Bondi Rescue’s Jules King to take year off for new baby
Jules King won’t be on our screens when Bondi Rescue returns this week. But as Greg Flynn reports, she’s got a pretty good reason.
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When Bondi Rescue lifeguard Jules King’s waters broke at a Bronte café in December, her thoughts as she and her partner hurried away included: “We haven’t paid the bill.”
On a crisp morning six weeks later, she was back at Café Salina sipping deep green vegetable juice, her son Thorian snoozing in a fashionable baby carrier, his cheek resting against her pale cotton windcheater.
“Darius and I were celebrating the first day of my maternity leave by going out to breakfast,” says Jules. “We had no idea Thorian would be early. When my waters broke, we just kept asking each other: ‘What’s happening? What’s happening?’”
Temporarily minus Jules, Channel 10’s Bondi Rescue is also back, kicking off its 14th season on 25 February. Discussing the TV series, she smiles, flawless white teeth contrasting with her still unfaded tan, and explains how her life has changed from getting up at 5am to meditate prior to walking from her Bronte home to Bondi Beach. “Today I woke at 5am to feed Thorian and there was definitely no time to meditate.”
“When I think back to a year ago, pre-COVID, I was working 13-hour days during a really hot, busy summer,” recalls the 32-year-old vegan. “With big crowds, the beach was chaos. I found meditation and the coastal walk before starting work at six was a nice way to begin what could be a stressful day. You never knew what you were walking into.”
The only female lifeguard working among the 30 professional lifeguards employed by Waverley Council, she says she now thinks of her colleagues as a “family” – however, not at first. “When I started at Bondi five years ago I felt so, so intimidated. But if you look at the team photos during the following years you can see how my body language changed in each photo. At the start, my shoulders are hunched over and my feet are facing each other. I was just trying to hide. But, over the years, you’ll see I moved to sitting in the front all proud or standing next to people with arms on their shoulders.
“I just feel part of the family. I’d been a lifeguard for 10 years before I came to Bondi so I didn’t need to learn those skills, I just needed to learn the area, the team, the people and how they ran.”
“Ran” as in “operated”. Running on sand in races against men isn’t an issue for Jules. Nor is competing against them in ocean swims. “But as soon as they jump on a board, they’re so much stronger.” It’s one of the reasons even the fittest of women struggles to become a professional lifeguard at sought-after Bondi.
Surely her winning the coveted job was an indication of how fit and capable she was? Jules shrugs. “I guess so, but those tests are part of the most stressful day in your life.”
Her previous work as a lifeguard included stints at Newcastle, near where she grew up at Lake Macquarie, and Noosa. In 2016, she linked both Newcastle and Noosa in a paddle on her 3.6 metre board to raise funds for the White Ribbon campaign against domestic violence. Solo? “Of course. No-one was silly enough to join me in the water.” Although she had a support team travelling along the coast roads, she had to be trained by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service to give herself intravenous injections if she became dehydrated at sea and learn how to be winched up to a chopper in an emergency.
Were the 43 days on the ocean enjoyable? “No,” she says, flashing another broad, sparkling smile. “I was delusional for most of it.”
The charity paddle fits her “Mermaid with a Message” handle on Instagram and Twitter. “In regards to domestic violence, I know young girls and women look up to me so I want them to know your past doesn’t dictate your future.” She is also committed to raising awareness of the need for ocean conservation.
When not lifeguarding, Jules works as an Eastern Suburbs schoolteacher and, separately, as a hypnotherapist. “I’ve been formally trained as a hypnotherapist and I’ve used hypno techniques with my sport to improve my performance. I’ve also worked with high achieving athletes to help them reach their best performance.”
Ever the optimist, she is also ever the sportswoman. Together with her other athletic achievements, Jules has represented Australia in aerobics at that sport’s world championships. She was ranked 3rd. “I’ve even got the Aussie team tracksuits to prove it.”
“I’ve been really, really driven from a young age,” she adds. “I remember telling my mother that I wanted to be the best in the world. She asked: ‘At what?’ I just glared at her and said: ‘I don’t know yet. I’m four.’
“I’ve always had this underlying desire to prove myself. It could stem from the fact I couldn’t walk when I was little.” Jules explains that when young she suffered from a range of leg, foot and other medical problems including Sever’s Disease, a painful ailment impacting the heels.
For a moment, Thorian, a soft muslin cloth protecting his head from the elements, stirs then, despite the din created by the café’s other customers, drops back to sleep.
Looking down at her child, Jules wonders “if there’s something in the water at Bondi”. The partners of her Bondi Rescue co-stars Ryan “Whippet” Clark, Andy “Reidy” Reid and Daniel “Beardy” McLaughlin have all had babies recently.
For the first time since giving birth, Jules has been able to start exercising again. “I’m not rushing to get back to work but I want to get my body fit and, for myself, prove I can get back to that level (of being a lifeguard).”
Despite years in the Bondi surf, she’s never seen a shark. Since childhood she has had what she terms “a healthy fascination with sharks” and as a youngster she borrowed every library book about the creatures she could find. Although they’ve been no sharks on view at Bondi, she has spotted whales, dolphins and, not surprisingly, tourists in danger. From the lifeguard tower, she and her colleagues constantly scanned the water: “A lot of the time you’re focusing on the South Rip and (the area known as) ‘Backpackers’.”
Among the reasons she enjoyed being involved in Bondi Rescue was that the production, camera and sound teams included women. “I’ve been working in a boy’s club for 15 years. I thought ‘Cool. They’re finally bringing a few females in.’”
Each year, Jules was employed by Waverley Council from September through to the end of May. The Bondi Rescue shoots took place mainly in the summer school holidays. Did show business ever intrude on lifeguarding? “Never. They don’t get in the way but, if they did, you’d just say ‘You’re going to have to move. I can’t talk.’ At the end of the day, it’s your job and if you stuff up someone could die.”
Perhaps it was Jules’ well-balanced view of life’s priorities that spelt a quick end to her stint on Channel 10’s The Bachelor. In 2018, she joined 24 other women to compete for the affections of rugby player and man-who-gave-himself-his-nickname Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins.
“It was a highly unique experience.” There’s a pause. “A unique blur. It was shot over three months but I was only in it for two weeks which meant I was in two episodes. I wasn’t very prominent. I was the only person who was approached to go on the show. Everyone else applied and genuinely wanted to be there.” Initially she turned down the invitations, however she eventually thought “what if I meet someone good? I don’t want to block the universe’s magic.”
The Bachelor series was staged at a sprawling house near Sydney’s northern beaches. While staying there with the other contestants, Jules gave herself chores to do – tending the plants, cleaning the pool. “I became this house mum. I did water safety announcements like ‘Girls, the covers are on the pool so if you’re drinking don’t run and jump into it’. Every morning, I’d announce ‘The pool’s open.’ Because I was doing all these jobs, I believed they wouldn’t kick me off the show. I was being so helpful.”
Apparently, the Honey Badger wasn’t looking for a helpful, full-of-vim vegan and he declined the opportunity to date Jules. It was his loss.
Bondi Rescue returns to air on Channel 10 at 7.30pm 25 February.
Originally published as Bondi Rescue’s Jules King to take year off for new baby
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