Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Something to Talk About. For Stella Podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah La Marquin, your host, and every week I
Speaker 1: sit down with some of the biggest names in the
Speaker 1: country because when Australians celebrities are ready to talk, they
Speaker 1: come to Something to talk About. In January of this year,
Speaker 1: things were looking good for Alex Cullen at work. The
Speaker 1: Today Show presenter was in Melbourne covering the Australian Open
Speaker 1: while at home, he and his wife were preparing to
Speaker 1: send their twin daughters off to their first day of kindergarten.
Speaker 1: But within a matter of days everything changed. After a
Speaker 1: live cross involving Melbourne billionaire Adrian Portelli, better known as
Speaker 1: Lambeau Guy, Alex was stood down from nine and very
Speaker 1: publicly exited one of the most high profile jobs in
Speaker 1: the country. Now, in his first interview since finding himself
Speaker 1: at the center one of the biggest news stories of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, Alex opens up about what really happened,
Speaker 1: the toller took, on his mental health and how close
Speaker 1: he came to walking away from the media altogether.
Speaker 2: This is a brutal game. It's tough, you know. I've
Speaker 2: had a lot of up and downs in this job.
Speaker 1: But as you'll hear today, that's not what happened this week.
Speaker 1: He begins a new life in Melbourne, a new job
Speaker 1: on breakfast radio, and as he exclusively reveals to the
Speaker 1: Stellar podcast he's about to make a return to television
Speaker 1: in a role with Seven News. This is a story
Speaker 1: about public fallout, private resilience and what it takes to
Speaker 1: start again when the whole country is watching. Alex Cullen,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Stellar podcast S.
Speaker 2: Thank you Siah. It's wonderful to be here, it really is.
Speaker 2: I love what you guys do, admired you from Afar
Speaker 2: and it's just really nice to sit down with you today.
Speaker 1: It's really lovely to have you here, and there really
Speaker 1: is a lot to talk about, something to talk about,
Speaker 1: definitely truth in that title today, but let's actually start
Speaker 1: with the fact that as we speak, you're in the
Speaker 1: middle of packing up your life, your young family, you
Speaker 1: and your wife Bonnie, you have twin daughters, your son Max,
Speaker 1: you are all moving from Sydney to Melbourne and you
Speaker 1: are starting a new job tomorrow morning on the Christian
Speaker 1: O'Connell show on Melbourne Radio. So that is quite a lot.
Speaker 1: How are we doing Thanks for fitting us in here, Sarah.
Speaker 2: It's chaos, it is absolute chaos, but you've just got
Speaker 2: to go with it. You've just got to put one
Speaker 2: foot in front of the other and just go with it.
Speaker 2: We've been frantically getting our house ready in Sydney, packing up.
Speaker 2: It's been kind of interesting and kind of therapeutic, you know,
Speaker 2: getting rid of things that you've sort of held on
Speaker 2: to for so long and a bit of a clean
Speaker 2: out and moving to Melbourne. And it's just quite surreal,
Speaker 2: to be honest. I had a moment a few days
Speaker 2: ago and I went, we're actually doing this. We're actually
Speaker 2: moving our family, three young children into state. It's not
Speaker 2: like it's overseas, but it's still, you know, another city
Speaker 2: and a wonderful city in Melbourne. I love Melbourne. We've
Speaker 2: always loved Melbourne, and it's funny. Whenever we were down there,
Speaker 2: we were like, oh, we could live in Melbourne, and
Speaker 2: here we are about to do exactly that, and we've
Speaker 2: got a lovely house. We went down a few weeks
Speaker 2: ago and had to look around and met the team
Speaker 2: at the Christian O'Connell show, which was really special. But
Speaker 2: we're looking forward to it you know, we've sort of
Speaker 2: built up to it for so long now and it's
Speaker 2: upon us and we're doing it, and I can't wait.
Speaker 1: Your son, Max isn't old enough to be at school yet,
Speaker 1: but the girls, as our understand are in KINDI so,
Speaker 1: who do you think is more nervous about first day
Speaker 1: at school at a new school, Lamb or yourself?
Speaker 2: Well, all of us. But I think the girls are
Speaker 2: going to be okay because they've got each other. You know,
Speaker 2: they're twins, they're six years old. They're going into term
Speaker 2: three at their new school and they're in the same class,
Speaker 2: which is quite nice. Max. I'm a little bit more
Speaker 2: worried about He He's funny, he's a very emotional little guy,
Speaker 2: and he really cares about people, and he really for
Speaker 2: a three year old, it's quite amazing. But the other
Speaker 2: night in the bath, he just burst out crying, saying,
Speaker 2: I don't want to leave. I want to stay. I
Speaker 2: don't want to go to Melbourne. And we're like, oh, Maxie,
Speaker 2: it's going to be great, You're going to be fine.
Speaker 2: We're all there, we're all going together and it's going
Speaker 2: to be okay. He's all right now, But you know,
Speaker 2: you think they don't notice, but they do. They see
Speaker 2: what their parents are going through in the stresses. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, they're young kids. It's not like
Speaker 2: they're sort of teenagers, you know, have got you know,
Speaker 2: that established friendship group. They're going to miss their friends,
Speaker 2: of course, but they're really excited about it. And one
Speaker 2: of the requests was when we were looking for a house,
Speaker 2: make sure it's two story. It has to be has
Speaker 2: to have stairs, sirs, It's got stairs, So they'll be
Speaker 2: happy with that.
Speaker 1: That's good. Yep, you've ticked that list. Okay, yeah, well
Speaker 1: they might not think it's so exciting when the novelty
Speaker 1: wears off and they're carrying their backpacks and everything. Oh
Speaker 1: I've got to go all the way downstairs now yeah in.
Speaker 2: That Melbourne weather which we keep getting warned about, but
Speaker 2: we've got our thermals will be okay.
Speaker 1: Yes, you're arriving literally midwinter, so so good timing then
Speaker 1: right in the middle. And of course the Christian O'Connell's
Speaker 1: show is Breakfast Radio. It starts at six am. Now,
Speaker 1: you did five years on the Today Show Breakfast TV,
Speaker 1: so can you just not get away from setting that
Speaker 1: alarm at someone godly hour out.
Speaker 2: I know, I've had people say to me, what are
Speaker 2: you doing? You going back into that early alarm phase.
Speaker 2: You know, it wasn't that enough getting up at three
Speaker 2: point thirty in the morning. And look, it's gonna be tough,
Speaker 2: but I love it. I live for it. I can't
Speaker 2: wait to get stuck in and those early mornings, you know,
Speaker 2: as long as you're in bed early, and it's not
Speaker 2: as early as the Today Show. It's like six am
Speaker 2: till nine am. The Today Show, I was getting up
Speaker 2: at quarter past past three on air at five am,
Speaker 2: and that's makeup and hair, and with radio you can
Speaker 2: be a little bit bored, disheveled, you know. I haven't
Speaker 2: got to be, of course, presentable. Absolutely there's cameras in
Speaker 2: the studios these days, but you know, not not as
Speaker 2: you know, there's no makeup and hair, et cetera. So
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to be able
Speaker 2: to talk about sport, which is one of my great passions,
Speaker 2: and I'm going to the sporting capital of the world.
Speaker 2: Really it's it's a wonderful place for sport. You know,
Speaker 2: you've got the MCG You've got you know, the f one,
Speaker 2: the Australian Open and everything else in between. So yeah,
Speaker 2: the early mornings are tough, but it's I just love
Speaker 2: it and I can't wait to get back into it.
Speaker 1: Have you been easing back into it? Did you find
Speaker 1: in the six months you haven't been having to get
Speaker 1: up at that time? Were you starting to sleep in
Speaker 1: as much as you can when you have a young family.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well as much as you can exactly. But it's funny.
Speaker 2: I the first thing you notice is the sleep, and
Speaker 2: it's like, I haven't got to get up at three
Speaker 2: point thirty in the morning. I haven't got a look
Speaker 2: at that alarm clock and go, oh god. I just
Speaker 2: walk into the bathroom And what I used to do
Speaker 2: was I used to splash water on my face. I
Speaker 2: had this routine going. I'd get up, I go to
Speaker 2: the bathroom, try and not wake anyone up. Of course,
Speaker 2: the first thing I did was just splash the water
Speaker 2: on my face, and that was like, right, it's on.
Speaker 2: Now I'm going and get to the studio. And I
Speaker 2: was getting sleep. You know, you're getting sleep, and you
Speaker 2: pretty soon you get into that pattern because you know
Speaker 2: breakfast TV, it's you jet lagged, you know, it's it's
Speaker 2: you never get enough sleep, and you've got to do
Speaker 2: everything you can to stay you know, I guess healthy
Speaker 2: and you know you've got to eat well, plenty of
Speaker 2: water and stuff. But and when I when I was
Speaker 2: doing it, I had three small kids. You know, that
Speaker 2: was we were in the trenches.
Speaker 1: I mean, you had babies being born while you were
Speaker 1: doing that home shift, and that your life. You've got
Speaker 1: that whole juggling act.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and my wonderful wife, you know, so much
Speaker 2: of it was on her and she had to do
Speaker 2: so much, you know, all the mornings and getting those
Speaker 2: kids ready for for preschool and you know school, and yeah,
Speaker 2: she's she's a trooper.
Speaker 1: Some people will also be wondering when they might see
Speaker 1: you back on TV, and in fact, it's not going
Speaker 1: to be too far off. I understand you've got some
Speaker 1: news to show with us today. I've heard you might
Speaker 1: be getting signed for seven News in Melbourne.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's really exciting and it's been in the works
Speaker 2: for a little while and it's wonderful to be going
Speaker 2: back to seven. You know, I had sixteen seventeen years
Speaker 2: at seven and a lot of the people that I
Speaker 2: worked with during that time are still there. And after
Speaker 2: everything went down, Seven were one of the first people
Speaker 2: on the phone to say, you know, you have our
Speaker 2: support and if you want to come back, we're a
Speaker 2: phone call away. And I can't tell you how much
Speaker 2: that meant to me and my family. They know what
Speaker 2: I can bring, and I thank them so much for
Speaker 2: this opportunity to come back and do what I love doing,
Speaker 2: you know, in that wonderful city we call Melbourne. So
Speaker 2: I'm really appreciative and it's just nice to know that
Speaker 2: I can sort of return there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you are returning to this, you're going to
Speaker 1: have busy mornings because Radio five mornings a week, and
Speaker 1: then you'll be I believe then appearing on seven News
Speaker 1: throughout the afternoon. Is that right?
Speaker 2: That's correct. So seven are going to be adding some
Speaker 2: news offerings to their daytime lineup. So that's that's really exciting,
Speaker 2: and news in this country across the board a broadcast
Speaker 2: television news numbers are up, ratings are up across the board,
Speaker 2: and that's and that's that's a really exciting thing. Like
Speaker 2: people want their news, they want it fast, they want
Speaker 2: it right, and seven is going to be adding to
Speaker 2: that lineup, which is really exciting. I'm going to be
Speaker 2: a part of that. I can't wait to be a
Speaker 2: part of that. You know, you look at the Aaron
Speaker 2: Patterson trial like that, that was just people are so interested,
Speaker 2: people are so engaged and connected, you know, and that's
Speaker 2: what I'm really looking forward to establishing that that connection
Speaker 2: again with the audience. And they're supportive Bunch seven, like
Speaker 2: they They've been very supportive of me, and there's a
Speaker 2: and there's a real level of honesty there, which which
Speaker 2: I really appreciate as well.
Speaker 1: You are very interested in news, and you've been working
Speaker 1: in sports for a long time. So with this new
Speaker 1: role at seven, do you see yourself more broadening out
Speaker 1: and getting back into a bit more of the news.
Speaker 2: Definitely, And there's going to be sort of different roles,
Speaker 2: different shows, different capacities, which I'd like to think. I'm
Speaker 2: pretty versatile. Like I've always loved news and sport, and
Speaker 2: that's what I've done my whole career. I've been lucky
Speaker 2: in that I haven't had to choose between the two.
Speaker 2: I've sort of always had one bubbling away and and
Speaker 2: you know, with the Today Show, I was able to
Speaker 2: sort of shift into you know, those hosting roles that
Speaker 2: weren't necessarily sport, and so I'm glad that I'm keeping
Speaker 2: the news chops. You know, I'm so curious. I'm so
Speaker 2: fascinated by people and how they work and what makes
Speaker 2: them tick, and and I'm so blessed to have the
Speaker 2: career that I've had up until January of this year.
Speaker 2: But you know, traveling the world, you know, interviewing Ricky Gervais,
Speaker 2: John bon Jovi, rescuing sun bears in Vietnam, sharing your
Speaker 2: desks with amazing people on the Today Show. It's been
Speaker 2: quite the ride. So I'm just really looking forward to
Speaker 2: getting back into it and just connecting with people telling
Speaker 2: their stories. It's not very nice being the story. It's
Speaker 2: better telling the story.
Speaker 1: You did find yourself at the center of a story,
Speaker 1: and not just any story, really, Alex, one of the
Speaker 1: biggest news stories of the year, which is a really
Speaker 1: unexpected position for most people to find themselves in. Most
Speaker 1: people will not find themselves in that position. Of course,
Speaker 1: this is January we're talking about. It was a live
Speaker 1: cross on the Today Show and you referred to Melbourne
Speaker 1: businessman Adrian Portelli, who's often referred to as Lambeau Guy
Speaker 1: by a new nickname he was trying to popularize, McClaren man.
Speaker 1: He offered fifty thousand dollars to the first reporter or
Speaker 1: presenter who used that new nickname on air. That would
Speaker 1: prove to be you, with Adrian later sharing a screenshot
Speaker 1: of a bank transfer of the fifty k that had
Speaker 1: been transferred into your account. Over the following days, you
Speaker 1: were stood down from today while mine reviewed the incident,
Speaker 1: and days later it was announced you'd be leaving the network.
Speaker 1: As I said, was absolutely massive story. This is the
Speaker 1: first time that you've ever spoken about it. Can I
Speaker 1: begin by asking you how it felt to be in
Speaker 1: the eye of that storm in the immediate after marth
Speaker 1: and while it was unfolding.
Speaker 2: Oh, Sarah, it was the hardest toughest week of my
Speaker 2: career by a country mile. You are in the eye
Speaker 2: of the storm, as you say, you're the front project there,
Speaker 2: old son. You're across all the new sites, and that
Speaker 2: is a crazy place to be. You know, never in
Speaker 2: a million years did I expect that all to go down. Luckily,
Speaker 2: I had my family with me. I had my children,
Speaker 2: my wife. I don't think I would have really got
Speaker 2: through it without them. And that week was just a whirlwind.
Speaker 2: It was like, is this really happening? And and yes,
Speaker 2: it absolutely was. And I just somehow got through it.
Speaker 2: And we had to get through it because the kids
Speaker 2: were with us in Melbourne, and get this, it was
Speaker 2: the girl's sixth birthday in the middle of that week,
Speaker 2: and so you just had to put on this brave
Speaker 2: face for them and make everything okay and happy. And
Speaker 2: so we're getting the balloons and the cake and the
Speaker 2: streamers and with all this going on in the background,
Speaker 2: and you just got to do it. As a parent,
Speaker 2: you know, you try and shield your kids from what's
Speaker 2: going on. Did they know what was going on? I
Speaker 2: think they did. I think the girls did. They saw
Speaker 2: what I was going through, and you know, you're on
Speaker 2: the phone and you're pacing and you're trying to survive
Speaker 2: it all. And my my wife made this wish and
Speaker 2: one of the girls said, oh, do you wish daddy
Speaker 2: got his job back? And that really hit us. We're
Speaker 2: like whoa, Like that's that tells us that they know
Speaker 2: what's going on. And so that was very difficult, and
Speaker 2: but you've just got to put one foot in front
Speaker 2: of the other. You know, it's a tight old cliche,
Speaker 2: but it's true. And I had a great team behind me,
Speaker 2: you know, Profile Talent Management, and my wife was such
Speaker 2: a pillar of strength. She was just like, We've just
Speaker 2: got to get through this. Those closest to me, my
Speaker 2: friends as well. And I can't tell you the support
Speaker 2: that I was getting online from viewers, from people on
Speaker 2: social media, and it was just it was quite overwhelming,
Speaker 2: you know. It was there were thousands of messages, like
Speaker 2: I was just like whoa and and I couldn't reply
Speaker 2: to all of them. And I thank them from the
Speaker 2: botto of my heart because it it meant so much,
Speaker 2: Like it was like, oh wow, you know, I've got
Speaker 2: this support. I've got these people who who know who
Speaker 2: I am and who believe in me and and just
Speaker 2: want the best for me and my family. And that
Speaker 2: was that was big. That was really big. And I
Speaker 2: still get messages. It's funny, you know, like it's really
Speaker 2: lovely because you sometimes we forget in broadcast television that
Speaker 2: we have that connection with people, you know, and there's
Speaker 2: people out there that are suffering and and let me
Speaker 2: say but it also that people are out there are
Speaker 2: going through a lot worse than I went through, you know,
Speaker 2: of course, you know there are parents right now going
Speaker 2: to visit. There's six children in hospital. You know, there's
Speaker 2: people a lot us off than I am. And and
Speaker 2: I often was saying we're okay, we're healthy, not to
Speaker 2: be morbid, but no one's dying. You know, we're going
Speaker 2: to be all right. We just got to get through this.
Speaker 2: But yeah, the supports incredible and that connection we had,
Speaker 2: which which I miss a lot, you know, and initially
Speaker 2: I missed a lot, that connection with our viewers and
Speaker 2: and just for them to come up to me sometimes
Speaker 2: in the street, you know, how you doing? Are you okay?
Speaker 2: And that's all people have to say. You know, when
Speaker 2: you know someone says and cares about you and are
Speaker 2: you okay, that's a really nice thing. And even I
Speaker 2: did a function out at Penrith and Western Sydney a
Speaker 2: couple of nights ago and Ray, I don't know. Ray,
Speaker 2: he said, mate, I hope you're doing okay, and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I am. And he said just promise me one thing.
Speaker 2: He said, you just keep being you and oh I
Speaker 2: just went wow, I will. Ray. You know, it's a
Speaker 2: good luck in Melbourne. You know, I wish you and
Speaker 2: your family all the best and that and that means
Speaker 2: the world to me.
Speaker 1: Keep being You were there moments where that did become difficult, especially.
Speaker 2: On that roller coaster, because you question your judgment, you
Speaker 2: question your you know, you question everything. Really, You're like,
Speaker 2: why did I do? What? What? What happened there? What?
Speaker 2: How did I get in this situation? I mean, I
Speaker 2: know how I got in this situation. But you just
Speaker 2: think to yourself, you idiot, you know, and your confidence
Speaker 2: is shot, you know, your your ability to to make
Speaker 2: judgment on things, and you're just like, oh my god.
Speaker 2: So you've got to really reset yourself. You've got to
Speaker 2: You've got to look around yourself and and look at
Speaker 2: what's important and you know, my family, you know, my health,
Speaker 2: and just try and try and get through. Yeah. It's
Speaker 2: I went to some dark places, you know, I really did.
Speaker 2: And because everything you work towards, everything, you know, everything
Speaker 2: you love is suddenly gone and you're like, whoa, okay,
Speaker 2: what now? You know? And that was that was a
Speaker 2: hard pill of swallow. I thought I'm out now, there's
Speaker 2: no way I'm getting back in, you know, there's I
Speaker 2: thought I'm done. What am I going to do? I
Speaker 2: had a mate ring me and say hey, there's some
Speaker 2: work at our nursery. Why don't you come and do
Speaker 2: some work. You know, I'm like, okay, yeah, thanks mate,
Speaker 2: and then he goes and then another mate's rang and said,
Speaker 2: we got a property up near Nimbon. It's my dad's property.
Speaker 2: You needs a farm manager. Do you want to manage it?
Speaker 2: And I was like, oh, let me think about it,
Speaker 2: and you know, you're entertain these thoughts. You think maybe
Speaker 2: that's what I've got to do. Luckily I have the
Speaker 2: Penrith Panthers. I do a lot of MC work with them.
Speaker 2: And one of the first people on the phone was
Speaker 2: Brian Fletcher, the Panther's boss, and he said, you have
Speaker 2: our support any work that's going your way. So I
Speaker 2: had that and plus other corporate gigs as well. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it was It was a difficult time, Sarah.
Speaker 1: It's been six months, Alex. Were there times where you thought, well,
Speaker 1: this is the end of the road for me in
Speaker 1: media and it is time to start a new career.
Speaker 1: Don't know, if I see you at a nursery, I
Speaker 1: mean friends to that well meeting friend but whatever plants
Speaker 1: And if you did think that, did you think that
Speaker 1: was becauseful circumstances that's I won't get another shot in
Speaker 1: the industry. Reputational damage is just too much. But also, well,
Speaker 1: I'm done now as in the scrutiny this moment happening
Speaker 1: on a public scale, I just don't want to put
Speaker 1: myself back in the situation. How much, if at all,
Speaker 1: did you entertain.
Speaker 2: That you will know, this is a brutal game. It's tough,
Speaker 2: you know. I've had a lot of ups and downs
Speaker 2: in this in this job, you know, starting out in
Speaker 2: regional TV and then going into seven in Perth, but
Speaker 2: to seven in Sydney. You know, Peter Meekin pulling him
Speaker 2: into his office and saying, mate, I've got good news
Speaker 2: and I've got bad news. This is when I was
Speaker 2: presenting sport at the time next to Ian Ross. Wow.
Speaker 2: I was like, I'm this kid from cananble in the
Speaker 2: middle of nowhere. I'm sitting next to Ian Ross. This
Speaker 2: is crazy. And we did that for a while and
Speaker 2: then I was next to Bathy and it was going well.
Speaker 2: But Peter Meekan pulls me and he says, mate, I
Speaker 2: got good news and bad news. Bad news is you're
Speaker 2: not doing sport anymore. The good news is you going
Speaker 2: to Sunday Night. Great amazing and I'm this, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty eight, twenty nine year old guy traveling the world
Speaker 2: for the next ten year is just having a ball.
Speaker 2: And that was incredible. You know that that was just
Speaker 2: a wild, amazing time. And then that show got asked
Speaker 2: and I was in New Zealand. We were shooting this
Speaker 2: story on the Pike River mine disaster where twenty nine
Speaker 2: men lost their lives in this mine in New Zealand.
Speaker 2: Terrible story, very sad. And we travel over with the
Speaker 2: mother of one of these miners, Joe Upha, and we
Speaker 2: did this incredible story. We shot it. It was great. Anyway,
Speaker 2: we knew the end was nigh for Sunday and night
Speaker 2: and we finally got the phone call and it's done.
Speaker 2: The show's done. Come back cochr And that's it. And
Speaker 2: we luckily we got to shoot the rest of the
Speaker 2: story and it went to where and it was one
Speaker 2: of my one of the stories I'm the most proud of.
Speaker 2: And I'm pacing up and down this New Zealand hotel
Speaker 2: ringing my wife. We have eight month old twin daughters. Hey, darling,
Speaker 2: I'm out of a job. What are we gonna do
Speaker 2: and she's like, oh my god, are you serious. I'm like, yes, yes.
Speaker 2: So it was good in the sense that I was
Speaker 2: there for those those twins, those beautiful, wonderful, amazing twins
Speaker 2: of mine, and you know, helping out with the sleep
Speaker 2: and the routine and stuff. But at the same time
Speaker 2: I was like, oh God. And then of course Channel
Speaker 2: nine getting contact and that was wow, fantastic, Hey, back
Speaker 2: of the job, you know, today's show amazing. And then
Speaker 2: fast forward to January of this year. So it's a
Speaker 2: brutal game. And yeah, I've had those thoughts definitely, like
Speaker 2: I'm done, I can't go through this again. But I
Speaker 2: love it. I've always loved it. It's all. It's all
Speaker 2: I've ever wanted to do. Since I was twelve years old.
Speaker 2: I had a tape recorder. I would I would go
Speaker 2: around interviewing people, you know, the old tape recorder. We
Speaker 2: had hit record and play at the same time. I do,
Speaker 2: and I recorded myself commentating imaginary over league games and
Speaker 2: AFL and tennis matches, and and I played it at
Speaker 2: the class in year six and they loved it. I went, oh,
Speaker 2: this is me, this is great, and I just I
Speaker 2: can't imagine doing it myself doing anything else. I just
Speaker 2: I just love it. I love that connection with people.
Speaker 2: I love, you know, telling people stories and if and
Speaker 2: if you help that person, all those people even better,
Speaker 2: you know, And I just love I just love it.
Speaker 2: And I think I'm okay at it. You know, I've
Speaker 2: survived this long and and I'm so thankful that that
Speaker 2: gold FM arn and Channel seven and going to give
Speaker 2: me those opportunities to come back and do what I love.
Speaker 1: Doing and coming up. Alex opens up about what it's
Speaker 1: like to find out who your real friends are, both
Speaker 1: inside and outside the media during those months. Did you
Speaker 1: feel support from people in the industry? You often can
Speaker 1: tell who your friends are and what people are made
Speaker 1: of and he'll be loyal and the people that will
Speaker 1: be there for the good times and run a mile.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Have we ever met during the not so
Speaker 1: good times? Yes, necessarily asking you to name names, although
Speaker 1: you're absolutely very welcome, But generally in terms of the
Speaker 1: people that you've worked with over the years, different networks
Speaker 1: and people behind the scenes and people on air, did
Speaker 1: you feel, as you say, you had that great outpouring
Speaker 1: of support from the public, And I think that was
Speaker 1: quite visible also to a lot of people. You've got
Speaker 1: that sentiment. But within the industry, what was the mood
Speaker 1: and how has it things been on that front the
Speaker 1: past six months?
Speaker 2: Good? Great, you know, and you know that they can
Speaker 2: sympathize because they all know how tough this industry is
Speaker 2: and how brutal it can be. And I've had a
Speaker 2: lot of messages of support from from people in the
Speaker 2: media and former colleagues too, which is which is really spiritual.
Speaker 2: But you do you learn a lot about yourself, and
Speaker 2: you learn a lot about the people around you, and
Speaker 2: you learn about the people who are there for you
Speaker 2: and then learn about the ones that aren't. And that's
Speaker 2: that's quite a learning curve. You're like, oh, okay, they
Speaker 2: haven't reached out, that's fine, that's okay. And then people
Speaker 2: out of the blue, like mates from school that I
Speaker 2: haven't really talked to in years, calling me, mate, are
Speaker 2: you okay? I saw what happened? Oh my god, you know,
Speaker 2: let's let's let's catch up for coffee, you know. So,
Speaker 2: but look, yeah, colleagues have been have been really supportive,
Speaker 2: especially in the aftermath, which has been good. And you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's It's happened again recently with the project, you know,
Speaker 2: and I know a lot of people on that on
Speaker 2: that show, and I've reached out to them because what
Speaker 2: I've learned is that you know, you've got to be
Speaker 2: that compassionate person. You've got to you know, there are
Speaker 2: other people going through what I've gone through, and it's
Speaker 2: a lived experience. You know. I have that experience. Now
Speaker 2: I know what it's like, So I'm going to be
Speaker 2: even more likely to and to pick up the phone
Speaker 2: and ring that person and go, hey, it's going to
Speaker 2: be okay.
Speaker 1: I imagine it would change you as a journalist as well,
Speaker 1: because this is part of the culture that we're living in,
Speaker 1: and a lot of it is fed on social media
Speaker 1: because it's quite anonymous and faceless, and that's the home
Speaker 1: really of you know, mob mentality and pylon culture. But
Speaker 1: it then becomes a sentiment that everyone becomes that feeding frenzy,
Speaker 1: and we intellectually understand it. But to find yourself in
Speaker 1: the middle of that, would I imagine that lived experience
Speaker 1: will completely change your perspective, that empathy for the person
Speaker 1: that's at the heart of it, whatever has brought them there.
Speaker 1: Would that be true? And you think that will change
Speaker 1: you as a person, but also as a journalist one.
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, you know, and that experience, yeah, has taught
Speaker 2: me to be more compassionate, to be resilient, to be present,
Speaker 2: to listen and and be there for people that are
Speaker 2: going through similar things, because it's yeah, mental health is
Speaker 2: a big thing, you know, and it didn't used to be,
Speaker 2: especially in this industry. You know. Gee, you know what
Speaker 2: it's like. And you know, the old school news editors
Speaker 2: and news bosses and jeez, I've seen some tough ones,
Speaker 2: some equally great ones. But now we're all a lot
Speaker 2: more attuned to being okay and and letting other people
Speaker 2: know that we're not okay. But yeah, I've learned a
Speaker 2: lot about my mental health and my capacity and when
Speaker 2: I need to, you know, take a step back and
Speaker 2: and have that perspective too, and really look at what's
Speaker 2: important to me. Control what I can control, don't worry
Speaker 2: about the other stuff. And I say that to people now,
Speaker 2: you know. We had this this coach at school and
Speaker 2: he said, control the controllables or the uncontrollables will control you.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, that is so true. It's so it's
Speaker 2: so hard sometimes and Bonnie. My wife's like, stop worrying,
Speaker 2: stop overthinking things. What are you doing? And I'm like,
Speaker 2: that's just who I am. But it's a real exercise
Speaker 2: in trying to keep those negative thoughts away and out
Speaker 2: and just you know, controlling what you can control in.
Speaker 1: The context of not only your career but your life.
Speaker 1: Would this chapter what happened professionally, the impact on your career,
Speaker 1: the impact on your family, it happening at such a huge,
Speaker 1: highly scrutinized scale. Would this have been the worst thing
Speaker 1: that you've been.
Speaker 2: Through in my career? Yes, definitely in my life. No,
Speaker 2: The death of my father is like, you know, that
Speaker 2: is that was big and I think that experience with
Speaker 2: him stealed me for life's challenges ahead. He he was
Speaker 2: my hero, you know. And oh sorry, it's a it's
Speaker 2: a funny thing. I still get upset about it. And
Speaker 2: he was such a big influence on my life and
Speaker 2: still is and I miss him every day. It's it's
Speaker 2: upsetting that he never got to meet my kids, you know,
Speaker 2: but that's life. And he's always there with me, you know.
Speaker 2: I he would always say you'll be right, mate, you know,
Speaker 2: this big burly farmer you'll be right. He was the
Speaker 2: most positive, caring, compassionate man, and you know, I just
Speaker 2: if I can be like that. You know. It was
Speaker 2: funny thinking about him before I sat down with you,
Speaker 2: and he was, you know, shy counselor for thirty plus
Speaker 2: years in town and I just went out there that
Speaker 2: they opened a bridge named after him. And I remember
Speaker 2: going to town with him, and I was like, oh God,
Speaker 2: go to town with Dad, because he'd be there for hours,
Speaker 2: like talking to everyone, interested in people, and I'm a
Speaker 2: bit the same. But you know, it's weird, you know,
Speaker 2: I and I my kids like that with me. Now
Speaker 2: they're like, oh, Dad, come on, we're gonna go. I'm like, no,
Speaker 2: I'll talk to Anthony the hairdresser, and I'll be at
Speaker 2: the coffee shop if you're talking to them. And I
Speaker 2: think I share that that interesting people and that that
Speaker 2: kind of compassionate. I don't know, I am. I just
Speaker 2: love being around people. I love hearing their stories. And
Speaker 2: Dad was an amazing storyteller, you know, like his father
Speaker 2: as well and my uncle. And I remember as a kid,
Speaker 2: like you're sitting around listening to these yarns, you know,
Speaker 2: in a wool shed and It was incredible, and I
Speaker 2: like to think I can I'm doing that now with
Speaker 2: my job. You're doing the storytelling and listening to the
Speaker 2: rhythm and the cadence and the punchlines and the It's
Speaker 2: an art form, you know, those bush yarns. And I
Speaker 2: missed that so much with Dad. And every time we
Speaker 2: tell a story, he would embellish it and we were like,
Speaker 2: oh god, Dad, come on, that didn't happen. Yes it did,
Speaker 2: It's fine. And yeah. He was a big influence and
Speaker 2: he was going to be a journal himself, which is
Speaker 2: which is kind of interesting. He had a cannetch it
Speaker 2: with the Daily Mirror at the time and his dad,
Speaker 2: this is back in the mid sixties, and his dad
Speaker 2: was like, no, no, you've got to come home and
Speaker 2: cut scrub for this drought nineteen sixty six droughut one
Speaker 2: of the worst time record. And I think he Yeah,
Speaker 2: he really wanted to be in the media, I think,
Speaker 2: you know. And he he would always write for the
Speaker 2: local paper. He had his column, and I remember the
Speaker 2: editor ring and gain is your father home. I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh god, what have you done? Now? What have you said?
Speaker 2: You know, It's like I'm going to get super many.
Speaker 2: I'm going to get super a million dollars, but I
Speaker 2: don't put an apology in the paper, so he'd had
Speaker 2: begun and do it. But he was very well read.
Speaker 2: I loved what I was doing, so supportive and said
Speaker 2: to me on a couple of occasions, Mate, don't come
Speaker 2: back here, you know, to the farm. He never pressured
Speaker 2: me to come back to the farm, which I was
Speaker 2: so grateful for. And yeah, he was. He was great
Speaker 2: at sort of picking up on when I was down
Speaker 2: and when I was. He was a great reader of people,
Speaker 2: and I miss him terribly. But yeah, that was. That
Speaker 2: was the toughest And yeah, there'll be there'll be many,
Speaker 2: you know, tough situations ahead, but yeah, that was. That
Speaker 2: was a very, very difficult period.
Speaker 1: We've talked a bit about some of the reflections and
Speaker 1: what you've learned about yourself and what you're When you
Speaker 1: look at what happened on air that day, how do
Speaker 1: you characterize it? Do you think of it as a mistake?
Speaker 1: Is there a word that comes to mind when you
Speaker 1: think about what happened.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a silly mistake and one I should
Speaker 2: have thought through, of course, and but hindsight, it's a
Speaker 2: wonderful thing, you know, And I can't go back and
Speaker 2: change it. I can't change any of it. It's it's there,
Speaker 2: It's for all for everyone to see. It's it's online,
Speaker 2: it's if you if you want to have a look
Speaker 2: at the story. It's it's all there, and which is
Speaker 2: which is quite you know, weird as well. It's all
Speaker 2: It's all out there still, and that's okay. I get
Speaker 2: the chance now to rewrite the next chapter, you know.
Speaker 2: I get the chance to to go out and do
Speaker 2: what I'm what I'm sort of wanting to do and
Speaker 2: what I love doing. But I can't change it. You know.
Speaker 2: I've learned to be resilient. I've learned to think a
Speaker 2: lot harder before I speak. And yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: I know there's some parameters around what you can say
Speaker 1: about partying ways with Nine. We had worked on the
Speaker 1: Today Show for five years. Are you at peace with
Speaker 1: how your relationship with the network ended?
Speaker 2: I am, Yeah, I'm okay with it. Look, Nine made
Speaker 2: their decision. I made mine, and that's okay. You know.
Speaker 2: I don't harbor any negative thoughts. That's not good for
Speaker 2: me or anyone. And I choose to look back on
Speaker 2: my time at nine as a really great time, you
Speaker 2: know it was. It was a wonderful five years with
Speaker 2: some really great people. I got to sit in that
Speaker 2: chair with Karl and Ali and Sarah and Brooke and
Speaker 2: Tim and Renee and just shoot the breeze each morning
Speaker 2: and talk about sport and life and and we got
Speaker 2: to travel around the country as well, and you know,
Speaker 2: state of Origins and those sorts of things. But no,
Speaker 2: I'm okay with it. You know, I'm looking forward now.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm ready for the next chapter. I'm ready
Speaker 2: for what comes next.
Speaker 1: And can I ask you about Adrian for Telly? Obviously
Speaker 1: he in the days after he's confirmed, well actually nine
Speaker 1: confirmed that the money had been returned. But then Adrian
Speaker 1: came out and said he then had donated the money
Speaker 1: to the RSPCA and the Salvation. Have you spoken to
Speaker 1: him since, and how are things with the two of you?
Speaker 1: How's he feeling about?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we had a really good conversation after it happened,
Speaker 2: might have been a month or two after, and he
Speaker 2: was very respectful, very honest. He felt bad about what
Speaker 2: had transpired, and I assured him that, hey, it was
Speaker 2: me standing there that morning saying those words. Don't feel
Speaker 2: bad about it, and we had a really good conversation
Speaker 2: and he's a busy man. I'm about to be a
Speaker 2: very busy man. And we left it at that. So
Speaker 2: now we had a good chat, and it was important
Speaker 2: we did sit down and talk about it because it
Speaker 2: was a pretty seismic moment in my life. And yeah,
Speaker 2: we left it at that.
Speaker 1: Very few people, I think listening or reading or watching
Speaker 1: will find themselves in this position, as in I was saying,
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly know what the percentage is. But
Speaker 1: the people that, for whatever reason, from any walk of
Speaker 1: life that find themselves in this I have a media
Speaker 1: storm because whatever circumstances can happen, we see viral moments
Speaker 1: to people that are completely unexpected, whether they work in
Speaker 1: the media or not. You've spoken a little bit about
Speaker 1: what your advice would be, what you've learned about how
Speaker 1: you'd react, What would your advice be to anyone that's
Speaker 1: in the middle of a situation or find themselves suddenly
Speaker 1: you know, a meme, a moment on the front page
Speaker 1: of all of the news sites in the country. Any
Speaker 1: lessons just in case, little user guide from Alex Salin.
Speaker 2: Exercise walks, long walks, they have got me through a
Speaker 2: lot long walks, podcasts or a run. That's that's the
Speaker 2: elixir of getting through because you can kindind of shut
Speaker 2: yourself off for a while. You can get it. You're
Speaker 2: out in the open, you're out in nature. Nature is
Speaker 2: a big one, you know, getting into walking, running, whatever
Speaker 2: it is, and meditating. I strongly advise people to meditate.
Speaker 2: And I've never really meditated before, and I only discovered
Speaker 2: it from this experience. A made of mine sent me
Speaker 2: this book called ten Percent Happier. It's about this American
Speaker 2: journo who had a very similar creed of mine actually,
Speaker 2: and he was going through a tough time in that
Speaker 2: industry in the US, and he discovered Buddhism and meditating.
Speaker 2: Now I haven't gone down the Buddhism road, but I
Speaker 2: have gone down the meditating road. And it makes such
Speaker 2: a difference. You're shutting yourself off from those negative thoughts
Speaker 2: and those negative thoughts like, oh my god, they're so
Speaker 2: overwhelming for me they were, but shutting yourself off from those,
Speaker 2: shutting down that internal monologue. He has this great term,
Speaker 2: you sit behind a waterfall. So imagine you're behind a
Speaker 2: waterfall and the water is cascading down in front of you.
Speaker 2: They are the negative thoughts, they are the negative feelings,
Speaker 2: and sit there. Imagine yourself sitting there. I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's so interesting. So ten minutes is what I often do.
Speaker 2: I haven't done it much recently because of the move
Speaker 2: and everything just been too busy.
Speaker 1: No time to get behind the water.
Speaker 2: No no way, and and we're going down to raid there,
Speaker 2: aren't we. But it's so important that you do that.
Speaker 2: You take time, You take deep breaths, even deep breaths,
Speaker 2: you know, and also lean on those around you, like
Speaker 2: if you're lucky enough to have people around you, you know,
Speaker 2: like family. And I couldn't have done it with that Bonnie.
Speaker 2: She is this amazing, smart, compassionate, fiery redhead. I'm terrified
Speaker 2: of her. Sarah, I've met her, Yeah, who was just
Speaker 2: the toughest person I know. She's so strong and I
Speaker 2: wouldn't have got through without her. And so I'm very
Speaker 2: lucky to have that, you know, that amazing support and
Speaker 2: those amazing friends, and yeah, and try and get perspective.
Speaker 2: You know, you're going to be okay, you know, and
Speaker 2: people are often in a lot worse situations than you.
Speaker 2: We live in a great country. We you know, we
Speaker 2: have running water, we have electricity, we have you know,
Speaker 2: we're doing all right, you know. So yeah, I mean exercise,
Speaker 2: you know, walking, running, meditation and perspective and just remembering
Speaker 2: what is important.
Speaker 1: Is only July as you and I are sitting here,
Speaker 1: so we've literally just ticked over the half year mark
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and I imagine you feel
Speaker 1: like you have lived one hundred lifetimes. You're talking about
Speaker 1: those changes, the perspective that shifted the logistics of your life.
Speaker 1: You're moving into a city, a new job, two new jobs,
Speaker 1: a new network. Everything feels different. Could you even imagine
Speaker 1: how much do you recognize in Alex Cullen from the
Speaker 1: very beginning of the year, like, you know, December, first
Speaker 1: week of January to the person sitting here today in July.
Speaker 2: It's wild. It's so wild, Sarah, never in a million
Speaker 2: years so I think I'll be sitting here doing this
Speaker 2: and with these wonderful opportunities ahead. Uh yeah, it is.
Speaker 2: It is just really Oh, there's there's ah. I've just
Speaker 2: got to step back sometimes and go this is happening.
Speaker 2: You know, I come from you know, Cannanble northwest New
Speaker 2: South Wales, grew up on a farm, and you know,
Speaker 2: I've just sort of done my thing and and and
Speaker 2: enjoyed enjoyed the ride. And never did I think I'd
Speaker 2: be doing this right now. You know, it's just crazy,
Speaker 2: but that is life. Pardon my growley stomach there, but
Speaker 2: it's fine. That's life. That that's the rich tapestry of life,
Speaker 2: and you've just you've got to go with it. And
Speaker 2: I'm really thankful. I'm really thankful for those people who
Speaker 2: believed in me and knew what I could do and
Speaker 2: knew the person I was and am to give me
Speaker 2: another shot. You know. Christian O'Connell is he is great.
Speaker 2: Like the Christian O'Connell show is humming in Melbourne. It's
Speaker 2: doing so well. This guy coming from the UK dominating
Speaker 2: the airwaves over there, bringing his wife and two daughters
Speaker 2: to Melbourne, establishing himself as the number one FM radio
Speaker 2: station in Melbourne. And that's no mean feat. That's incredible.
Speaker 2: And he is such a nice guy. And we get
Speaker 2: on lock a House on Fire. He rang me out
Speaker 2: of the blue one day and it was it all
Speaker 2: came through my manager. I had to say my manager,
Speaker 2: I sound like a Hollywood d list, but they knew
Speaker 2: each other and he said to Christian, there's this guy
Speaker 2: moving down from Sydney because you know, they needed someone
Speaker 2: on the show. And he's like, okay, yeah, talk to me,
Speaker 2: and yeah, he loves his sport. Maybe you guys will
Speaker 2: get on. You should, you should do it. Give him
Speaker 2: a call. Christian rings me, Hey mate, they are you going?
Speaker 2: We're on the phone for nearly an hour. My wife's going,
Speaker 2: who is this? Who are you on the phone? What's
Speaker 2: going on in there? And I came out going, oh
Speaker 2: my god, that was Christian O'Connell. We got on so well.
Speaker 2: He wants me to fly down meet the team and
Speaker 2: we're just going to see how it goes. So I
Speaker 2: go down meet everyone, an amazing bunch of people, really passionate,
Speaker 2: really professional, really hard working, and met them all and
Speaker 2: we chatted and Christian's like, right, we're going to lunch
Speaker 2: at midday. I'm like, okay, yeah, cool. I go into
Speaker 2: was it a Tartane in Richmond and he's sitting there
Speaker 2: with a beer and I'm like, okay, cool. We sat down,
Speaker 2: we had lunch, we had wine, we had more one
Speaker 2: more one again, and at the end of it, He's like,
Speaker 2: do you want to do this? And I'm like, yeah, sure,
Speaker 2: let's make this happen. And a little did I know
Speaker 2: that that was kind of a job interview with a
Speaker 2: whole lot of red wine throwing in, And so I
Speaker 2: flew back to Sydney toime. My wife said this is
Speaker 2: this is happening, and it just all happened from there.
Speaker 2: And then the seventh thing, yeah, the same kind of thing.
Speaker 2: I got a call from from seven early on, you know,
Speaker 2: if you want to come back. And then I connected
Speaker 2: with Anthony to seglee and he said, there's some stuff
Speaker 2: going on. It's in your wheelhouse. Great, and it's sort
Speaker 2: of just progressed slowly. And Ray Cooker came in to
Speaker 2: replace Anthony because he's of course gone over to Perth
Speaker 2: to head up the the Perth Bears Nurl franchise. And
Speaker 2: it was lovely, you know, dealing with Ray and because
Speaker 2: he's an old friend and he said, hey, this is
Speaker 2: going to be great. You know, we're going to do
Speaker 2: this new is offering and we can't wait to have
Speaker 2: you back. So that's where I find myself now. And
Speaker 2: it's just it's life, isn't it you've just got to
Speaker 2: kind of go with it, and that's what I'm trying
Speaker 2: to do with three small kids. Has its challenges, you know,
Speaker 2: but look, home is wherever your family is. I'm a
Speaker 2: big believer in that. And we're gonna we're gonna enjoy Melbourne.
Speaker 2: I know we are. It's it's a wonderful place and
Speaker 2: Sidney will still be. It's not going anywhere, but we're
Speaker 2: really open to new, exciting experiences.
Speaker 1: There's something sometimes about moving, as logistically demanding as it
Speaker 1: can be, but moving to a wonderful new city and
Speaker 1: a new beginning, which sounds very trite, but it is
Speaker 1: literally what is happening. Yeah, this week definitely is. There
Speaker 1: is whole new beginnings for you. You're starting one new job,
Speaker 1: announcing another, and you and your family are rebuilding your
Speaker 1: life as a family in a new city. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's quite symbolic, isn't it, in terms of cleaning the slate,
Speaker 1: taking the good lessons with you, leaving some behind. That's
Speaker 1: really one of those watershed moments.
Speaker 2: It is. It's a new skin. It's like a rebirth
Speaker 2: in a sense. You know, life was good when I
Speaker 2: was doing Breakfast TV. It was you know, we had
Speaker 2: a house, we had our kids, we had you know,
Speaker 2: we're living in a great city. It was. And then
Speaker 2: that happened, of course, and so that's a big shift.
Speaker 2: And now it's like you say, it is it's a
Speaker 2: new skin, it's a new beginning. Not everyone gets that,
Speaker 2: you know. It's funny. I was our car broke down
Speaker 2: and this NRMA came to to the rescue and they
Speaker 2: had this guy, this safety auditor with him, the mechanic,
Speaker 2: and he goes, oh, you're that guy from today, Shelmon. Yeah,
Speaker 2: this is not long after it all went down, and
Speaker 2: he goes, mate, I worked at Macquarie Bank for thirty
Speaker 2: forty years. I was out the door and I don't
Speaker 2: know what I was going to do, had small kids.
Speaker 2: I went down to Kuljie Beach five in the morning,
Speaker 2: smoked a pack of cigarettes and went back to my
Speaker 2: wife and and then I got a job with the
Speaker 2: n M And I said, you're happy, and he goes, mate,
Speaker 2: I've never been aubier And just those random little experiences
Speaker 2: that I've had along the way, and there's yeah, there's
Speaker 2: there's that's pretty cool. You know that I can start
Speaker 2: again in a sense, yeah, in a New City and
Speaker 2: control what I can control. I can dive back into
Speaker 2: that next chapter.
Speaker 1: Can I just ask Alex about the recognition? So the
Speaker 1: raising of the profile, there's like infamy and then there's
Speaker 1: simply then fame, and it's like, there's that transition, isn't there?
Speaker 1: So you were already in a very high profile job.
Speaker 1: You worked in media for a long time. You're on
Speaker 1: national television five days a week. There's a certain level
Speaker 1: of recognition. But you've obviously, through the course of your
Speaker 1: career worked with some of those people that are absolute
Speaker 1: household names. And I mean, you know, Karl Stephanovic is
Speaker 1: one of the most recognizable and identifiable people. If you
Speaker 1: walk through an airport with Karl Stefnovic, everyone comes up.
Speaker 1: You would have seen it. How has it been for
Speaker 1: you to have that shift in recognition? You're on the
Speaker 1: cover of Stellar today. I mean, even that coming from
Speaker 1: me sounds self important, But if it was anyone else
Speaker 1: from the industry, they would say, oh, you're on the
Speaker 1: cover of Stellar today, Like that's definitely a sign of recognition.
Speaker 1: How is that aspect of.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's quite a change. And I want to
Speaker 2: thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving
Speaker 2: me this opportunity. You know, it was a long time
Speaker 2: becoming this and the build up to it, and you know,
Speaker 2: speaking for the first time about this, So so thank you.
Speaker 2: I love what you guys do and it just feels right.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it is. It's quite the shift. And luckily
Speaker 2: I've had someone like Carl to kind of listen to
Speaker 2: on that front, Like he is amazing and his ability
Speaker 2: to just not let it face him is amazing in
Speaker 2: that sense, like he I remember walking from it was
Speaker 2: at the austral And Open one year and it wasn't
Speaker 2: long after the nurse and stuff had all gone down
Speaker 2: and Juno's We're just at him, just trying to get something,
Speaker 2: you know, and you know it's their job, and we
Speaker 2: were just walking along and he was just cool, wasn't engaging,
Speaker 2: and people were just all coming up to him selfies, gosh,
Speaker 2: there you going, and and I'm like, wow, you know
Speaker 2: he is. He's so much to so many Australians and
Speaker 2: I'm so thankful that I got to share those five
Speaker 2: years with him. And he was very supportive throughout that
Speaker 2: and we had a great chat after it all happened,
Speaker 2: and he congratulated me on these new roles, which was
Speaker 2: which was really lovely, and so I sort of had
Speaker 2: him to go to kind of to learn from, you know,
Speaker 2: and it's just water off a duck's back for him.
Speaker 2: I know it gets to him in some capacity, but
Speaker 2: he's just like you know, who cares a lot of
Speaker 2: the time. And and he's right, you know, like people
Speaker 2: are busy. People are they've got businesses, they've got kids,
Speaker 2: they've got jobs and and that's another thing I learned,
Speaker 2: Like it moves on, that that great Tom Hanks line,
Speaker 2: you know, this too shall pass, and it does pass eventually.
Speaker 2: And like I say, people are busy, you know, they
Speaker 2: they move on too. But yeah, it has been quite
Speaker 2: the shift. And it's all happened really quickly, really quickly,
Speaker 2: you know, bang front page, whoa. And I was walking
Speaker 2: through the Botannic Gardens I remember in Melbourne and these
Speaker 2: this woman and these two women in front of me
Speaker 2: sort of looked around and look back and sort of
Speaker 2: whispered to each other and went, oh God, sort of
Speaker 2: put my cap down and it just kept walking. And
Speaker 2: that's fine, you know, that's that's the that's the job
Speaker 2: we we have. That's the the industry we're in and
Speaker 2: you've just got to You've got to wear it. You've
Speaker 2: got to deal with it, and and and just care
Speaker 2: about what those closest to you k you know what
Speaker 2: I'm saying. There's a bitter way of saying that you're
Speaker 2: worried about those closest to you and their worries and
Speaker 2: concerns and everything else. You know, it's up to the individual.
Speaker 1: You will have to come back at some point. We're
Speaker 1: in the middle of well not in the middle of
Speaker 1: renovating our studio, but we are going to give it
Speaker 1: a refresh scene because I think one question that if
Speaker 1: I asked you you might not be able to answer now.
Speaker 1: When we're in the middle of things in our life,
Speaker 1: pivotal moments, sometimes they feel like the best things that
Speaker 1: have happened to us, and then sometimes they feel like
Speaker 1: one of the hardest things that have happened. And when
Speaker 1: you're in the middle, you think I might think I
Speaker 1: might get to the other side of this, and this
Speaker 1: was such an important thing to happen and it changed everything,
Speaker 1: And that feels I'm hearing that so much from you.
Speaker 1: But I feel it would be premature of me to say,
Speaker 1: are you lad that this moment happened, or do you
Speaker 1: wish that it never had happened? Maybe I could give
Speaker 1: me your answer now.
Speaker 2: That's a great question in a year and that's a
Speaker 2: really good question because it's funny. I haven't quite come
Speaker 2: to an answer on that yet, you know, do I
Speaker 2: regret it? I haven't come to an answer on that
Speaker 2: yet because I'm going to see how the next little
Speaker 2: while goes. What I do regret is the pain it
Speaker 2: caused my family. That was hard, you know, and the
Speaker 2: uncertainty and the kind of not knowing where the next
Speaker 2: paycheck is coming from, not knowing how I'm going to
Speaker 2: support my family. That that's a very difficult place to be.
Speaker 2: I can't change it, you know. I just there's nothing
Speaker 2: I can do about it now. And hindsight a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2: And yeah, in another year's time, I'll have a better
Speaker 2: answer for you on that, Sarah. I promise You've.
Speaker 1: Had some really reflective and honest dancers with me today.
Speaker 1: Alex has been a pleasure to talk to you. Thank
Speaker 1: you also for fitting us in in the middle of
Speaker 1: your move. All the best in Melbourne are looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing you soon on seven News and of course
Speaker 1: from tomorrow. Alex Cullen begins on The Christian O'Connell Show
Speaker 1: weekdays from six am and weeknights from seven pm on
Speaker 1: Gold one oh four point three. Alex all the best
Speaker 1: with everything and we will hear from you soon.
Speaker 2: Sarah, you're Jim.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, thank you, and I'll be back
Speaker 1: in your ears with another exclusive guest on the Stellar
Speaker 1: podcast next week. Thank you for joining me today. If
Speaker 1: you've enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a
Speaker 1: review or send it to a friend.