Reality star Tanya Hennessy on body image, being called an ‘influencer’ – and why her weight is none of your business
Amid attention around her body image, Tanya Hennessy – radio host and former I’m A Celeb contestant – reveals why stars like Jackie O should not be defined by their appearance.
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Content creator, author and radio host Tanya Hennessy opens up about the joy of loving herself and the pain of infertility.
Stellar: When you were last in Stellar in 2018, we called you a “radio host, comedian and YouTube sensation”. How should we describe you in 2025?
Tanya Hennessy: Hot as! [Laughs].
Stellar: That goes without saying.
Tanya Hennessy: I’m really humble … Look, the cover is unbelievable and I’m obsessed with myself. You know, I’ve been doing social media 10 years, which is crazy. I started in 2015 and I remember life changing so radically. I have a Before Viral and After Viral Tanya. They’re such different people. I’m a slashie, and people have a real problem with it. I work in comedy, I write TV scripts, I do columns, I’m an author, I do radio shows, and I make social media content. I would say I’m a social media creator. I used to write the word “influencer” out of all my contracts because what it really means is to influence sales. If the word was to influence joy, positivity or positive change, I’d be like: great, but it’s to influence sales and being aligned as a commodity didn’t feel comfortable. It still doesn’t. That’s why I don’t like the word “influencer” for me. Some people do identify with it. I hate it, actually.
Listen to the full interview with Tanya Hennessy on Something To Talk About below:
Stellar: What has been your experience in this era of the splintered algorithm between mainstream and social media?
Tanya Hennessy: I’m lucky that I’m able to do both traditional and social media, but I feel like a fraud in both scenarios. If I’m doing TV, I feel like the social media girl. If I’m doing social media, I feel like the commercial radio/TV girl. It’s really weird. I never know which place I sit. I always feel a little bit of neither. But I also know I’m kind of fierce because no-one can do what I can do. It’s taken me a really long time, like 39 years, to admit that … I’m really trying to get on Dancing With The Stars, but they won’t let me on. Because I think the audience that are watching it aren’t on social. So I don’t know if I’m ever going to get on that show. And so help me God, I will, because I’m very determined and I want to wear a leotard and rhinestone pants. That feels like my destiny. I feel I could body roll very intensely. I’m really willing to move my hips in a sexual way – but not too sexual for PG, Channel Seven timeslots.
Stellar: Talking about weight in a sensitive way is always fraught, but you’ve also been open about losing weight as part of your fertility journey. Can I ask about the reaction to your body changing?
Tanya Hennessy: People are really curious about it. I lost a lot of weight, because I needed to, and I needed to quite quickly, because I’ve been doing IVF since I was 34 and now I’m 39. I feel different, but I also understand why people want to comment on it, because I look different. I get it. But also, this is the shape and size I was when I started creating. I gained 50kg within a couple of years because I was prioritising work. I was eating really badly, I was very stressed. I gained a lot of weight in the media, and then I was like, can we just not talk about my body? Can I just be a creative being who isn’t their body? I guess that’s how I want people to see me, because I will fluctuate, and I will continue to fluctuate my whole life. I’m going to be big and small … But I’m tenacious. I’m smart. I’m really creative. And I want you to see that. I want you to see my soul and my heart before you see the way I look.
Stellar: Whenever a high-profile woman’s body changes, there is always such unnecessary commentary and scrutiny directed at them. I recall discussing this exact issue with Jackie O on the Stellar podcast a couple of years ago.
Tanya Hennessy: As a radio person, Jackie O is my mecca and I don’t care what weight she is – her brain, and her ability to create radio, is exceptional. And that is all I care about. I guess that’s how I want people to see me because I will fluctuate and I am going to continue to fluctuate my whole life. I’m going to be big and small and I have been that – [and that] is my that is my M.O. That is who I am. I am emotionally eating … I have a weird relationship with food. I’m going to struggle with food for my whole life. I am going to be up and down. But I am really tenacious … And I want you to see that. I want to see my soul and my heart before you see the way I look. Please. And not just me. Like, every other person out there. We are more than … the bag of skin that we are walking around in.
Listen to the full interview with Tanya Hennessy on Something To Talk About below:
Stellar: You married your husband Tom Poole last September. How is married life?
Tanya Hennessy: He’s seven years younger than me, which is kind of crazy because sometimes I’ll be like, “Oh, do you know that song ‘Never Ever’ by the All Saints?” And he’s like, “Who are the All Saints?” When I was in uni, he was in Year 5. Don’t bring that up too often because it’s harrowing to think. Like, good Lord, I’m having Vodka Cruisers while he’s having a Paddle Pop. No, look, I loved getting married. The whole day I was so present, which is really rare for me because I’m always so in my head. And I gave myself permission to be in it and it just be about us. I had the best day.
Stellar: You’re currently undergoing your seventh round of IVF. Why did you decide to reveal your fertility story publicly, and what has the response been?
Tanya Hennessy: I spoke about it because I was so feral on hormones. And I truly thought that after the first two rounds, it would just work. So I was like, oh, so we’ll talk about this and then I’ll just be pregnant, and then I’ll have a kid and then that’ll be the end of the story. But the story is more of a chapter book than a picture book. So it’s been a long, drawn out, mentally draining process. I feel like it’s robbed me of a lot of my personality. I miss my old, dirty, downright funny self. Now I’m sad and complex [laughs]. But it’s exhausting getting blood tests almost every single day and changing so much of your food. I’ve got to keep warm and I’ve got to have hot drinks and I can’t have coffee and I used to be addicted to Red Bull, sugar-free. Now I have to eat all these friggin’ fibre foods and high protein, and da da da. And it’s fine, but it doesn’t work. And it’s fine, but it doesn’t work. And it’s fine, but it doesn’t f*cking work.
Tanya Hennessy (continued): As someone who’s so attuned to working hard and getting what they want, it’s really hard. I can’t outwork infertility. And it’s so humanising and painful because [a baby] is something everyone seems to get so easily and I’m here just like, what? So there’s a part of me that goes I’m glad I shared it because you can see the exhaustion of it.
It’s not solved, it’s a process. It’s not “Oh, Tanya said she had infertility struggles, and two weeks later she’s pregnant.” It’s “Tanya says she had an infertility problem – and five years later, she’s still experiencing it.” That’s important to see. Working is really hard. I’ve been on shoots while miscarrying. I’ve been on shoots bleeding.
Listen to the full interview with Tanya Hennessy on Something To Talk About below:
I’ve been on shoots crying because the hormones take over and people ask you questions and you’re like, ugh. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever had to go through. I’ve had two endo[metriosis] surgeries that have been so hard and, yeah, I just don’t get anywhere. And it’s expensive. I’m only able to do seven rounds because [of my income from] sponsored content. It’s a privilege. Not everyone has this privilege to be able to afford it. And I don’t know where to draw the line to stop. Because in the dark soul of the night, when you’re by yourself, all I want to do is see my baby. And if I draw the line, I will never see them. And other people get to be grandparents and I won’t. I’ll go through a grief again. Will I always live with a grief?
Read the full interview and see the cover shoot with Tanya Hennessy in the new issue of Stellar out today inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).
For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.
Originally published as Reality star Tanya Hennessy on body image, being called an ‘influencer’ – and why her weight is none of your business
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