2GB host Ray Hadley to marry his personal assistant Sophie Baird
By his own admission, 2GB host Ray Hadley has “mellowed” and is madly in love – and he says he has partner Sophie Baird to thank for that. So much so the 65-year-old surprised his personal assistant with a marriage proposal.
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Not everyone can appreciate the subtle romance of a rugby league grand final.
Luckily for Ray Hadley, in Sophie Baird he’s found a rare woman who does.
Last month Baird, Hadley’s personal assistant of 16 years, was blindsided by a marriage proposal from Hadley delivered as he was on his way out the door to attend the Sydney Roosters-Canberra Raiders’ league grand final.
“It was about four o’clock in the afternoon and I was about to head off to call the rugby league grand final – Sophie wasn’t coming – and I said to her ‘Are you happy?’ and she said ‘Yeah, I’m really happy’ and then I said ‘Well do you want to get married?’” Hadley recalled, reliving the moment for The Sunday Telegraph’s readers.
Baird hadn’t seen the question coming.
“His proposal was a shock – I wasn’t expecting it – which made it even better. It was very romantic for Ray. And then to top off his day he called the grand final, which he loves.”
After sharing the news with their six adult children from three previous marriages – Daniel, 30, and Laura, 28, from his first marriage, Emma, 24, and Sarah, 22, from his second – and Nick, 21, and Jessie, 19, from Baird’s previous marriage – the couple started telling friends last week.
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They will tie the knot on June 27 next year at their former boss and friend John Singleton’s acclaimed Mt White restaurant Saddles, with Rev Bill Crews of the Exodus Foundation officiating.
The proposal caps 18 tumultuous months for Hadley during which his son Daniel resigned from the police force after being caught in possession of cocaine (the charge was dismissed on mental health grounds), the broadcaster signed a lucrative new contract at 2Gb amid talk he was poised to finally assume the coveted 2GB breakfast slot occupied by Alan Jones, and he became the subject of fresh workplace bullying allegations in addition to a wilful injury suit launched by former close colleague, Chris Bowen, now still before the court.
Despite it all – thanks in part to the arrival of his first grandchild Ava 20 months ago, and grandson, Noah, six months ago – Hadley said he has “mellowed” during the past couple of years.
“I have mellowed and Sophie’s played a role in that,” he said. “She’s very supportive of me and she knows all my shortcomings. She’s not someone who rants and raves. She’s just very quiet and very steady and we’re both very very happy.”
Baird, an administrative assistant who worked for veteran broadcaster Bob Rogers managing his life before Hadley employed her to do the same for him in 2003, was nonplussed when Hadley, 65, first asked her out in 2017.
“I said to Sophie ‘Do you think maybe we could go out and have a cup of coffee or something?’ and she said ‘Why? Have we got something to discuss?’,” said Hadley. “I think she thought she was getting the flick or something … I said ‘Na na, it’s just I’m always by myself and you’re always by yourself and I just thought we could go out’.
And she said ‘No’.”
A special event afforded him a second chance to ask her out a few months later. On that occasion she accepted his invitation.
“We started going out to functions together as friends until it became something more in early 2018,” Baird said.
“He didn’t sweep me off my feet – I suppose (he was) a bit out of practice – and it’s been a slow journey to get where we are now.”
Three months ago Baird, 50, moved into Hadley’s expansive home in Sydney’s north west.
“I know him very well – the good and the bad – and I can honestly say the good far outweighs the bad. He makes me laugh. He makes me smile – and I couldn’t ask for a better friend. I’m really excited and can’t wait to marry him.’’
The loved-up Hadley, who has bought his bride-to-be an engagement ring featuring a Madagascar sapphire set in a halo of diamonds, sounded uncharacteristically misty-eyed when speaking about finding love again at an age when many are retiring.
“I’m that much in love with her, I can’t tell you. She’s changed my life,” he said.
“I feel a bit sorry for people at my stage of life who form their relationships and there are surprises for each – things you didn’t know about the other – but there’s not one thing that Sophie doesn’t know about me.
“She’s a lovely person – she’s a very very easygoing person. She’s given me a different direction in life – she’s very very supportive of my relationship with my children, as am I of her with hers. When you’re in a relationship with two families, sometimes it’s really difficult but she just makes it really easy.
“I never used to be a sucker for love but I am now. It’s not a reflection on past relationships, it’s just looking to the future. I’m a bit smarter now than I was before.”
The wedding – his third, her second – will be a simple affair attended only by immediate family and friends and will be held during the 2020 mid year radio ratings break.