Myf Warhurst: ‘This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’

She made a name for herself as one of the stars of Spicks and Specks. Now, Myf Warhurst has opened up about the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend – and how she dealt with grief.

Myf Warhurst has written about her life and career in her new memoir, Time of My Life. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Known for her infectious giggle, generosity and sunny disposition, longtime radio host Myf Warhurst appeals to every generation of Australian. Whether we’re watching her on TV, listening to her podcasts or reading her newspaper columns, most of us have experienced the unbridled joy she exudes when sharing her music knowledge. In fact, fans consider her so relatable that they rarely get starstruck when they approach her in the street. “I don’t get hassled much at all, and when people do come up to me, they’ll ask, ‘Did we go to school together?’” she tells Stellar with a laugh.

Mostly, they want to talk to her about Spicks And Specks, the music quiz show featuring Warhurst, rival team captain Alan Brough and host Adam Hills that aired on the ABC from 2005 to 2011 before being revived last year. “It’s funny because some people will want to talk about an episode they’ve seen on repeat,” Warhurst explains. “And I don’t remember it because we filmed it 17 years ago. And I don’t want to watch a repeat, because I don’t want to watch myself!”

Myf Warhurst is opened up about her personal heartbreak. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Though Warhurst admits she was nervous about whether the new incarnation of the series would live up to fans’ memories, Spicks And Specks continues to strike a chord. “I think we were very much a part of people’s lives before social media and I think watching it reminds them of an easier time,” she says with a shrug.

Ahead of celebrating her 50th birthday next year, Warhurst has embraced both the at-ease and uneasy parts of her journey with Time Of My Life, her new, no-holds-barred autobiography.

“We’re not all black-and-white beings and I think we should celebrate that more,” she notes, before admitting that despite all of her years as a journalist, she found

the writing process daunting and wasn’t even sure where her story would start.

“I’ve written a lot – I wrote lots of columns; I’ve edited mags and done all sorts of things,” she says. “But this was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do because you have to go broad. But then you also have to be specific.”

The key, she discovered, lay in her record collection. “I realised that my entire life has a soundtrack,” she tells Stellar. “It brings back the memories when you hear the music, and that was the easiest way for me to access them.”

Read the full interview with Myf Warhurst in Stellar. Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

That’s how Sherbet’s ‘Howzat’ became the anthem for her idyllic childhood in regional Victoria, and Prince’s ‘Little Red Corvette’ became the musical introduction to her sexual awakening. The Village People, the Bee Gees and ABBA also feature on her biographical playlist. But the chapter about her former partner Mike Noga, the drummer for the Australian alternative rock band The Drones who passed away at the age of 43 in 2020, sits in respectful silence.

“My ex died during lockdown and I wrote about that experience,” Warhurst says, her voice growing quiet. “I wrote about what a horrific experience that was for me and the people who loved him. He was a musician and since then, I’ve struggled to listen to his music. So there’s one chapter that doesn’t have any song. And that’s his.”

Having met in Melbourne’s buzzing music scene, Warhurst and Noga became engaged while they were both living in the UK, but split after Warhurst returned to Australia in 2014 to launch ABC digital radio station Double J. The pair had been restoring their friendship over email before his death.

“I had a consultation with his family,” she says of the decision to include her time with Noga in her autobiography. “I wanted to make sure they were comfortable with it. So there’s some pretty heavy stuff in there, but I also wanted to be honest about me and who I am.

“It’s not all bright and shiny and fun. It hasn’t been and I’m fine with that, as I get older, to show that to people, because that’s who we all are. We’re not all bright and shiny all the time and we’re not all funny and fun all the time. Life is hard and there have been times that it has been quite difficult, and I think, for the first time, I am comfortable showing that to people.”

Warhurst has returned to surer footing with her fellow panellists on Spicks And Specks, but some dream guests continue to elude her.

“There are always people who you’d love to have on, but you’d never get them,” she concedes with a laugh. “I mean, I’d love to have Madonna on. That would be wild. I’d be terrified, but I’d love that.”

Like Warhurst, the pop legend has been revisiting her own past, and plans to direct a biopic, reportedly with Ozark’s Julia Garner as the young Madonna. “It could go either way,” she says. “It could tell a fabulous story for a purpose or it could be self-indulgent and awful. Either way, get it in my eyeballs.”

As for the candour in her own life story, Warhurst says it was tracing her family tree in a recent episode of the SBS series Who Do You Think You Are? that provided the impetus for her autobiography.

“My great-great-grandmother Maude was basically forced into a life of servitude from the age of seven. She didn’t have a voice; she never got to tell her story. It’s a real privilege to be in this position,” she says of writing it. “I was sort of terrified. But what’s the point of living this life if you’re not honest about the stories and your experiences? I’ve got a voice and I want to use it.”

Time Of My Life by Myf Warhurst (Hachette Australia, $34.99) is out Wednesday.

Originally published as Myf Warhurst: ‘This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’