Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac gushes over girlfriend Rebecca James
Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac candidly discusses his new relationship and why he’s much more interested in meeting everyday Australians than he is handing out the forecast.
Stellar
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Sam Mac had been waiting for days to tell his mother some exciting news. “Mum,” he began, “I’ve got something really big to tell you. I’ve been keeping it a secret, but I’m finally allowed to tell you.”
The Sunrise weatherman had barely finished his sentence when his mother, Loretta, butted in. “You’re getting married!” she said, enthusiastically.
“No, I’m not getting married,” he told her, musing that it was something of a stretch since he didn’t even have a girlfriend.
“I know,” she replied, “You’re going to be a daddy.”
Realising that the exchange was going about as well as some of his disaster-prone Sunrise segments, the television star decided simply to blurt it out. “If you’ll shut up for a second, I’ll tell you my news,” he said, inwardly noting that it’s not often your ego is crushed by your own mother. “I’ve just been nominated for the Gold Logie.”
While Mac – full name Sam McMillan – would lose out to the ABC’s Tom Gleeson at the 2019 Logie Awards, the fact he was nominated alongside The Project’s Waleed Aly, actor Rodger Corser and TV and radio host Amanda Keller shows just how popular a man who brands himself a “fraudulent forecaster” has become.
Equal parts comic and showman, the 40-year-old isn’t a qualified meteorologist, but he’s taken his humble weather-reporting role and transformed it into a pivotal element of the Sunrise brand.
While fellow hosts David Koch, Natalie Barr, Mark Beretta and Edwina Bartholomew are often contained to the studio, Mac hits schools, surf clubs and nursing homes to bring a dose of real Australia to the top-rating breakfast show.
In fact, he’s often so busy managing baby discos, massaging strangers, cavorting in a wetsuit or playing the piano for a group of octogenarians that he has to be reminded to actually give some indication if viewers can expect rain or sunshine.
“People know me as a weatherman and I have an interest in the weather, but I’m not an expert on the weather,” Mac tells Stellar ahead of the launch of his memoir, Accidental Weatherman.
An amusing, candid and, at times, deeply moving chronicle of his five years in the role, Mac’s story illustrates the extent to which popularity is propagated through genuine connection as much as star power.
Indeed, the television favourite may have recorded a song with The Wiggles, formed a band with fellow TV host Dr Chris Brown and befriended the ABC’s Leigh Sales (who, incidentally, suggested the title for his book), but it’s his warmth and investment in everyday people that has won him fans and a 138,000-strong Instagram following.
“I’m just a battler from the suburbs of Adelaide,” he says. “I didn’t go to a fancy private school, my parents aren’t very wealthy and I grew up round the local soccer club, so I think that connects with the majority of people in Australia.
“I’m genuinely interested in people and I love going to these random towns, and putting real passion and effort into highlighting everyday Australians. I connect with everyone from kids to 90-year-olds.”
What’s clear about Mac is that he never just dials it in. He may be criss-crossing the country and popping up in places with peculiar names, but in tandem with his producer, a man he calls The Human Emoji, he’s constantly striving to create moments that are variously mad, moving and memorable.
“I see TV as an extension of life,” he says, warming to his theme that he’s a “low-budget Oprah”.
As he tells Stellar: “If you can do something on TV or Instagram and your friends and family are still talking or laughing about it in five years’ time, that’s a winner. I like going to that extra bit of effort to blow someone’s mind, surprise them, delight them and make them feel alive. Making them feel valued is my payment, though obviously don’t tell that to Channel 7!”
If Mac’s modus operandi is surprise – he has sent both viewers and his own parents on unexpected and exciting holidays – then his superpower is accessibility.
He shares stories of his cat Coco (who has her own Instagram page), is an ambassador for R U OK? Day following a friend’s tragic death from suicide, and will frequently record a private birthday message or orchestrate a meaningful meeting for people who reach out to him.
While he has no interest in giving up his early starts – he sets alarms for 3.47am, 3.57am and 4.07am each day – he also has ambitions to present a prime-time show.
But for all his on-screen bonhomie, there was one area of his life that wasn’t thriving as well as his career. In fact, as his 40th birthday crept ever closer, Mac admits he wasn’t only feeling stressed about the milestone, but starting to wonder if he’d sacrificed romance for his job.
That all changed in the middle of last year when a friend introduced him via Instagram to fashion stylist Rebecca James, who lives in Melbourne. With Mac in Sydney and prevented from travelling due to the pandemic, the pair spent months chatting via message and Zoom calls before finally meeting in Melbourne last November.
As he recalls: “I was telling her everything about myself, things I wouldn’t even tell some of my friends or family, so it was strange when we met up for dinner but it also felt like we’d known each other forever.”
Unwilling to ruin the friendship, it took time for both to acknowledge they had feelings for the other, but now that they’re a couple, he couldn’t be happier.
“She’s just so calm, down-to-earth and caring, as well as being absolutely beautiful,” he enthuses. “She’s a 17 out of 10.”
While he admits James is more of a “dog person” while he’s a committed cat-lover – along with Coco he has a blind, “plus-size” moggy called Catra – he says they’re seeing each other most weeks, despite living in different cities. Indeed, in news that will make his mum happy, he’s turning his mind to the future.
“Everyone wants to share their life with someone who is super special to them,” he says. “I want to start thinking about what the next five or 10 years will look like. I’ve written my first book, I’ve got a great girlfriend, a fantastic family and my job’s going well. Life is really good.”
Accidental Weatherman by Sam Mac (Hachette Australia, $32.99) is out April 28. If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Originally published as Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac gushes over girlfriend Rebecca James
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