WEBVTT - Brooke Boney Doesn’t Know What’s Next… And She’s Ok With That 0:00:10.365 --> 0:00:14.165 You're listening to a mother and me a podcast. Mama 0:00:14.205 --> 0:00:16.965 mayor acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters that 0:00:17.005 --> 0:00:18.525 this podcast is recorded on. 0:00:18.805 --> 0:00:21.285 You know that you're looked at, or that you sort 0:00:21.285 --> 0:00:24.885 of look a certain way. But I didn't kind of 0:00:24.885 --> 0:00:28.885 realize how much of an impact, not just physically, but 0:00:28.925 --> 0:00:31.205 like even like emotionally or like the way that I 0:00:31.205 --> 0:00:34.725 expressed myself was like filtered through some sort of subconscious 0:00:34.805 --> 0:00:37.965 lens of always having to be perceived by others. Right, 0:00:37.965 --> 0:00:40.525 And so when I stopped having to like express myself 0:00:40.565 --> 0:00:43.245 all the time and like, you know, tell people what 0:00:43.325 --> 0:00:45.765 I'm thinking or like you know, talk and like more 0:00:45.805 --> 0:00:47.685 sort of was going in than was going out, Like 0:00:47.685 --> 0:00:50.765 I'm learning more that I'm than I'm you know talking. 0:00:51.765 --> 0:00:54.405 That was kind of like a weird dynamic shift because 0:00:54.485 --> 0:00:57.285 I was like, oh, I've gone from like having millions 0:00:57.325 --> 0:00:58.965 of people listen to what I say every week to 0:00:59.645 --> 0:01:02.885 no one, and it's it's pretty lovely. 0:01:02.965 --> 0:01:13.485 I got to say, Hi, I'm Kate Langbrook. Welcome to 0:01:13.605 --> 0:01:17.965 No Filter. Brooke Boney had one of the best gigs 0:01:18.005 --> 0:01:21.205 in the world for years. We woke up with her 0:01:21.245 --> 0:01:23.765 on morning TV. It was a job that changed her 0:01:23.845 --> 0:01:28.925 life until one morning she made a decision that would 0:01:29.005 --> 0:01:33.205 change her life again. She announced live on air on 0:01:33.285 --> 0:01:37.365 the Today Show that she was done not just with 0:01:37.485 --> 0:01:43.085 breakfast television, but with Australia. She was heading overseas to 0:01:43.125 --> 0:01:49.245 study at Oxford, Oxford University. Now Brook has written a book, 0:01:49.285 --> 0:01:52.845 and it covers so much that we had so much 0:01:52.885 --> 0:01:59.125 to cover. Fame, the stalkers, yes, plural sport and associated 0:01:59.125 --> 0:02:02.925 head injuries. I mean that'll make sense soon, her family 0:02:03.365 --> 0:02:07.245 and her dogs. She opens up about fertility and the 0:02:07.365 --> 0:02:10.765 reactions to being the first Indigenous woman on commercial TV 0:02:11.405 --> 0:02:16.125 to diverse for some not diverse enough fathers. We also 0:02:16.165 --> 0:02:18.725 had some fun in this chat. Brooke and I discuss 0:02:19.365 --> 0:02:22.125 whether we're famous enough to get stopped in the supermarket, 0:02:22.605 --> 0:02:26.965 the verdict being that we are not the perceived brave. 0:02:27.445 --> 0:02:30.845 Conversations what it means to be called brave, and how 0:02:30.925 --> 0:02:36.005 life at Oxford has given her ooh a new fancy vocabulary, 0:02:37.005 --> 0:02:39.845 and we talk a lot about sweetness, the sweetness of 0:02:39.845 --> 0:02:43.645 her family, in particular her mother, the sweetness we wish 0:02:43.725 --> 0:02:47.965 the world had more of, and honestly, the refreshing sweetness 0:02:48.125 --> 0:02:51.725 that I feel about Brooke herself. I hope you enjoy 0:02:51.765 --> 0:02:56.365 this conversation as much as I did. Here is Brooke Bony. 0:02:56.885 --> 0:03:00.525 Brooke Bony, Hello, welcome to No Filter. 0:03:00.845 --> 0:03:02.085 Oh thank you for having me. 0:03:02.685 --> 0:03:05.125 Now I have your book, which I have read twice. 0:03:05.245 --> 0:03:08.445 You don't buy I don't believe you, because that's so kind. 0:03:08.645 --> 0:03:10.485 That means I probably read it more than you have. 0:03:10.685 --> 0:03:12.405 You definitely have read it more than I have. 0:03:12.845 --> 0:03:16.525 But I do feel like I've read your book a 0:03:16.525 --> 0:03:18.205 couple of times as well, because remember I did the 0:03:18.205 --> 0:03:19.285 interview with you after you did it. 0:03:19.405 --> 0:03:24.445 Yes, Now, this is just kind of strange happening that 0:03:24.765 --> 0:03:28.605 a few years ago at the Sydney Writers' Festival, I 0:03:28.845 --> 0:03:31.765 was my book chow Bella had just come out, and 0:03:32.045 --> 0:03:35.285 I did a session and you were my interviewer. 0:03:35.485 --> 0:03:39.125 Yes, And it's a weird experience when you read someone's 0:03:39.165 --> 0:03:42.005 book that you sort of know publicly, and you know, 0:03:42.205 --> 0:03:45.485 we kind of know each other anyway, yeah, probably, But 0:03:45.525 --> 0:03:47.885 then you get to read what their thoughts are and 0:03:47.925 --> 0:03:50.565 you feel like, oh, I really know this person. 0:03:50.605 --> 0:03:52.125 Now. Yes, it's true. 0:03:52.405 --> 0:03:54.285 It's lovely, isn't it. But it's a bit weird. 0:03:54.605 --> 0:03:57.405 Well, so your book, which is called All of It, 0:03:58.885 --> 0:04:01.125 and I don't think there's ever been a more accurate 0:04:01.205 --> 0:04:02.405 title for a book. 0:04:03.845 --> 0:04:06.525 Like this book. 0:04:06.765 --> 0:04:18.725 There's animals, dogs, beautiful dog, Oh, I love them so much, fertility, ah, 0:04:19.205 --> 0:04:28.405 sport and heat injuries. It's just everything in igeneity. 0:04:27.805 --> 0:04:29.565 Because I think everyone thinks it's just like a straight 0:04:29.645 --> 0:04:33.445 up memoir. And when I try to explain to someone 0:04:33.485 --> 0:04:35.445 like no, no, no, it's just a bunch of essays that 0:04:35.485 --> 0:04:37.525 I've written, the things that I think about all the time, 0:04:38.045 --> 0:04:41.005 care about, and they're like, oh, like what, And I'm like, well, there's. 0:04:40.765 --> 0:04:44.805 One on dogs. There's one on egg freezing. Yes, there's 0:04:44.805 --> 0:04:48.925 one on sports. I love cricket. Yes. But I think 0:04:49.525 --> 0:04:50.925 we are all of. 0:04:50.845 --> 0:04:53.645 Those things, right, Like you know, if I was just 0:04:53.645 --> 0:04:55.405 to focus on like one part of it, then that 0:04:55.445 --> 0:04:57.205 wouldn't be all of it. It'd be some of it. 0:04:57.365 --> 0:04:59.445 No, And then you couldn't call it all of them. 0:04:59.485 --> 0:05:00.645 I'd have to change the title. 0:05:00.965 --> 0:05:07.365 However, you have come to the knowledge of most people 0:05:07.685 --> 0:05:13.365 through breakfast Television, through your stint on Today as a 0:05:13.405 --> 0:05:17.525 showbiz reporter, and in fact, the start of your book 0:05:18.645 --> 0:05:22.605 is you contemplating quitting the show? 0:05:25.605 --> 0:05:25.845 Now? 0:05:25.965 --> 0:05:29.045 Did you write that in real time or did you 0:05:29.085 --> 0:05:31.925 write that in retrospect and when was that? 0:05:32.325 --> 0:05:35.725 No, I wrote it in real time, so it was 0:05:35.765 --> 0:05:39.325 this time last year, right, And it's so. 0:05:40.885 --> 0:05:43.685 It's so weird to think about now, because you know 0:05:43.765 --> 0:05:46.525 when you make a big decision like that, and you 0:05:46.605 --> 0:05:49.165 know that once once you make it, or once you 0:05:49.205 --> 0:05:51.245 start telling people you can't go. 0:05:51.285 --> 0:05:53.685 Back, no, once it's once it's. 0:05:53.525 --> 0:05:57.885 Done, Yes, it's done. And so I remember thinking like, 0:05:58.005 --> 0:06:00.045 is this really what I'm going to do? Am I 0:06:00.165 --> 0:06:01.165 really going to do this? 0:06:02.005 --> 0:06:06.485 And who had you discussed it with? Because people probably 0:06:06.565 --> 0:06:13.165 know this, but that is primo job that for many people, 0:06:13.965 --> 0:06:17.565 Richard Wilkins, it's the pinnacle, do you know what I mean? 0:06:17.965 --> 0:06:20.045 So many people people would kill for that job. 0:06:20.325 --> 0:06:22.365 You probably have killed for that job at the cerferent 0:06:22.405 --> 0:06:27.805 stages of the I think when you know that you've 0:06:27.845 --> 0:06:30.285 done as much as what you can possibly do in 0:06:30.325 --> 0:06:32.685 a job, and that you know you can sort of 0:06:32.725 --> 0:06:35.205 see exactly what your life looks like for the next five, ten, 0:06:35.325 --> 0:06:38.725 fifteen years, I think for me, I was like, there's 0:06:38.765 --> 0:06:40.245 so many other things that I want to do. 0:06:41.125 --> 0:06:44.845 Well, because I think you always had this. Maybe I 0:06:44.845 --> 0:06:46.685 think this more from having read your book. I don't 0:06:46.685 --> 0:06:50.245 think this was probably apparent to viewers, but there was 0:06:50.285 --> 0:06:54.205 always like a slight tension within you because being a 0:06:54.245 --> 0:06:59.885 showbiz reporter is this and requires a certain sort of skills, 0:06:59.925 --> 0:07:05.965 which you had in spades, but it also requires a 0:07:06.045 --> 0:07:07.765 limitation of your interest. 0:07:09.965 --> 0:07:13.725 I think like before I was on Triple J, on 0:07:13.805 --> 0:07:18.285 their breakfast show, I was in Parliament House as a 0:07:18.485 --> 0:07:22.525 political reporter for SBS and ITV, and so then to 0:07:22.605 --> 0:07:26.285 go I think, from that really serious news and then 0:07:26.325 --> 0:07:29.725 go and work at ABC and be reporting on Indigenous affairs, 0:07:29.845 --> 0:07:32.045 which is also just so serious and so heavy. 0:07:32.445 --> 0:07:34.885 Then to go and do entertainment. 0:07:35.685 --> 0:07:40.125 It was it felt like such a weird shift for me, 0:07:40.365 --> 0:07:42.005 even though for other people it was like, oh, this 0:07:42.085 --> 0:07:44.165 is a natural fit because she's just come from Triple J. 0:07:44.245 --> 0:07:47.005 Which is you know, the youth popular. 0:07:47.125 --> 0:07:50.485 Yeah, it's a popular show and you know it's all 0:07:50.485 --> 0:07:52.445 about music and you know, there's a big focus on 0:07:52.565 --> 0:07:54.085 entertainment as well. So it felt like for a lot 0:07:54.085 --> 0:07:56.645 of people it was natural, but for me it felt 0:07:56.685 --> 0:08:01.325 like deeply unnatural in some ways, like there was I 0:08:01.365 --> 0:08:04.765 felt quite limited by doing that, and. 0:08:05.645 --> 0:08:08.845 I think and also intensely commercial, and none of your 0:08:08.885 --> 0:08:13.205 indev prior to that point had been particularly commercial. 0:08:13.765 --> 0:08:14.925 Yeah, I think. 0:08:18.365 --> 0:08:21.245 For me that would have always had like an expiry 0:08:21.365 --> 0:08:25.845 date because I felt like even though towards the end, 0:08:25.885 --> 0:08:26.085 I was. 0:08:26.085 --> 0:08:28.285 Doing news as well, which I absolutely loved, and. 0:08:28.245 --> 0:08:30.165 It's such a great show, and it does stretch you 0:08:30.245 --> 0:08:33.285 in terms of, you know, your technical abilities, you know 0:08:33.325 --> 0:08:35.405 what it's like when you do live TV, and we 0:08:35.445 --> 0:08:36.765 had to do it every day for like three and 0:08:36.805 --> 0:08:39.485 a half hours, and it doesn't matter if there's something 0:08:39.525 --> 0:08:42.445 really big happening, then you stay on air and you're 0:08:42.485 --> 0:08:43.925 sort of you know, flying by the seat of your 0:08:43.925 --> 0:08:46.285 pants or you know, like when we went to the Olympics. 0:08:46.805 --> 0:08:47.885 That's sort of broadcasting. 0:08:49.005 --> 0:08:52.085 People make it look easy, but technically it's so challenging 0:08:52.165 --> 0:08:55.685 because there's so many different environmental factors. You're dealing with 0:08:55.765 --> 0:08:59.205 the elements and with the people around you not knowing 0:08:59.205 --> 0:09:01.285 what they're going to do. But also you have to 0:09:01.325 --> 0:09:02.645 know everything. 0:09:02.885 --> 0:09:05.565 And you have to be able to repeat it without 0:09:05.645 --> 0:09:10.085 repeating it exactly. You have to maintain the relay ships, 0:09:10.525 --> 0:09:13.325 which for people who were getting up at four o'clock 0:09:13.365 --> 0:09:15.925 in the morning, quarter past three, quarter past three. 0:09:16.245 --> 0:09:18.765 Yeah, it's hard. It's really hard. 0:09:18.925 --> 0:09:22.165 And so it's not that it wasn't technically challenging or 0:09:22.165 --> 0:09:25.325 professionally challenging, because it was in lots of ways. But 0:09:25.445 --> 0:09:29.165 I think my idea of myself was really quite different 0:09:29.205 --> 0:09:31.325 from doing entertainment only. 0:09:31.965 --> 0:09:35.565 And what do you think drew their eye to you 0:09:36.845 --> 0:09:39.405 in the first place? How did you get offered that job? 0:09:40.365 --> 0:09:41.845 I remember exactly what it was. 0:09:41.885 --> 0:09:44.525 So when I was on Triple J I did an 0:09:44.525 --> 0:09:48.285 episode of back Roads and I went up to the 0:09:48.325 --> 0:09:52.365 Tiwei Islands, and you know, it's that lovely show where 0:09:52.365 --> 0:09:53.085 they go to the country. 0:09:53.365 --> 0:09:55.605 Beautiful, it's so good. I thought you might have gone 0:09:55.645 --> 0:09:56.325 to Muscle Brook. 0:09:56.525 --> 0:09:57.845 No, I think we were. 0:09:58.125 --> 0:10:00.445 I think we were nearly going to go to somewhere 0:10:00.485 --> 0:10:02.125 like Tamworth or somewhere. 0:10:01.845 --> 0:10:03.325 Around, which is where you're from. 0:10:04.205 --> 0:10:06.845 Up around that area, like in the Upper Hunter Valley. 0:10:07.525 --> 0:10:08.925 We went up to the Tewe's and they have like 0:10:08.965 --> 0:10:12.005 this big pretty carnival and arts festival, and it's so beautiful, 0:10:12.005 --> 0:10:17.925 it's heaven. And they have these these these trans women 0:10:18.405 --> 0:10:21.205 and they're called Sister Girls, and they were they took 0:10:21.245 --> 0:10:25.205 me out bush and we were eating these like gigantic slugs. 0:10:25.605 --> 0:10:28.885 Oh, they're supposed to be like. 0:10:28.885 --> 0:10:31.885 Medicinal and they just sort of like crack open and 0:10:31.925 --> 0:10:34.125 these big pillars of wood and then pulled them out 0:10:34.125 --> 0:10:35.805 and there you go, eat one of these and I 0:10:35.885 --> 0:10:37.845 was like, oh, of course, is it like a witchity 0:10:37.885 --> 0:10:41.565 grub but bigger and softer and squishier and without the ridges. 0:10:41.685 --> 0:10:45.285 Without the ridges, it's almost like, yeah, like translucent and 0:10:45.325 --> 0:10:47.405 it's like eats the wood. And so they pull it 0:10:47.405 --> 0:10:49.405 out and then they just like got down the gullet 0:10:49.885 --> 0:10:54.525 and I remember doing it and then just being like yeah, 0:10:56.285 --> 0:10:59.925 and then being like, oh, that's so lovely, thank you, 0:11:00.005 --> 0:11:02.605 because you do want to be disrespectful of people's And 0:11:04.285 --> 0:11:08.405 my boss on today, Burlow, his parents were watching and 0:11:08.445 --> 0:11:10.445 they were like, Oh, you've got to get this girl. 0:11:11.685 --> 0:11:13.285 To come across the Channel nine. 0:11:13.325 --> 0:11:15.965 We just absolutely love her, Like she was so funny 0:11:15.965 --> 0:11:17.845 and you know she was doing all this stuff. 0:11:17.645 --> 0:11:22.965 And if she grabs and so you got the phone call, yeah, 0:11:23.005 --> 0:11:25.405 And where were you at that point in your life? 0:11:26.605 --> 0:11:30.685 So like just personally, emotionally, spiritually. 0:11:30.205 --> 0:11:33.845 Anywhere, physically, all of it, all of it, all of them. 0:11:35.605 --> 0:11:37.245 I think I was ready to move on from Triple J. 0:11:37.365 --> 0:11:41.125 Anyway, I was kind of hoping to get a reprieve 0:11:41.165 --> 0:11:45.005 from the early mornings and then like, so when I 0:11:45.005 --> 0:11:47.565 got the call and I was like, oh, this means 0:11:47.565 --> 0:11:49.805 my life is going to change, because it's one thing 0:11:49.845 --> 0:11:53.485 to be famous, you know, on the Triple J audience 0:11:53.605 --> 0:11:56.285 with the Triple Jen, it's still a huge amount of people. 0:11:56.285 --> 0:11:58.205 It's probably about the same as the Tenay Show audience, 0:11:58.525 --> 0:12:00.405 but it doesn't have all of the tabloid interests, Like 0:12:00.445 --> 0:12:03.885 people don't really care about the lives of the hosts 0:12:03.885 --> 0:12:05.805 in the same way that they do on the Today Show. 0:12:06.085 --> 0:12:07.045 No, that's true. 0:12:07.085 --> 0:12:09.045 You know, like you were you're a celebrity when you're 0:12:09.045 --> 0:12:12.205 on that sho show. Yeah, like the Daily Mail will 0:12:12.205 --> 0:12:15.525 write stories about you, and you know, it's a completely 0:12:15.525 --> 0:12:19.005 different beast. And so I knew my life was going 0:12:19.085 --> 0:12:22.365 to change. I didn't know exactly how. And so I 0:12:22.445 --> 0:12:24.965 kind of spoke to my family and I spoke to 0:12:25.125 --> 0:12:27.285 some friends, and you know, I was just sort of 0:12:27.285 --> 0:12:29.845 getting advice from everyone, thinking like, is this what I 0:12:29.845 --> 0:12:32.365 really want to do, because I've never been motivated really 0:12:32.405 --> 0:12:35.485 by just by like getting more famous or like getting 0:12:35.485 --> 0:12:37.085 more money or right. 0:12:37.205 --> 0:12:39.685 Well, I love that you say in the book, that 0:12:39.885 --> 0:12:43.245 sweet spot of fame where you get invited to really 0:12:43.365 --> 0:12:46.605 nice things, but you don't get annoyed at the supermarket. 0:12:46.685 --> 0:12:47.805 It's a sweet spot, isn't it. 0:12:47.805 --> 0:12:50.445 It is? But I don't know who has that sweet spot. 0:12:51.005 --> 0:12:54.285 I feel like we're probably in that sweet spot. 0:12:54.365 --> 0:12:55.645 Actually, I think I am. 0:12:55.725 --> 0:12:57.085 Do you get bothered at the supermarket? 0:12:57.485 --> 0:13:00.765 I get bothered by the supermarket? Actually, if I think it, maybe. 0:13:00.645 --> 0:13:01.805 You just want to be richer so then you don't 0:13:01.845 --> 0:13:03.005 have to go to the supermarket. 0:13:03.845 --> 0:13:08.725 Your sweet spot is just absolute to have domination people 0:13:08.765 --> 0:13:09.445 to work for you. 0:13:10.045 --> 0:13:12.525 But so you didn't end up in that sweet spot though, 0:13:12.605 --> 0:13:13.005 did you. 0:13:14.205 --> 0:13:15.645 I feel like I can still easily go to a 0:13:15.685 --> 0:13:17.405 supermarke like something. But I mean. 0:13:17.765 --> 0:13:25.645 Then when you were dressed into morning TV and it's attendant. 0:13:26.565 --> 0:13:29.245 I mean, you know Karl Stefanovic. 0:13:29.165 --> 0:13:31.445 Like Carl probably can go to the supermarket without getting harrassed. 0:13:31.445 --> 0:13:33.685 I don't think like, oh no, he'd just be getting 0:13:33.685 --> 0:13:37.565 annoyed everywhere. Yeah, And like I think, I don't know. 0:13:37.605 --> 0:13:39.565 You ask anyone who's famous, like even Taylor Swift. Have 0:13:39.605 --> 0:13:42.125 you seen those clips that pop up of her and 0:13:42.165 --> 0:13:44.445 she's like, don't feel sorry for me, but this is 0:13:44.445 --> 0:13:46.925 awful years And I think that that's true, Like you 0:13:46.965 --> 0:13:49.045 can't do anything normal like, you can't go to the 0:13:49.085 --> 0:13:50.725 shop and just be like, I'm just going to pick 0:13:50.765 --> 0:13:52.525 up some French linion dip and some jats on the 0:13:52.525 --> 0:13:53.565 way home exactly. 0:13:53.685 --> 0:13:57.885 And that's why it's a curse when extreme fame happens 0:13:57.885 --> 0:13:58.965 to people very young. 0:13:59.205 --> 0:14:02.485 Yes, it's unfair because there's no way on earth that 0:14:02.525 --> 0:14:05.245 they could be that they could have the mental capacity 0:14:05.325 --> 0:14:08.645 to deal with that sort of thing because you don't 0:14:08.805 --> 0:14:12.285 get any human experience, You don't get experiences in the 0:14:12.285 --> 0:14:13.485 way that anyone else does. 0:14:14.445 --> 0:14:16.605 No, it's isolating, it would be totally isolating. 0:14:16.645 --> 0:14:19.725 You know how they say the Queen, the Queen thinks 0:14:19.725 --> 0:14:22.045 the world smells of chicken and fresh paint. 0:14:22.765 --> 0:14:23.645 What do they say that? 0:14:23.765 --> 0:14:27.885 Yeah, okay, it's very interesting. Well, because you know when 0:14:28.005 --> 0:14:30.965 people are the Queen doesn't just pop up anywhere unannounced. 0:14:31.165 --> 0:14:33.645 Of course, I've always got fresh paint feet, it's. 0:14:33.485 --> 0:14:37.365 Always freshly everything's freshly painted. And they are never serve 0:14:37.485 --> 0:14:40.805 chicken because it's the dish. Apparently the royals can eat. 0:14:41.005 --> 0:14:41.205 Yeah. 0:14:41.285 --> 0:14:45.605 Right, So that's what happens to people who are thrusted 0:14:45.685 --> 0:14:50.685 into intense fame at any stage really, but particularly young 0:14:50.845 --> 0:14:53.365 that there's it's got a real atrophye quality. 0:14:53.445 --> 0:14:55.365 I think that's why they always try to like sort 0:14:55.405 --> 0:14:57.925 of become a bit reclusive and try to keep their 0:14:57.925 --> 0:15:00.005 circle small and stuff like that. Right, like they try 0:15:00.045 --> 0:15:01.445 to sort of take it back, but you can't take 0:15:01.485 --> 0:15:01.805 it back. 0:15:02.005 --> 0:15:03.045 No, you can't take it back. 0:15:03.125 --> 0:15:04.285 But then you move to Oxford. 0:15:04.765 --> 0:15:06.125 Well, who would do that? 0:15:06.165 --> 0:15:07.885 Who would do that? That's been insane? 0:15:08.965 --> 0:15:12.485 Who who did you tell first? From the on air team? 0:15:12.565 --> 0:15:17.445 Was it were you on with Allie Langdon Stefanovic? Who 0:15:17.525 --> 0:15:19.045 was there in yours? 0:15:19.085 --> 0:15:21.845 I think oh, I'd already told Ali while I was 0:15:21.845 --> 0:15:25.285 applying she's one of my best friends, like I just 0:15:25.405 --> 0:15:26.645 I absolutely adore her and. 0:15:26.645 --> 0:15:27.485 Everyone loves her. 0:15:27.525 --> 0:15:28.885 Oh, she's just she's the best. 0:15:30.285 --> 0:15:35.285 And then I told Carl and Sarah h And obviously, 0:15:35.285 --> 0:15:37.085 like when you start telling people, we're like, oh no, 0:15:37.205 --> 0:15:39.245 this is going to get out because you feel sort 0:15:39.285 --> 0:15:42.565 of nervous about what if they someone whover hears them 0:15:42.605 --> 0:15:44.765 talking to someone you know, like they're not even gossiping, 0:15:44.805 --> 0:15:47.245 but maybe they're telling their partner. Like Brooke told me 0:15:47.285 --> 0:15:49.285 this today. You know what, you don't know. You just 0:15:49.285 --> 0:15:51.405 don't know who's gonna hear what. So as soon as 0:15:51.405 --> 0:15:54.565 you start telling people we get so nervous, so so nervous. 0:15:55.965 --> 0:15:58.045 So I told my agent and then I told my boss. 0:15:58.445 --> 0:16:01.245 You know, I think every time I went to tell someone, 0:16:01.765 --> 0:16:03.925 I feel like they would just assume, like in their 0:16:03.925 --> 0:16:05.365 mind they were like, she's pregnant. 0:16:05.605 --> 0:16:07.325 Because if a woman comes to you and they're like, 0:16:07.365 --> 0:16:09.525 can you just sit down, I've got some big news. Yeah, 0:16:09.565 --> 0:16:10.885 of course they're going to be like. 0:16:11.725 --> 0:16:16.605 Oh, yeah, you know, it's either cancer or pregnant. 0:16:16.325 --> 0:16:20.525 Exactly exactly, it's not anything else. It's never I'm going 0:16:20.565 --> 0:16:21.085 to Oxford. 0:16:21.765 --> 0:16:27.885 And also because people, like we said before, in this 0:16:28.125 --> 0:16:33.365 industry are not used to people leaving. Like it was 0:16:33.445 --> 0:16:37.285 like when I left to go live in Italy. Yes, yeah, 0:16:37.965 --> 0:16:40.805 people were like, what how could you leave that job? 0:16:40.965 --> 0:16:43.645 People only ever lose the job because they die or 0:16:43.685 --> 0:16:45.965 they get pushed down the stairs by someone who wants 0:16:45.965 --> 0:16:46.325 their job. 0:16:46.405 --> 0:16:47.005 Do you know what I mean? 0:16:47.085 --> 0:16:48.965 Like, people just don't walk away. 0:16:49.205 --> 0:16:50.085 And yet you. 0:16:51.685 --> 0:16:55.605 Made that decision. And I think, having read your book, 0:16:56.405 --> 0:17:02.085 that it's all tied up with who you are, who 0:17:02.125 --> 0:17:07.205 your people are, who your family are, what the expectations are, 0:17:08.005 --> 0:17:12.685 and the opportunity that you see that can be afforded 0:17:12.725 --> 0:17:18.445 to you that have been hard one. Am I overthinking it? 0:17:18.565 --> 0:17:20.565 No, no, no, I think you're right, and I think 0:17:21.245 --> 0:17:25.245 you're like, you can have all of the money in 0:17:25.285 --> 0:17:27.485 the world, Like you could stay in that job and 0:17:28.205 --> 0:17:30.685 you know, have a really amazing life and be so 0:17:30.765 --> 0:17:32.805 lucky because it's such an incredible job even though the 0:17:32.845 --> 0:17:37.405 hours are hard, but you only get one life, like you. 0:17:37.805 --> 0:17:40.045 I'm never going to keep saying I mean, we don't know, 0:17:40.205 --> 0:17:41.565 but we do have to work off it. 0:17:41.645 --> 0:17:43.685 We have to work off that assumption because we don't 0:17:43.725 --> 0:17:44.045 really know. 0:17:44.165 --> 0:17:47.325 Yes, like I'm only ever going to be thirty seven once, 0:17:48.645 --> 0:17:50.645 before I know it, I'm going to be forty, and 0:17:50.685 --> 0:17:51.725 then I'll be forty five. 0:17:52.325 --> 0:17:55.805 And time goes so quickly. And I just. 0:17:55.805 --> 0:17:58.245 Knew that if I didn't do something like this now, 0:17:58.285 --> 0:18:02.045 then I never ever would and I would have regretted it. 0:18:02.885 --> 0:18:06.045 I would have regretted it, not just because it's an 0:18:06.045 --> 0:18:08.725 amazing experience to go over there, but to prove to 0:18:08.765 --> 0:18:13.405 myself that I could do it and to stretch myself 0:18:13.445 --> 0:18:13.765 like that. 0:18:13.845 --> 0:18:17.325 It's such a gift to be able to indulge in 0:18:17.365 --> 0:18:19.885 thinking that it's amazing. 0:18:19.645 --> 0:18:21.525 And like to learn in the you know, the best 0:18:21.565 --> 0:18:23.685 university in the world and to think about things in 0:18:23.685 --> 0:18:26.725 a way that I've never thought about them before. It's 0:18:27.805 --> 0:18:32.445 to me, like the pain of not doing that is 0:18:32.485 --> 0:18:36.845 greater than the pain of leaving. And I think once 0:18:36.885 --> 0:18:39.525 the balance tips like that, and like there would be 0:18:39.605 --> 0:18:42.125 moments where I would be laying in bed at night 0:18:42.125 --> 0:18:44.725 thinking like I've got to do this. If I don't 0:18:44.725 --> 0:18:47.365 do this, I'm going to be filled with regret, like 0:18:47.405 --> 0:18:49.685 it's going to make me sad. If not now, then 0:18:49.885 --> 0:18:51.685 in ten years time or twenty years time. 0:18:52.165 --> 0:18:53.645 There's a but. 0:18:53.765 --> 0:18:58.525 You don't come to us just as yourself or do 0:18:58.605 --> 0:19:02.605 you have sixty five thousand years behind you? And you 0:19:02.685 --> 0:19:07.285 were the first I didn't realize this, the first Indigenous 0:19:07.285 --> 0:19:11.285 woman in commercial sull television in. 0:19:12.005 --> 0:19:14.525 That role, yeah, and that sort of substantial role, the 0:19:14.565 --> 0:19:17.285 first one on Breakfast TV. Man or woman, Yeah, like 0:19:17.365 --> 0:19:22.245 Stan had man or woman, Stan had Tony Armstrong. I 0:19:22.285 --> 0:19:27.005 love Tony, but like Stan Grant had been on Channel 0:19:27.045 --> 0:19:33.405 seven in the nineties and early noughties, but it hadn't 0:19:33.565 --> 0:19:37.325 really been anyone else, Like Norelda had done Perth and 0:19:37.445 --> 0:19:40.165 I think MALANDERI maybe had done some stuff in Darwin, 0:19:40.765 --> 0:19:42.285 but in terms of like one of. 0:19:42.205 --> 0:19:44.005 Those big TV gigs. 0:19:45.805 --> 0:19:48.925 Yeah, like it hadn't really been done before, and it 0:19:48.965 --> 0:19:51.445 feels weird to say now because then after that, you know, 0:19:51.485 --> 0:19:54.045 they all kind of did it, Like then Norella got 0:19:54.085 --> 0:19:55.685 her job and Tony got his job, and it sort 0:19:55.685 --> 0:19:57.245 of seemed like a really normal thing to do, as 0:19:57.285 --> 0:19:57.765 it should be. 0:19:58.325 --> 0:20:01.365 But when you started, was that so weird? A lot 0:20:01.365 --> 0:20:02.965 of the focus of attention on you. 0:20:03.405 --> 0:20:07.205 Yeah, right, it was this weird moment where everyone was like, oh, 0:20:07.245 --> 0:20:07.885 what are they doing? 0:20:08.685 --> 0:20:09.085 Really? 0:20:10.445 --> 0:20:12.765 It was like, on one hand, people were like, oh, 0:20:12.765 --> 0:20:14.045 she's not really black, look at her. 0:20:14.125 --> 0:20:15.445 Look she's just a bit caramel. 0:20:15.485 --> 0:20:17.085 But then on the other hand, they were like, what 0:20:17.085 --> 0:20:20.005 are they doing putting a blackfither onto here? You know, like, oh, 0:20:20.045 --> 0:20:23.285 this is a diversity high Like, I don't know, people 0:20:23.325 --> 0:20:25.445 had a very strange reaction to it. 0:20:26.045 --> 0:20:28.605 And what was your reaction to their reaction? 0:20:31.845 --> 0:20:32.885 I knew it would be. 0:20:32.805 --> 0:20:35.725 Like a big deal, but I just kind of didn't 0:20:35.965 --> 0:20:38.245 understand how big of a deal it was going to be. 0:20:39.205 --> 0:20:41.445 And you know, there's always so much of a fuss 0:20:41.445 --> 0:20:44.045 around like who's going to be on the Today Show and. 0:20:44.045 --> 0:20:46.165 Yees, what they're going to be doing, and yes, you. 0:20:46.125 --> 0:20:49.445