Nadia Bartel on her marriage breakdown to AFL star Jimmy Bartel
For the first time, former WAG Nadia Bartel breaks her silence about her marriage breakdown with retired AFL star Jimmy Bartel, saying she now has a newfound sense of purpose, and just wants to be “best mum and role model” for her two young sons.
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Think back, if you dare, to September of last year – a time when social events, red carpets and the cultural saturation of Australian sport were still in full swing.
On a Monday night in Melbourne, near the end of that month, Nadia Bartel stepped onto one of those red carpets as an attendee at the AFL’s Brownlow Medal ceremony.
She was flying solo on the night for the first time in nearly a decade; her husband of five years – retired Geelong Cats star Jimmy Bartel – no longer at her side.
The couple had announced their split just a month earlier, but Bartel was intent on making a statement when she wore a striking blue J’Aton Couture ball gown.
Because while her seemingly fairytale marriage may have been over, it didn’t mean the mother of two had to stop feeling like a princess.
“Yes, fashion is fashion,” Bartel tells Stellar.
“But I also know the difference a good dress or the right hair can make to your confidence.”
Fashion has long been a constant for Bartel, who can recall developing a love of magazines in Year 12 and, after being the dux of her business studies classes, went on to work in the advertising departments of titles such as InStyle and marie claire.
But it wasn’t enough to satisfy her creative urges. So in 2012, the Melburnian started a blog, Chronicles Of Nadia, along with an Instagram account, at a time both were considered novelties.
Chronicles has since morphed into a multimedia brand. Bartel is considered to be one of the country’s original influencers and more than 600,000 followers – plenty of whom couldn’t care less about the rules of AFL – stay attuned to the latest developments in her life.
Even if she doesn’t see herself as an influencer (“People like to use a tagline, but I wouldn’t say I’m [one] because I’ve always had different businesses”), Bartel understands the responsibility and power that come with her public platform.
It’s a key reason why fashion brand Witchery brought her on board this year to be an ambassador for its annual White Shirt Campaign – which donates all proceeds from sales of its white shirts during May to ovarian cancer research, and provided inspiration for her exclusive photo shoot with Stellar.
Bartel is more than happy to be involved and says the initiative demonstrates the power and messaging that a piece of clothing can convey.
“By buying a white shirt, you’re making a statement that is so much more than [just] ‘fashion’,” she says.
“You can make a difference to someone’s life.”
Although the current headlines may be dominated by a worldwide health crisis, it doesn’t mean that other medical issues have simply been put on hold. There is still no early detection test for ovarian cancer, which is often discovered too late; at the moment, it’s believed one Australian woman dies every eight hours from the disease.
Those statistics frighten Bartel, and further spur her to action.
“I feel lucky [Witchery] asked me to be involved because sometimes with social media everything can feel quite fickle,” she tells Stellar.
“But this is important. I want to try to raise as much money and awareness as I can.”
![“I feel lucky [Witchery] asked me to be involved because sometimes with social media everything can feel quite fickle.” (Picture: Duncan Killick for Stellar)](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/7eebe269e79e3613ea80aa291d5fb719?width=650)
She has the background and the knowledge to do so. In 2015, a few years into her success on social media, Bartel opened her online fashion store The Connection to better grasp the broader commercial and financial aspects of the fashion business.
Last July, she finally realised her ultimate goal when she launched her own fashion line, Henne – Swedish for “her”.
Yet just as she was kicking her biggest professional goal, Bartel’s personal life was starting to collapse. Her marriage had ended and she was moving out of the home she shared with her husband and their sons, Aston, four, and Henley, one.
Opening up to discuss the split for the first time, Bartel tells Stellar: “This is never what I thought would happen.”
She demurs when asked to name any particular reasons for the demise of their marriage, simply admitting: “Every day is tough.”
Compounding the situation was the fact their break-up became an immediate subject of speculation in the media, with Jimmy quickly linked to another woman.
Nadia was subsequently set upon by online trolls – some of them her ex-husband’s fans – who crowed that he had “upgraded” his relationship.
Bartel points out that she has grown used to criticism.
“Being from Melbourne, football is so big here,” she explains.
“I was used to the negative attention I get in my situation. I do put things on social media, so I’ve put myself out there.”
But what transpired this time was a new low.
“I was at the hardest point in my life and then to have articles written that weren’t true, and to have hundreds of hate [comments] on Instagram and the continual pounding … it was difficult,” she says.
“Just because [you] date or are married to a sportsperson, people think you’re fair game; you can say whatever you want. If you look at any other industry, do you critique their partner like that?”
But there was little time for self pity, particularly as she had more important priorities.
“I want to continue to be the best mum and role model for my sons,” Bartel explains.
“They are amazing and such a gift, and I want them to have a really happy childhood. I plan to do everything I can to make that happen for them.”
And that includes helping them understand, particularly in light of current world events, that it’s OK to not always feel OK.
“I want my boys to be aware of their feelings,” Bartel says.
“And if they are feeling a certain way, they can show that feeling. They are allowed to cry and allowed to come to me and say what’s happening.
“I want to keep that communication open when they’re older, so they know they can come to me for that love and support, and that they can talk to me about everything.”
Bartel says that even after the wrenching past several months, she still believes in love.
“It’s incredible and amazing, and nothing beats it,” she says.
And she has relied on it, courtesy of her close network of family and friends who helped her navigate the turbulence.
One of those is Rebecca Judd who, although they met through footy circles as WAGs (Judd is married to former Carlton star Chris Judd), shares a bond with Bartel that extends far beyond the sport world’s social scene.
Judd tells Stellar that her friend and business partner (they co-own Spray Aus tanning business) has handled life under the microscope with grace and class.
“I think over time she’s learnt to block and delete the trolls and focus her energy on the people who matter in her life,” says Judd.
“She’s resilient and does a great job of getting on with it.”
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Judd adds that behind Bartel’s glamorous Instagram profile lies a smart and savvy businesswoman.
“She greatly understands the mechanics and intricacies of the retail landscape in the digital and social media age,” she explains.
“She’s sharp and nimble, and has been able to adapt her business, both as the talent and [its] owner.”
Which is why it comes as little surprise that the first drop for Henne sold out within a couple of hours of its release.
“After having The Connection for five years, we really had an idea of creating something that you can feel happy and confident in,” says Bartel, who co-owns the label with her sister Michelle Ring and business partner Laura Broque.
Ring tells Stellar that because she was on her honeymoon during Henne’s launch, her sister had to put her personal problems aside and solely handle the business until Ring was able to cut the trip short and return to Australia to assist and provide comfort.
As Ring points out: “Career goals are hard when your personal life is breaking down … I realised how incredibly resilient and strong [my sister] is. She always does everything with such grace and, even though inside I know she was struggling, I’m proud of her and how she has handled herself.”
Indeed, handling herself and remaining healthy – both physically and mentally – has been a deliberate focus of Bartel’s as the events of the past several months have unfolded. The self-confessed tomboy has recommitted herself to exercising and willingly gets up at a quarter to six most mornings to meditate.
“I’m concentrating on the things that make me happy,” she explains.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, you just need to be really grateful and look at the positive things in your life, even more so when you’re going through a tough time. It helps get you through.
“I’m lucky,” she adds, smiling.
“I’ve got healthy boys, I’m doing what I love as work, and I’ve got amazing family and friends who love me. I can’t ask for more.”
Nadia Bartel is an ambassador for the 2020 Witchery White Shirt Campaign. For every white cotton shirt sold from May 6, Witchery will donate 100 per cent of the gross proceeds to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF); witchery.com.au.
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Originally published as Nadia Bartel on her marriage breakdown to AFL star Jimmy Bartel