Tammy Hembrow: Inside the life of Instagram star and her sisters

Tammy Hembrow might be one of the most popular people on Instagram, but there’s a good reason why she doesn’t check it all the time.

While most of us don't like to miss a notification on our phone, for Tammy Hembrow switching them off on Instagram is essential.

With more than 11 million followers, it’s impossible for the 25-year-old to keep up with the countless Instagram pings she gets from fans.

“I don't read my DMs that much, but I get so many every single day I would never be able to see all of them … I wish I could read all of them, (but) it's too many,” Tammy said, estimating there would be well “over 100” messages in one day.

News.com.au caught up with Tammy in her home city the Gold Coast earlier this month as she prepared to launch one of her biggest projects to date – a fashion collaboration with online retailer boohoo.

Joining her were sisters Emilee, Amy and Star, with the siblings all together for the day to shoot images for the campaign at The Pink Hotel.

With a mix of activewear to glam going-out wear showing plenty of skin, the boohoo x Hembrow collection features many of the sisters’ signature looks.

Tammy Hembrow in one of her biggest projects to date, a collaboration with boohoo. Picture: Supplied.

The location was a perfect fit for the Gold Coast sisters with its palm trees and millennial pink walls making it look like a real-life Instagram filter.

Despite it being a day of work for Tammy, Amy, 29, Emilee, 28, and Star, 19, it didn't feel that way, with the sisters laughing and finishing each other's sentences when they spoke to news.com.au.

The foursome squeezed in some breakfast together after an early hair and make-up call and, despite being glammed up, seemed just as relaxed as they would be if they were catching up around the kitchen table.

“It's so fun working with my sisters, but of course sometimes we butt heads,” Tammy quipped as her sisters erupted into laughter.

So, do they butt heads often?

“I don't know,” Emilee said with a laugh. “I feel like Amy and Tammy used to fight the most, but now they don't really work together so they don't really fight at all.”

“Just occasionally,” Amy said.

“I think it's if you’re working on a specific project for a long period of time it becomes stressful,” Emilee added, while Tammy chimed in: “But usually it's so much fun.”

Amy, Tammy, Star and Emilee shot the campaign on the Gold Coast earlier this month. Picture: Supplied.

Tammy, Amy, Emilee and Star have close to 13 million Instagram followers between them, so it's no surprise they often get called Australia's answer to the Kardashians.

Tammy was first to start on the photo-sharing app when at age 19 she began documenting her pregnancy with first child Wolf.

She also has a daughter Saskia and shares both her children with ex-fiance Reece Hawkins.

“I was newly pregnant when I started really getting into it, and I just had a lot of time on my hands,” Tammy said.

“I started like just journalling through my Instagram I guess, and people started to really like what I was posting and talking about.

“I was also into fitness, so people liked the being pregnant and still being super into fitness. It just grew really organically and I forced Emilee to get Instagram.”

“She was like you need to make Instagram now, it's so much fun, working with all these brands and stuff,” Emilee said.

“And so then I made mine and you guys (Amy and Star) made yours.”

Despite Instagram still being in its infancy back then and the term influencer not even invented yet, Tammy “jumped” at the business opportunities the photo-sharing app produced.

“From the very beginning, I was like, ‘I'm going to make something out of this’,” Tammy said.

“I remember Tammy saw the potential very early on and she was telling us (about it),” Amy added.

“I saw people with so many followers that weren't really doing anything with it,” Tammy said, “and I was like, they could be doing so much with business and brands or whatever. So I just jumped at the opportunity.”

Tammy was the first Hembrow to get on Instagram and convinced Emilee to also join. Picture: Supplied.

Today, Tammy's foresight has paid off tenfold. The mother of two has a best-selling fitness app Tammy Hembrow Fit as well as her own clothing line Saski Collection.

She and her sisters can also make big money from Instagram endorsements, with social media measuring site Influencer Marketing Hub estimating that Tammy can earn up to $36,000 per paid post.

But despite their level of fame, the sisters don't share everything with their followers.

Their younger brother and sister are still in their mid teens and rarely feature on their Instagram pages.

“Our 16-year-old brother hates it, he gets so mad if we post a photo of him we have to take them down because he goes to an all-boys school and apparently they know who Tammy is,” Amy said.

Emilee is happily married with two children, Aaliyah and Gabriel, with another one on the way.

However, she has managed to keep her husband's identity largely a secret from her 1.1 million Instagram fan base.

“My husband's really private, he has no social media,” Emilee said. “At the beginning I wanted to involve him more, but now our relationship is so good and I'm happy to keep it private and the focus on work separate from that.”

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Since splitting with Reece in mid-2018, Tammy has been single apart from an on-off relationship with Canadian rapper Jakhoy.

Tammy admits that her level of fame makes it hard to date, as it's not like she can jump on Bumble like other people her age.

“I feel like dating is just so difficult,” Tammy said.

Also an adjustment has been the fame that comes with Tammy’s profile, with older sister Amy admitting she is particularly protective of her.

While Tammy has had a following on Instagram for years, her now famous appearance at Kylie Jenner's 21st birthday party has made her a tabloid favourite.

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“I am very protective of all of them, so I think it is probably harder on me than it was on her,” Amy said.

For Tammy, “paps are the worst” because she now gets “followed from my house every single day”.

“I'm used to it, but I'm like, ‘What? I'm just going to the gym and then going home’,” she said.

Instead of paying attention to what gets written about her, Tammy focuses on the more important things in life.

“I mean, I get literally stories that are just fully made up and stuff, I'm like I don't even know where this is from,” she said.

“So it's annoying, but I'm just so used to it now I don't even care anymore … I just focus on my business, myself and my kids.”