I had a celebrity crush on actor Matt Damon, who came to Melbourne in 2007 to promote The Bourne Ultimatum. I was a journalist at the Herald-Sun when the incoming premier John Brumby asked if I wanted to come to Parliament House, where they were doing a photoshoot with him. When I got there, I lost my mind and couldnβt say a word.
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I have always been in relationships. I didnβt give my younger self enough time to enjoy my own company. I thought I needed to be loved by someone, and as a result dated a series of average men until I finally swore off them.
I met my husband, Michael, a former sports broadcaster, at Hoo Haa nightclub on Chapel Street after the 2007 AFL grand final. I went there to have a drink with a male friend, walked up the stairs and bumped into Michael. We spoke for 10 minutes and, after, I texted my friends and said, I just met my husband. By the Monday, Michael had texted. We started dating soon after. For the first time in my dating life, I was like, this is what a good relationship feels like.
Michael has given up his career in the media, so I can fulfil mine. We have two daughters, Maddie, 12, and Georgia, 7. When we had our second daughter, he said heβd stay home and raise her. He has the most phenomenal relationship with her because of that.
As a woman in my 40s, I realise you have to find the men who lift you up and allow you to follow your dreams. Michael lets me go on my feminist rants and what it means in terms of raising daughters. He listens and takes it on board. Men like him are hard to find.
Broadcaster Ross Stevenson took me under his wing and offered me a spot on his radio show after I left Channel 7. He is like a mentor to me. Other men who have championed me are TV presenter Brian Taylor, Hamish McLachlan and Eddie McGuire; they still check in.
Jacqui Felgateβs collaboration with Ceres Life is out now.
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