The real reason Terry Biviano signed up to be a Housewife
Despite being fiercely protective of her family’s privacy, Terry Biviano, husband Anthony Minichiello and daughter Azura pose for a rare family shoot for Stellar and reveal how it took some “long coversations” to convince the shoe queen to sign on to the controversial show.
Stellar
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Two years before the Real Housewives mega-franchise planted its designer heel in Melbourne in 2014, the reality TV show WAG Nation followed the glamorous lives of five sport stars’ wives and girlfriends for one season. Among them? Terry Biviano, the wife of then Sydney Roosters captain Anthony Minichiello. Now the successful shoe designer is returning to television on The Real Housewives Of Sydney, and she’s ready to show her castmates – and the world at large – how a veteran of the lifestyle reality genre really lives. In this exclusive photo shoot and interview with Stellar, Biviano and Minichiello talk about what it’s like to really kick goals
One glance at Terry Biviano’s Instagram feed and it’s easy to see why the producers of The Real Housewives Of Sydney were clamouring to cast her. From the over-the-top birthday parties she and her husband, retired NRL star Anthony Minichiello, host for daughter Azura – complete with coordinating family ensembles – to her uber-glamorous appearances on red carpets, Biviano is the epitome of sophisticated Sydney socialite living.
But if you ask her, Biviano’s day-to-day is much more down-to-earth. “I’m definitely just like everyone else,” she tells Stellar. “I’m happiest when I’m at home having a pyjama day with my family.”
If that raises a well-groomed eyebrow, the former shoe designer does acknowledge that fashion is a big part of her life. “I love to dress up,” she admits. “But it doesn’t define who I am. That’s just one part of me; that’s like the creative side of me. It’s not entirely my personality.”
Signing up for a stint on reality television is one way to disprove that. Biviano explains: “The other reason I did the show is that hopefully people will see the real side of me, and not just what they perceive me to be from photos in a newspaper or magazine.”
And now that Azura is nine, Biviano, 48, is at a point where she can take on new challenges and show her daughter the importance in doing so. “I feel like I’m doing things in the opposite direction,” she says. “I had the [eponymous shoe] brand and the success and the career. And it’s almost like I’m starting again, and it’s not that easy when you kind of put your life on hold for your family, and then you want to get back out there.”
So TV first and then a new business venture, right? “One little step at a time,” she says with a smile. “It’s something I would like to do in the future because, if it’s something you love, it will always be there. Making shoes wasn’t just a job for me – it was a passion.”
Growing up as the daughter of a photographer father and a mother who worked in fashion, Biviano’s household was always abuzz with creativity and social activity. At the same time, her parents weren’t the sort to sugar-coat hard truths, and Biviano credits their approach with making her resilient and humble. “I have always been able to apologise because we all do the wrong thing,” she explains. “We all say and do silly things. I can’t imagine how many I’ve done onscreen on the show.”
If there’s cause for caution, it’s because Biviano appeared in the short-lived WAG Nation just over a decade ago. “Anthony and I get approached for lots of reality shows, but we’ve never really had an interest,” she says. “After WAG Nation, I thought I’d done my dash of television, and it wasn’t for me. I found it very, very overwhelming, as one does, because it’s not easy exposing your true self on national television.”
On top of that, Biviano says that she and Minichiello, 43, are fierce protectors of their family’s privacy. “We’re not the first ones to jump on an opportunity just to be famous,” she says. “We don’t want that. That’s not what our life is about.”
What convinced Biviano to go on-camera once more was the promise that Housewives would be an aspirational series that showcased “women supporting women and covering topics that really relate to our everyday lives”, she assures Stellar. “Because, as we all know, we’re all in the same boat. The struggle is real for all of us, no matter where you live, where you’re from, how much money you have, or how much you don’t have. We’re all going through the same stuff.”
Of course, her stuff is a lot more interesting than most people’s, and the new-look Housewives won’t abandon the formula that fans know and love, either. There will still be outrageous outfits, jaw-dropping real estate and conflict over cocktails. Because of that, Biviano understands she will inevitably attract trolls. “Not everyone is going to love you, but not everyone is going to hate you, either,” she reasons. “You have to take criticism on, as well. I’m afraid of it, but I’m going to let it roll off my shoulders.”
While her frank, rapid-fire conversational style and striking dress sense would suggest that Biviano is a woman brimming with self-confidence, “I just put on a really good front,” she says. “That’s how I kind of attack my shyness, is by being very friendly and more extroverted. But I think that Anthony really brings me such incredible grounding.
“He is such a realist, but he’s also such an optimist who looks at everything in a positive light. I suppose that’s why he’s had such incredible success in his life and his career.”
The former Sydney Roosters captain, who now runs his own fitness business, MiniFit, was initially reluctant to open up their lives again so publicly. “But we had some long conversations about it, and I left the decision up to her,” Minichiello tells Stellar. “I trust her judgement and no matter what she decided, I’m always going to support her.”
In fact, Minichiello admires the risk Biviano is taking because, as he says, “I’m a firm believer that if you take yourself out of your comfort zone, that’s when you evolve and learn things as a person. Staying in your little life bubble and doing the same things can get pretty boring.”
The couple, who met through mutual friends in 2006, quickly became one of the super couples of the NRL. “I’d never watched football in my life – I had no idea who he was,” Biviano says with a laugh, before adding that she’s now a fervent Roosters supporter and her husband’s biggest fan. That doesn’t mean she appreciates being consigned to the “wives and girlfriends” corner, though.
“I have never identified myself as a WAG because I don’t believe in stereotypes,” she insists. “No-one should be defined by what they do for a living, what they look like or who they’re married to. And that is a huge part of the reason I’ve done this show. Because I want people to see – not the WAG, not the housewife, not the shoe queen – just me, Terry Biviano.”
The Real Housewives Of Sydney premieres on October 10 on Binge.
Originally published as The real reason Terry Biviano signed up to be a Housewife
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