‘I’m a little bit older, I’m a little bit wiser’: Jules Sebastian on fitness, fashion and finding her voice
Jules Sebastian opens up about her career transformation, her fitness journey – and the unexpected new direction that's ‘fulfilling her soul’.
When Jules Sebastian launched her chat show Tea With Jules on YouTube a decade ago in 2015, the format was almost ahead of its time.
The sit-down, long-form interview series with celebrity guests – who she met in her job as a stylist and also through her husband, singer Guy Sebastian – was a hit, naturally later becoming a podcast.
But then Covid struck, leading to a four-year hiatus. “Doing Tea With Jules fulfils something in my soul that I haven’t been able to fulfil since I stopped it,” Sebastian tells Stellar.
Hence why, in June this year, the podcaster relaunched her show, albeit with a slightly different angle: “I’m a little bit older, I’m a little bit wiser,” she says. “Aside from celebrities, I’ve been interviewing a lot of experts in their fields, such as doctors and nutritionists.
“I’m in that time of life where perimenopause is hitting, and my body and brain are changing. “A lot of my audience is in the same boat so I wanted to make it a real offering to them to say, hey, you’re not alone. We’re in this together.”
To that end, being healthy in mind and body has become of utmost importance. “I read a funny quote on Instagram the other day: ‘The new midlife crisis is getting shredded,’” the 46-year-old says with a laugh.
“I’ve always taken care of myself to a certain degree, and I’ve never really been obsessed with it by any means.
“But my body is going through so many different changes now.
“I’m taking a crack at literally all of it, from sleeping to vitamins and supplements, to food, to exercise. I’m a Pilates gal, but I’ve recently introduced weights because everybody is talking about lifting heavy, including my doctor. I’ve put myself in the gym, and been waking up early – which is really hard!”
As a former stylist to the stars, Sebastian is happy that her styling abilities have merged into her current job, in which she styles herself for all her online and video content.
“When we’re filming, I’ll be in nine or 10 outfits in one day. I still feel very close to fashion and what’s going on and having my finger on the pulse in that way,” she says.
“Styling is such a big job. I really loved it when I was doing it – but I really love what I’m doing now. So I’ll stick to this path for a bit.”
As for creating her own clothing label or brand, Sebastian admits it’s something she does think about a lot.
“I feel like that would be a really big undertaking. But … maybe. Watch this space. Never say never.”
Writing a follow-up to her 2021 memoir Tea & Honesty is another “watch this space” scenario.
“I feel as though there might be another book in me. I never thought I’d say that after writing Tea & Honesty, because it was probably the hardest thing that I’ve ever done in my life,” Sebastian reveals.
“But I definitely think there’s something left to say. I don’t know on what subject; it could be food and cooking, or it could be more like a soul-searching kind of self-help book.
“I could lean into anything.”
Sebastian, who married Guy in 2008, is mum to two sons: Hudson, 13, and Archer (who goes by Archie), 11. Being outnumbered by males in the house doesn’t faze her.
“I have two brothers so I’m the only girl sibling in my family. And then I married Guy, who’s one of four boys. And then I’ve given birth to two boys,” she says.
“I love being the only girl in the mix. Even our dog is a boy. And I love being a boy-mum. It’s good. I feel boys always get a bad rap. Everyone always wants a girl.”
Sebastian adds that watching her young sons’ personalities continue to take shape has been a constant source of joy and amusement.
“Hudson is Mr Fun. He’s got a really good sense of humour. He’s one of those people who is good at everything, like his dad,” she says.
“And Archie is just the sweetest soul. He’s very caring and calm and measured. He’s fun, too, but he’s much more the deep thinker.”
While Hudson might bear the most likeness to his father, it’s Archie who has discovered a love of music, quickly garnering a following of nearly 25,000 fans through the Instagram account that Sebastian manages on his behalf.
“He’s really into it,” she reveals. “And I know it might seem as though, by the nature of Guy’s career, that we would be like, ‘OK, you’re doing this.’ But it’s really driven by him, and we’ve just followed his lead.”
After initially hustling and being “on the run constantly” during her years as a stylist and a mum to two young kids, Sebastian’s view on what success means to her has changed.
“Now that I’m a bit older, my way of measuring my own success – if we’re calling it that – is when I put my head on my pillow at night, I think to myself, did I do everything today I could to be a kind person in this world: raise my children as best I can, be a good wife, talk to my mum, be a good member of my family, get my job done, be a person of my word, all of that. Could I have done anything differently?
“And for the most part, I genuinely can put my head on the pillow saying, ‘Today was a good day.’”
See the full shoot with Jules Sebastian inside Stellar via The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (SA).
For more from Stellar and the podcast Something To Talk About, click here.
Originally published as ‘I’m a little bit older, I’m a little bit wiser’: Jules Sebastian on fitness, fashion and finding her voice
