High Steaks: Roxy Jacenko on love, her health, and why she’ll never regret having children

PR Queen Roxy Jacenko has opened up on how she overdosed on Ozempic, admitting she took four times the recommended dose and ended up in hospital. Watch the High Steaks interview.

Every world city – London, New York, LA – has its own storied history of the adventures of its top PR doyennes. Sitcoms are made about them and they can often take up as many column inches as the high-profile people they represent.

Roxy Jacenko is this generation’s for Sydney. The undisputed PR queen. And, true to form for the genre, she’s had some high-profile brushes with PR crises herself.

There was the moment she was papped through an apartment window kissing another man while her husband was in prison for insider trading, and her Cronulla home giveaway controversy in early 2024 when she announced a promotion offering a $10 million waterfront mansion as a prize for enrolling in her Brand Bootcamp course.

However, the promotion quickly spiralled out of control.

Jacenko admitted to “losing control” of the giveaway and acknowledged that the venture had failed to generate the required $11.5 million in revenue. This led to the liquidation of Roxy’s Bootcamp and legal disputes with her business partners.

Roxy Jacenko sits down with journalist Briana Domjen for her High Steaks interview. Picture: Jonathan Ng

However, the polarising publicist has weathered multiple PR storms and come out the other side – uncancelled and still commanding attention.

Believe it or not, Jacenko still believes all PR is good PR.

Jacenko at her apartment in Barangaroo. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“I believe all PR is good PR but at the same time I have experienced the highest highs and lowest lows,” Jacenko told The Sunday Telegraph from her Barangaroo apartment this week.

“I still remember to this day one particular phone call from you eight years ago.

“I was driving to Bondi and ... I picked up the phone because you never call me … because I never answer the phone. And I knew there was a situation. Wow was there a situation.”

That situation was that she had been papped through an apartment window kissing another man while her husband, Oliver Curtis, was incarcerated.

“I look back now, it was a hard time,” she says.

“Oli was obviously going through what went on with him legally. I had cancer. And I did something really stupid and I will never forget it.

“But at the end of the day, what I think the important thing is … is how you reinvigorate and reinvent yourself after that.

“I mean, I am the queen of reinvention really.

“No matter how hard it gets, I get myself up and I keep going.”

Jacenko eats the same meal every evening – before her fast starts at 6.30pm – grilled chicken breast and a side of Greek salad. Picture: Jonathan Ng

While The Sunday Telegraph’s weekly High Steaks interview is usually conducted at restaurants, Jacenko’s strict diet meant we needed to dine in her Sydney city apartment before her fasting time of 6.30pm.

It also meant steak was off the menu. Instead, we were presented with one-piece of grilled chicken with a small side of greens, cooked by her personal chef, The Blonde Butler’s Romaine Caba.

Jacenko and her husband of 13 years are rarely seen with one another, prompting constant chatter about the status of their relationship.

Then Jacenko recently moved back to Sydney part time – she spends one week a month here – while Curtis continues to work in Singapore, fuelling speculation they had split.

The Barangaroo apartment is just a place to sleep when Jacenko is in Sydney; no clothes in her wardrobe, no pots or pans, no plates, forks or knives, nothing in the fridge. She doesn’t know how to open the balcony windows or use the intercom.

Oliver Curtis and Jacenko have weathered some tough times together. Picture: Instagram

And while Jacenko says her haters would love to see the breakdown of her marriage, it isn’t so, says the 45-year-old mother of two.

“Oli is my best friend,” she said.

“He is a good guy. He is very good with the children. Much better than me. I am not hands on, he is very hands on.

“We have been through the lowest lows, there is no doubt about it.

“Does he irritate me beyond comprehension … yes. But at the same time, he is a really good guy.

“He is kind. He is helpful where he can be helpful. I have just never been that lovey, dovey… I don’t need to hold anyone’s hand walking down the street.

“He has been very good to me.

“He hasn’t been there for some of my lows. When I got cancer, he wasn’t there, but at the same time he couldn’t be. And I know if he could have been he would have been absolutely incredible.

“I am an extrovert, he is an introvert and it just works.

“I am lucky to have him because not many people could put up with me – or my chicken dinner.”

Jacenko with her children Pixie and Hunter. Picture: Instagram

The chicken dinner Jacenko is referring to is part of her new strict diet, which has resulted in her losing 18kg

“I eat the exact same thing every single day,” she said.

“I have a chef here in Sydney and in Singapore. I actually don’t even own a pan.”

The disciplined eating routine comes after her epic fail and near-death experience while using controversial prescription drug Ozempic.

“I would never in my life… do Ozempic again,” she said.

“I have never ever ever felt so violently ill. I swear to you, I remember laying in my bed… Oli kept feeding me jelly beans. I thought I was going to die. I thought: ‘this is it’. I couldn’t even wait for an ambulance.

“I did it when it was very new. But I did take four times the amount I was meant to.

“I can assure you the drug overdose unit for three days is not a pretty place to be.”

Using and abusing Ozempic is a major regret for Jacenko.

Sydney’s public relations queen says all PR is good PR. Picture: Richard Dobson

One thing she doesn’t regret – which she almost didn’t do – is have children. Her kids Pixie, 13, and Hunter, 11, have ended up being her proudest achievements.

“I was never one who wanted to have children,” she said.

“I just wanted to succeed in my career, I wanted to be the best in game and I wanted to make a lot of money.

“So I am very, very fortunate that I had Pixie and Hunter, they are my best friends.

“The older you get, you realise you really have only got your family.

“If I hadn’t had the children, that would have been a massive regret.

“Because what’s the point of all of this if I haven’t got anyone to share it with?”

In Conversation with Roxy Jacenko will be held in Sydney on Friday. Tickets can be bought here.

Originally published as High Steaks: Roxy Jacenko on love, her health, and why she’ll never regret having children