Sam Burgess’ ex-wife Phoebe discusses ‘life after pain’ in new podcast

The ex-wife of NRL star Sam Burgess, Phoebe Burgess is channelling her turbulent personal life into helping other women find hope.

The former wife of rugby league identity Sam Burgess says she is channelling her turbulent personal life into helping women through “life after pain”.

Influencer Phoebe Burgess has launched a new podcast in partnership with Vogue Australia titled Under The Gloss, sharing her personal experiences with motherhood, social media and hardship, in a way that she hopes “speaks to women.”

“I think for a long time we thought that being glossy and perfect is, you know, what we would call aspirational and I think with the evolution of Instagram, everything’s glossy and perfect,” Burgess told Confidential, sat front row at several shows during Afterpay Australian Fashion Week.

“Inspiration and aspiration nowadays is probably coming out of our realities.”

The mother of two explained that she hoped to dive ‘under the gloss’ by connecting with different women and mothers.

Phoebe Burgess at the Bianca Spender fashion show at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Phoebe with Kate Waterhouse at the Oroton show during Afterpay Australian Fashion Week. Picture: Getty

“Ninety-nine per cent of my life is makeup free and perfect outfit free,” she said.

“I know there are plenty of podcasts out there and there are plenty of incredible women who do act as voices for women, but after going through what I’ve been through over the last few years, my inbox was just flooded with women wanting to know, wanting to ask questions, wanting to relate, wanting to be validated, wanting to have their own experience validated by someone they might connect with, outside of what I do on Instagram, on a more human level.”

Phoebe and Sam Burgess in November 2018. Picture: Instagram

She continued: “I just thought, why are we hiding in DMs (direct messages)? Why are we letting these questions play out privately? I thought it would be something pretty cool to try and tease those topics out into the public domain.”

After her messy public split from former Rabbitohs star Burgess over recent years, following their four year marriage, 33-year-old Burgess said her personal life hardships had shaped her life personally and professionally.

“I think anyone can attest to the fact that that’s the dream to separate those things (personal and professional life), but everything I’ve been through is this amalgamation of who I am now,” she said.

“I think particularly media and fashion is art, you always draw from what you’ve been through, and you get a deeper understanding of who you are and I found it quite impossible to separate the two.”

Burgess’s driving purpose behind the podcast was to “scratch beneath the surface” and show women they “can get through it”.

“There is something on the other side, I haven’t necessarily found that completely yet but that’s the hope that I guess, you move through life,” Burgess explained.

“I just want them to know it’s not all glamorous. It’s not perfect, but there is life after pain.”