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‘I get where they’re coming from’: Tammy Hembrow addresses love life backlash

The fitness influencer has addressed the harsh backlash to her engagement to Matt Zukowski for the first time in a new interview.

Tammy Hembrow's melanoma scare

Tammy Hembrow has publicly addressed the backlash to her engagement to Matt Zukowski for the first time.

The fitness influencer and the former Love Island Australia contestant announced their engagement in December, just three months after debuting their relationship.

Hembrow was swiftly inundated with sexist criticism, with many labelling it an “insane” decision and joking “third time’s a charm” – given that it came less than a year after she split from her ex-fiance, Matt Poole, with whom she shares daughter, Posy. Prior to Poole, Hembrow was engaged to Reece Hawkins, the father of her eldest children, son Wolf, and daughter, Saskia.

In a new interview with Stellar, out today, the mother-of-three had a surprising response when asked about the litany of opinions regarding her “turbulent” love life.

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

“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.”

Hembrow and her fiance Matt Zukowski. Picture: Instagram
Hembrow and her fiance Matt Zukowski. Picture: Instagram
With her children Saskia, Posy and Wolf. Picture: Instagram
With her children Saskia, Posy and Wolf. Picture: Instagram

Hembrow also addressed the infamous photographs of her being stretchered out of Kylie Jenner’s 21st birthday party by paramedics in 2018 – and why she’s chosen to write about the furore in her upcoming book, Show Up: Mindset, Motivation and Creating Your Dream Life.

The then-24-year-old said at the time in a YouTube video that she’d “pretty much collapsed” after “one or two” drinks, having not slept in 30 hours.

Reflecting on the incident, Hembrow told Stellar that “it was a very dark time”.

Tammy Hembrow for Stellar Magazine. Picture: Damian Bennett/Stellar
Tammy Hembrow for Stellar Magazine. Picture: Damian Bennett/Stellar

“I kept telling myself, ‘There is only up from here’ … I had to shut-out the trolls and the hate I was getting,” she said.

“People look at my social media and they think, ‘Oh, she’s trying to be perfect’. But I’m the least perfect person ever. (By writing about the party) I wanted to show that I’m a real person.”

Tammy Hembrow for Stellar Magazine. Picture: Damian Bennett/Stellar
Tammy Hembrow for Stellar Magazine. Picture: Damian Bennett/Stellar
Tammy Hembrow for Stellar Magazine. Picture: Damian Bennett/Stellar
Tammy Hembrow for Stellar Magazine. Picture: Damian Bennett/Stellar

Speaking about body shape “trends”, Hembrow denied speculation that she’d undergone a Brazilian butt lift or gotten lip filler in the past.

“Everyone can build muscle and lose fat, but everyone has different bone structure and genetics,” she said.

“The weird body trends that come and go are a bit silly. I’m very different from where I was back then.

“I love looking good, but there are so many more important things in life. It’s not things like that that make people beautiful or who they are.”

Read the full interview with Tammy Hembrow inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA)

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/i-get-where-theyre-coming-from-tammy-hembrow-addresses-love-life-backlash/news-story/654696bdda5488a11668afcce72a068d