing a lot at you in it, but if you
Speaker 1: haven't already. Do you see a day where you were
Speaker 1: say to Leo, you were really the catalyst for this decision.
Speaker 3: Wow, I hadn't thought about that, but I'm going to
Speaker 3: have to say that, And no pressure to him. He's
Speaker 3: going to find out if he googles it, and probably
Speaker 3: when this article comes out, maybe this cover, so I
Speaker 3: might have to have that conversation then, but that's okay.
Speaker 3: I think you've got to have these conversations, like talking
Speaker 3: out about porn and sex and all those sort of things.
Speaker 3: And he's very much an mpath Leo. You know, he
Speaker 3: takes he feels things very very emotionally and very he's
Speaker 3: very connected to Lisa and I still so probably now,
Speaker 3: as sooner rather than later is probably the best time
Speaker 3: because he is getting the age where you know, he's
Speaker 3: going to be tempted, you know. And I mean, I'm
Speaker 3: more worried about vaping than booze with this generation. But
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, I'm going to have to have that
Speaker 3: conversation with him, and maybe sooner rather than later. Now
Speaker 3: is probably the catalyst because he is online. He will
Speaker 3: see this and he will know that he's the reason.
Speaker 3: But it's a beautiful thing that he's the reason in
Speaker 3: a way I can say to him, you know you
Speaker 3: saved me, you know you saved your mum and I
Speaker 3: the reason why you have twins. Now, whether you like
Speaker 3: it or not all the time, it could be annoying,
Speaker 3: but he did you know? And isn't that the greatest gift?
Speaker 1: The absolute greatest gift? And when we come back, I
Speaker 1: asked David Campbell if he still has a vice. The
Speaker 1: conversation is changing a lot around alcohol in our country,
Speaker 1: as I'm sure you're aware, you know, jen Z and
Speaker 1: younger millennials drinking a lot less than our generation Gen
Speaker 1: X and obviously previous generations like Baby Boomer.
Speaker 2: I call it sober curious.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you have a label for yourself
Speaker 1: or if there's something that you call it. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're sober curious, even a thing.
Speaker 2: In twenty fourteen. I mean you were listening to the podcast.
Speaker 3: No I was just straight up sober, you know. So
Speaker 3: it's really inspiring as someone who is sober to see
Speaker 3: this because I felt that, and we were talking about
Speaker 3: when this was coming up, and we were going to
Speaker 3: talk about this, and then you mentioned the Carle thing
Speaker 3: today and the Today Show thing today I was like, so,
Speaker 3: as anyone who's converted to anything, I was so like,
Speaker 3: I should tell the story. And now it's up there,
Speaker 3: and you get really sort of like not pumped up.
Speaker 3: You feel like you do feel like this is important
Speaker 3: and maybe this can happen and share it and then
Speaker 3: you start sharing stories. But now I'm far more relaxed
Speaker 3: about it, and you know, I allow it to to
Speaker 3: sort of be out there and let people talk about it.
Speaker 3: And I'm always happy to talk about my sobriety and
Speaker 3: what it means to me. But when I look at
Speaker 3: this generation, I think about the fact they take care
Speaker 3: of their bodies and the fact they you know, they
Speaker 3: want to be out and they want to do run
Speaker 3: clubs for dates now and I mean, for me, it's
Speaker 3: like we used to go to bars, Sarah and the
Speaker 3: the hard way, not even on apps, but like, I
Speaker 3: think that's so inspiring. I'm so thrilled with that. And look,
Speaker 3: it might turn around who these things do come in
Speaker 3: waves and cycles, but I think it's I mean, that's
Speaker 3: why I'm not as worried for my kids as I
Speaker 3: would have been ten years ago. Ten years ago, I
Speaker 3: would have been like, okay, and he's talked to them
Speaker 3: about my drinking, and then you know, after talking about
Speaker 3: my dad's drinking what that means and other members of
Speaker 3: my family and how important it is to discuss these
Speaker 3: things and it's got to be serious. But now I
Speaker 3: kind of be like, yeah, you know, I need to
Speaker 3: read the book. It's fine. Look how good we are.
Speaker 3: Now that's where you want to be around, and that's
Speaker 3: what you want, and so you modeled that behavior. I
Speaker 3: like the term sober curious, but now I'm straight up sober.
Speaker 1: And as you've talked about, this feels better for you.
Speaker 1: It has brought joy and liberation, and so that's why
Speaker 1: you're doing it.
Speaker 2: Oh because I have to do it? Or oh gee,
Speaker 2: I really really.
Speaker 1: Wish I could do that, but no, no, no, And
Speaker 1: again I think that's my experience as well, because one
Speaker 1: thing I found and why you know my sort of
Speaker 1: one woman experiment for a month has turned into four years,
Speaker 1: is because I just thought that it was one less
Speaker 1: thing flying around my head, right, because you know, every
Speaker 1: day it's like doing this, how many things do I
Speaker 1: have to do? Work this, this kid's kids, Everyone that
Speaker 1: I know has got one hundred things in an hour
Speaker 1: going on in there to do list, and for me
Speaker 1: that wasn't it.
Speaker 2: Is it an alcohol free day? Or should I have
Speaker 2: a glass of one?
Speaker 1: Know, because I had wine, and so we should just
Speaker 1: have a couple of days alcohol for it. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying not to do That's not a conversation anymore.
Speaker 1: I don't even think about it. Got you know, I
Speaker 1: don't even think about it. And I loved your example.
Speaker 1: Everyone will obviously have their own milestone. Absolutely acknowledge getting
Speaker 1: through your first logis doesn't apply to an awful lot
Speaker 1: of the Australian population. But getting through that first office
Speaker 1: Christmas party or whatever it is.
Speaker 3: And the first time you do it, people are going
Speaker 3: to be like, oh, what do you mean, I don't drink?
Speaker 3: And they're going to be disappointed because Lisa and I
Speaker 3: were the life of the party. Trevor Ashley, who's a
Speaker 3: very dear friend of ours, like, somebody still goes, I
Speaker 3: miss old David and Lisa and we love him for it, and.
Speaker 1: We go, yeah, that's Trevor ash But there are people
Speaker 1: going to be that way.
Speaker 3: But then by the time you get to your second
Speaker 3: Christmas party or your second LOGI is, people like, can
Speaker 3: we I'm not drinking this loggies. Can I hang out
Speaker 3: with you? And I'm like uh, And then you get
Speaker 3: a squad and then all of a sudden, no one
Speaker 3: drinks at a table, you know, and it just builds
Speaker 3: and builds and builds. You just got to find the
Speaker 3: tribe and you just do you It's going to be fine.
Speaker 1: Now. You mentioned in passing earlier when you were talking
Speaker 1: about how you have a plant based diet but your
Speaker 1: children eat meat, so you're vegan obviously, don't drink, you
Speaker 1: do exercise a lot. Do you have advice? I mean,
Speaker 1: I have terrible diet. I will eat potato chips and
Speaker 1: allows every day. Can I mention Healthish earlier? I think
Speaker 1: I've just been banned from the healthy Ish podcast for
Speaker 1: the rest.
Speaker 2: Of my life. Well do yes? Do you have advice?
Speaker 3: Absolutely? I still have a sweet tooth. And that's the
Speaker 3: hard thing is that I'm you know, so I sometimes
Speaker 3: get like a chocolate that's like a vegan chocolate, and
Speaker 3: I always try if there's something new and that's a
Speaker 3: new vegan chocolate, I will try it. Vegan Ben and
Speaker 3: Jerry's I have to stay away from, you know, if
Speaker 3: I'm really minding my weight and because I'm fifty now,
Speaker 3: you know, you gotta your body changes and you have
Speaker 3: to like, you know, stop that stuff. And I still
Speaker 3: have chips. I still do burging up with my kids.
Speaker 3: My kids and have chips and hot chips, and you know,
Speaker 3: I still lit pastas and oh yeah, I'm I just
Speaker 3: look food. I am an emotional eater. I always have
Speaker 3: been my entire family with all that's that's documented and
Speaker 3: there's a recipe book for it. So we're all we
Speaker 3: celebrate with food. We love food, and yeah, I'm I
Speaker 3: just you know, there are some things. There are some
Speaker 3: foods I miss more than booze. I don't miss boosts
Speaker 3: at all. But sometimes I go like I could deal
Speaker 3: with the chocolate.
Speaker 2: Croissant right now, and why don't you?
Speaker 3: Then, well, if you want me to be honest with you.
Speaker 3: When we traveled to Paris with the kids, I did
Speaker 3: because first of all, it's really hard to find vegan
Speaker 3: stuff in Paris. They love What are you going to do?
Speaker 3: I can't just sit there, you know and not eat anything.
Speaker 3: And I certainly had my fair share of soup both there.
Speaker 3: But I also don't want to miss out with my
Speaker 3: I mean, I wouldn't have a steak or any animal
Speaker 3: product that was going to be detrimental. But I'm like,
Speaker 3: we're walking around, I'm starving. I've got a protein bar
Speaker 3: in my bag, and my kids want a croissant. Just
Speaker 3: give me some of the Croissant's fine, I won't have
Speaker 3: it when I'm home. But it's funny you're on holidays.
Speaker 3: I don't want to miss out on the world and
Speaker 3: seeing the world through my kid's eyes because like, oh,
Speaker 3: daddy's a nasty vegan. He would never I'm not gonna
Speaker 3: They know I'd never eat meat. They know I'd never drink,
Speaker 3: you know, milk or anything like that, or have cream
Speaker 3: or ice cream. But like you're also going to be forgiving, like, Okay,
Speaker 3: this is vegetarian. There might be a bit of cheese
Speaker 3: in it. Sure, I'm not going to starve. I'm just
Speaker 3: going to have that. And then I've done enough work
Speaker 3: and I think for what I want to do for
Speaker 3: a plant based and I always just go back to
Speaker 3: it's fine.
Speaker 1: Obviously, there's been so many fundamental changes in your life.
Speaker 1: Is there anything that you think that's possibly something that
Speaker 1: I maybe want to tackle in the foreseeable future.
Speaker 3: Now, for me, it's about like fifty felt so distant
Speaker 3: when it happened, and it kind of steaks up on you.
Speaker 3: In those couple of months or weeks going into it.
Speaker 3: I really started to have some like existential crisis of like.
Speaker 5: Oh my god, I'm fifty and then I've got kids
Speaker 5: and what's going on? And like Lisa, what are we
Speaker 5: going to know what's happening? And she's like you'll be fine.
Speaker 5: I'm like, yeah, I'll be fine, and when it happened,
Speaker 5: you're okay. But now for me, it's all about I
Speaker 5: want another fifty. I'm greedy. That's for me, It's about life.
Speaker 3: And that's why I like chasing a healthier path, is
Speaker 3: that I'm greedy. I want to see all my kids
Speaker 3: grow up, and I want to see their kids, and
Speaker 3: I want to be mobile, and I want to have
Speaker 3: as agile mind as I can, and I always want
Speaker 3: to improve. For Lisa, I want to make sure that
Speaker 3: she's always happy and surprised and satisfied with me, like
Speaker 3: you know, and for me challenging myself. And there's always
Speaker 3: things you have to shake off from the from the past, things,
Speaker 3: things appear out of nowhere. As you know, as you
Speaker 3: get to a certain age and you go, oh, is
Speaker 3: that still there? I've got to fix that and that
Speaker 3: sort of repair work I'm not always good at, you know.
Speaker 3: For me, in the last six months, it's being about
Speaker 3: being as my kids are getting older, being of less,
Speaker 3: not militant sergeant major like this at the structured time.
Speaker 3: But we've been very structured parents to get through three
Speaker 3: kids and especially twins, and now it's a bit more like, Okay,
Speaker 3: I'm parenting you in a different way. Now, talk to
Speaker 3: me about what you're feeling, you know. Listening to the
Speaker 3: experts of my show, going how do I this? Kids
Speaker 3: drive me nuts? But how am I going to get
Speaker 3: over my stuff and sit down and go tell me
Speaker 3: why you're behaving like this before I get angry about it,
Speaker 3: you know, And so trying to backtrack on my older
Speaker 3: parenting style to be to show them that I'm growing
Speaker 3: as a parent with you. I'm going to make this.
Speaker 3: I'm always apologizing as a parent. That's the big thing. Sorry,
Speaker 3: I was grout you this morning. Please to set my apology.
Speaker 3: I'm really sorry. You're amazing kids. I just I was
Speaker 3: short tempered, and they're like, that's fine.
Speaker 1: It's such a good example as well. Because then they
Speaker 1: know it's okay to own that you've messed up or
Speaker 1: you weren't your best self.
Speaker 2: I try also to do that for.
Speaker 3: My I just hope all the time.
Speaker 2: I think it.
Speaker 1: Completely diffuses the situation. It brings forgiveness into the scenario.
Speaker 1: You're forgiving yourself, they're forgiving you. But also, what a
Speaker 1: great thing to model, don't you think, Because I think
Speaker 1: men and women there's been such a resistance that that's weak.
Speaker 1: You can't admit that you're wrong. Maybe something happened, but
Speaker 1: that was because of that that, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean again, you're always going to do that. You're
Speaker 3: always going to justify your own arguments and you're always
Speaker 3: going to back yourself in. And often Lisa is the
Speaker 3: ones like why are you acting that way? I'm like,
Speaker 3: I don't know, I've got issues. There will be a
Speaker 3: book one day, read the columns. But for me with
Speaker 3: the kids now, I'm really I'm noticing they're getting older,
Speaker 3: so I'm trying to grab their faces and look at
Speaker 3: them and get down to their level. You know, I
Speaker 3: was lucky enough to take my daughter to Taylor the
Speaker 3: other night. You know, we got home and it wasn't
Speaker 3: Monday night and she was going to bed and I said, hey, listen,
Speaker 3: you need to know I will never forget this over
Speaker 3: Tailor's with look at me. I will never forget this moment.
Speaker 3: This means the world to me. You are my world.
Speaker 3: And she squeezed me and she's like, some of my
Speaker 3: friends think I squeezed too hard. I'm like, I'm not
Speaker 3: your friends. Go for it. You can't break me. And
Speaker 3: I do that with Leo, I do it with Bill.
Speaker 3: I'm like, you know, I try and have those moments
Speaker 3: where I sit them down my hat. It's been a
Speaker 3: big day, but I go say, you are crushing it.
Speaker 3: I love you. You're the best. I'm so proud you.
Speaker 3: And then when they have bad behavor, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm not proud of that. That is absolutely awful. Still
Speaker 3: the tough parent still comes out. I can still the
Speaker 3: back goes up. I'm like, no, that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: And after the break, David reveals whether he's ever rattled
Speaker 1: when things go wrong on live television, even when it's
Speaker 1: in front of a massive crowd at Carol's by Candlelight.
Speaker 1: You are, of course a singer, musician, have been musical, theater,
Speaker 1: performer co host of Today Extra. It's a full time
Speaker 1: television presenter Moonlight a bit as a radio presenter, also
Speaker 1: a Stellar columnist an O G Stellar columnist, DC. You've
Speaker 1: been with me since we first watched.
Speaker 3: We get jackets soon for this, Yeah, I think we
Speaker 3: get jackets in the twenty six.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The jackets are a jacket that they're on the way.
Speaker 1: They'll be sequined, you don't, you know for us of
Speaker 1: a lot of sequence here. I mean this makes Taylor
Speaker 1: Swift concert look understated and doesn't let there's so much.
Speaker 1: How as we're sitting here talking early twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: would you characterize yourself, because I'm sure that the David
Speaker 1: Campbell that I first met, I might just tell you
Speaker 1: in a moment where we actually first met, because you
Speaker 1: might not remember it, but we'll come back to that
Speaker 1: in a moment, would have probably identified as a singer
Speaker 1: musician first and foremost, what do you think, like, what's
Speaker 1: the day job today?
Speaker 3: Often I say to people that I'm in media, and
Speaker 3: so I think that covers a lot of bases nowadays,
Speaker 3: whether it's social music, TV, whatever. But I definitely say
Speaker 3: I'm in media because there's some like you know, I've
Speaker 3: been doing these gieks again and going back out in
Speaker 3: the road and really finding my joy of singing again.
Speaker 3: For a while there, it was a lot going on.
Speaker 3: It was work, and then COVID happened and I just
Speaker 3: felt insecure about whether I should be out there and
Speaker 3: you know, and then I started booking some a run
Speaker 3: of dates, and then Mahale got on board with me
Speaker 3: and we were doing shows together and we were just
Speaker 3: having a blast. And then I was doing these concerts
Speaker 3: with the MSO and performing with friendsg and I'm like,
Speaker 3: this is it isn't It's not supposed to be like pressure,
Speaker 3: supposed to be fun again. But then I'll do something
Speaker 3: and I'll post it on social media and people like
Speaker 3: you're a singer because I've been doing for ten years
Speaker 3: and there's a generation of people are like, oh you've
Speaker 3: seen or oh you've got a good voice. I'm like,
Speaker 3: I worked on it for a couple of decades now. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I try not to be and trying to have
Speaker 3: too much ego about where I sit in I'm just
Speaker 3: happy to still be in the industry and doing what
Speaker 3: I love and I've grown so passionate about like speaking
Speaker 3: to people and hosting a TV show and making space
Speaker 3: for people to come on that with Sylvia and our
Speaker 3: incredible team, and just having fun and providing entertainment for
Speaker 3: people at home. Because people do stop us and go like, oh,
Speaker 3: watch the show, I just love it, or I didn't
Speaker 3: see the show this week. I'm like, well, like Days
Speaker 3: of my Life, you come back with the same you know,
Speaker 3: will be the same cast, but just different people doing
Speaker 3: different things. And maybe we've grown a bit.
Speaker 1: Because I was thinking about the amazing skill set that
Speaker 1: you've developed as a television anchor. During the Carols by
Speaker 1: Candlelight on Christmas Eve last year, and there was a
Speaker 1: moment where at one point a protester approached this multiple
Speaker 1: waving a flag. So if you're watching from home as
Speaker 1: I was, I wasn't at the Sydney Meer Bowl, then
Speaker 1: you couldn't really see that you didn't know what was
Speaker 1: going on, and you were genuinely unflappable. And I don't
Speaker 1: say that to blow smoke. I mean it would have
Speaker 1: been an incredibly evolving moment. Obviously, it's the most family
Speaker 1: driven night of the year. It's Christmas Eve. You've got
Speaker 1: families there. You're also trying to anchor this national broadcast.
Speaker 1: I mean, there is a hell of a lot going
Speaker 1: on in that moment. You didn't skip a beat. Is
Speaker 1: that something that you think you could possibly have had
Speaker 1: the skill set to do after ten years ago?
Speaker 3: Absolutely not. But and you know that moment was also
Speaker 3: important for those protesters. You know, not that I'm saying
Speaker 3: that was the right moment for them. I'm not going
Speaker 3: to judge that any way, shape or form. But we
Speaker 3: were in Melbourne. Lee and I are in Melbourne because
Speaker 3: Wee always comes with me to carols because he loves
Speaker 3: Christmas as much as you and I do. And when
Speaker 3: we were going around Melbourne, you could see there was
Speaker 3: a lot going on. There was a lot of heat
Speaker 3: in the air, there was a lot of tension in
Speaker 3: the air, there was a lot of protesting. So that
Speaker 3: was playing on my mind going into the day. So
Speaker 3: when it happened, I was like, I don't remember this
Speaker 3: in rehearsal, and then I realized what was happening. And
Speaker 3: thankfully I had Sarah Arbo as well, who's just a
Speaker 3: rock and an incredible journalist, and we could both just
Speaker 3: pivot and go okay, And it was quite phonetic on stage.
Speaker 3: The security of trying to get them off and they
Speaker 3: were grabbing microphones. But there's a lot of pain out
Speaker 3: there in the world, and there's a lot of division,
Speaker 3: and I don't want to stoke that division at all.
Speaker 3: And then those but you're right, those moments are like,
Speaker 3: I don't I would have sweated. I mean, you remember
Speaker 3: me in the first few years. I was so tense
Speaker 3: and sweating and wanted to prove it and be happy
Speaker 3: and get everything right. And now you're just like, I've
Speaker 3: had so much live experience in this and stuff that's
Speaker 3: I don't think I want that to happen all the time,
Speaker 3: but it's okay that it does. And I'm also really
Speaker 3: I'm aware of how much pains in the world at
Speaker 3: the moment, and I you know, and I don't want
Speaker 3: anyone to feel that they're being excluded and not having
Speaker 3: a voice.
Speaker 2: And it's going to be fine.
Speaker 1: Is such an amazing belief to have, isn't it in life,
Speaker 1: whether it's anchoring live TV and the unexpected happens, or
Speaker 1: having a curveball happen in your family or your personal
Speaker 1: life for your career. I mean, if you've got that,
Speaker 1: that's the best any of us can hope for dear audience.
Speaker 1: A lot of our conversation today Devid Campbell and I
Speaker 1: has been focused on us sitting together on a TV
Speaker 1: panel nine years ago.
Speaker 2: I used to be a regular.
Speaker 1: Panelist on your show, and then, of course, as mentioned,
Speaker 1: I have had the absolute joy of having you work
Speaker 1: with me at Stellar since twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2: But I don't know if you know this, DC, but.
Speaker 1: You and I actually met in a department store in
Speaker 1: suburban Sydney in the late nineties. I was working at
Speaker 1: the record department, the music department selling CDs remember those
Speaker 1: kids sit? Is It Back? And the music label had
Speaker 1: arranged for this up and coming cabaret singer called David
Speaker 1: Campbell to come in and perform a couple of songs, right,
Speaker 1: And so my manager in the store had organized all
Speaker 1: of this, and you know, just sort of.
Speaker 2: Said to me, Sarah, just hold these CDs, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: And then you and your manager were there, and I
Speaker 1: think the microphone, I don't know that the microphone at
Speaker 1: David Jones Castle Hill.
Speaker 2: Was top notch.
Speaker 1: And I know this is a little bit of a
Speaker 1: self indulgent note to end the conversation on, but there's
Speaker 1: you know, been a lot of heavy topics. I just thought, well,
Speaker 1: why not tell you that we actually met back then.
Speaker 3: You know when people say how do you get to
Speaker 3: Castle Hill? I said, You've got a rehearse, you've got
Speaker 3: a practice. You know you have to actually, you know,
Speaker 3: you have to do the hard yards to get to
Speaker 3: the pinnacle. But but I love doing those sort of
Speaker 3: in stores. And there was one I did that was
Speaker 3: a suitor around that time too, where I was Phish
Speaker 3: Records when that was really big on Oxford Street at
Speaker 3: twelve on a Friday afternoon and nobody came and people
Speaker 3: would come up to me. I'll be seeing there with
Speaker 3: my stack of CDs and some guy came out. He
Speaker 3: goes hi, and am I A Hi? He goes where
Speaker 3: what if I Angela? He chose new album? I'm like, oh,
Speaker 3: over here, And I was just.
Speaker 2: Looking at that, well, we are the right person could
Speaker 2: help him.
Speaker 3: And that was the thing. But I can't believe that's
Speaker 3: when we first met. How amazing. I thank god it
Speaker 3: wasn't an a hole to you.
Speaker 2: Oh no, you are absolutely lovely.
Speaker 1: See I wasn't drinking then too, it David Camil, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for coming on to this episode today
Speaker 1: and being so generous with your story without our audience.
Speaker 3: Thank you, and thank you for sharing your story too
Speaker 3: and your sobriety. It feels good.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed that episode of the summer series
Speaker 1: or something to talk about. Make sure you're following us
Speaker 1: if you're not already, because we'll be revisiting some of
Speaker 1: your favorite episodes of the past year until we're back
Speaker 1: with the brand new episode. On January twelfth, we were
Speaker 1: nursing