‘Caused a few issues’: Tammy Hembrow addresses wedding invitation furore

Tammy Hembrow has responded to the “ridiculous” furore surrounding details of her upcoming nuptials, after the invitation was leaked.

Tammy Hembrow has responded to the “ridiculous” furore surrounding details of her upcoming nuptials, after the invitation was leaked online this week.

The Gold Coast-based fitness star, who has been engaged three times but never tied the knot, will wed former Love Island Australia contestant Matt Zukowski in November. The couple announced their engagement last December, after dating for just three months.

On Wednesday, watchdog account Influencer Updates Australia shared an obtained copy of the event’s invitation – which inadvertently exposed private information including the dress code, the gift list, and whether or not kids are invited.

It was Hembrow and Zukowski’s requests around the latter two items that raised eyebrows on social media: first, alerting anyone wanting to bring a gift that there would be a wishing well on site; and second, that the wedding would be child-free.

Despite being quite common asks by many couples on their big day, the couple (somewhat predictably) copped backlash, to which Hembrow responded in a ‘Get Ready With Me’ video on Thursday.

Tammy Hembrow and Matt Zukowski announced their engagement in December. Picture: Instagram

The couple shared they’d be having a wishing well. Picture: Instagram/@influencer.updates.au

And that the wedding would be child-free. Picture: Instagram/@influencer.updates.au

“You guys might know that recently my wedding details were leaked online accidentally. This has caused a few issues for me,” the 29-year-old began.

“I have had to change a lot of the details because we want it to be very private and it’s been a bit frustrating.”

In regard to misleading headlines the couple had asked for “donations” from guests for the wedding itself, Hembrow said: “I don’t even know what to say about that”.

“That’s not true at all. I’m not asking for donations to my wedding – this is for my family and friends,” she added.

Having a wishing well, she said, is “a pretty normal thing to have at a wedding, and we only had it because people kept asking about gifts”.

The other detail “making people mad”, Hembrow said, was the request to keep the wedding child-free, as well as speculation over whether her own three kids – nine-year-old son, Wolf, and daughters Saskia, seven, and Posey, one – would be there.

“They think I’m not gonna have my kids at my wedding. Of course my children are going to be at my wedding,” she said.

“I just meant, like, I don’t want other people bringing their kids. Because, let’s be real, kids can be a bit full-on. I want the other adults to relax and enjoy themselves. And I’ve got kids, I know how stressful they can be … I don’t think it’s a big deal me not wanting everyone’s kids at my wedding.”

‘Of course my children are going to be at my wedding,’ the mum-of-three said. Picture: Instagram

‘I don’t think it’s a big deal me not wanting everyone’s kids at my wedding.’ Picture: Instagram

In an interview with Stellar in March, Hembrow revealed that she was inundated with sexist criticism following her engagement announcement, with many labelling it an “insane” decision and joking “third time’s a charm” – given that it came less than a year after her split from ex-fiance (and Posey’s dad), Matt Poole. Prior to her relationship with the former IronMan, Hembrow was engaged to Reece Hawkins, the father of her two elder children.

“When people say, ‘Oh, you’re introducing your kids to another man’, I get where they’re coming from,” she said.

“But I’m not doing this lightly.”

The belief that “you should work things out for (the sake of) the kids”, she added, “is just, literally, not the best option”.

“Blended families can be amazing, and my goal is to always get along with my exes,” Hembrow said.

“I always do what’s in the best interest of my kids.”