Lindy Klim takes us inside her modern family
Lindy Klim and husband Adam Ellis open up about their relationship with Klim’s ex-husband Michael, co-parenting, raising their brood and what they miss about living in Australia.
Stellar
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Kids really do say the darndest things — just ask Adam Ellis, husband to Lindy Klim. And sometimes they won’t say the darndest things — such as “Dad”.
The British property developer laughs as he recounts how the couple’s almost two-year-old daughter Goldie tends to imitate her half-siblings, whom Klim shares with former Olympic swimmer Michael Klim.
“The kids all obviously call Michael ‘Daddy’, so when Goldie first started speaking she used to call him that too, and call me Adam,” the 43-year-old tells Stellar. “I said, ‘no, no’ and got her to call him ‘Uncle Daddy’ and then I finally became ‘Daddy’.”
“Michael adores Goldie,” adds Klim, 41, with a smile. “She’s very calm when she’s with him. She will sit on his knee and eat food and he will feed her. It’s just sort of one big nice family.”
While the Klim-Ellis clan is now a tight unit that could be the poster child for a thoroughly modern family, this hasn’t always been the case.
Klim admits her relationship with Michael — they separated in February 2016 and Klim married Ellis in August last year — took some time to evolve into the friendship they now have.
“The relationship Michael and I have is incredible. We have been able to come through such a difficult time, and that’s not to say I am going to sugarcoat it — we are always going to have difficult moments that come up, but at least we can speak about it as adults and we can just not have the anger behind it anymore,” says Klim frankly.
“We can have this open dialogue with the children, which is just so much easier. I understand that is not realistic for a lot of people, but it did take us four years to get to this point.”
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The model-turned-businesswoman, who grew up with a stepdad and never got a chance to know her father, would like things to be different for the three kids — Stella, 13, Rocco, 11, and Frankie, eight — she is co-parenting with her ex-husband.
“We probably see Michael every day. He is either at our house for dinner or we are at his. For the kids to see us all sitting around the table getting on, it’s such a beautiful thing.”
Ellis agrees. “Compared to how it could have gone so wrong, it’s incredible. And now me and Michael are friends. We like to hang out, go to the gym together... it’s bizarre even to us,” he says, chuckling.
“But now we are in it, we are so appreciative because it’s so much better than any other alternative.”
The family has lived in Bali, where Klim was born, for the past eight years — as does Michael. While they currently don’t have any plans to return to Australia to live (it is not ruled out in the long run), there are certain things they miss about the country.
“I miss there not being as many bugs in Australia, and air-con, and all that sort of stuff,” Klim tells Stellar. “Being able to get dressed up and have beautiful wine and that kind of thing.”
She will certainly have the opportunity to get dressed up and partake in a glass of vino at the Seppelt Wines Stakes Day, which is held on the fourth day of the iconic Melbourne Cup Carnival, and celebrates family fun and spending time together.
Klim, Ellis and the four children are special guests of the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) and will not only get to participate in the numerous activities on offer, but will also judge the boys, girls and family categories for Myer Fashions on the Field in The Park.
“You can have a lot more fun with Stakes Day fashion,” explains Klim. “There are a lot of kids who are just obsessed with fashion at such a young age, and they really put a lot of time and effort into their outfits. Obviously a lot of mums are there in the background helping them out, too!”
Given the popularity of certain children’s shows, does she think there will be a multitude of Frozen outfits on the day?
“A lot of that,” she says, laughing and nodding. “I do think it’s a great family day. [Our children] are very used to being out with us everywhere we go. We like being a family, so to be able to bring them along to the races is really, really special. It will be a good day.”
Unlike the rest of the family, this will be Ellis’s first time at the iconic Stakes Day.
“I’m a little scared,” he says jokingly. “Actually, I’m looking forward to it. I feel very lucky and I guess I am. When you feel like that, you feel grateful, so it’s easier to be happy with what you have got and to enjoy it. And that’s exactly what I am doing.”