Sophie Cachia reveals why she’s reverted to her maiden name

Influencer and entrepreneur Sophie Cachia has opened up about ditching her ex-husband Jaryd’s surname, saying she’s ‘taken back a piece’ of herself.

Back in 2019, Sophie Cachia looked like she had it all – a happy marriage, two children, several successful businesses and hundreds of thousands of people following her every move on social media.

Behind the scenes, however, she was struggling with her seemingly “perfect” life.

What happened next has been well-documented – both by the media and Sophie herself: that September she announced that she and her husband of three years, Jaryd, had split, largely due to Sophie realising she was attracted to women.

In a candid chat on this week’s episode of Stellar’sSomething to Talk About podcast, the now 32-year-old reflected on her sexuality, co-parenting son Bobby, nine, and daughter Florence, six, with Jaryd, and why it is she’s reverted to her maiden name, Sophie Shaw – on Instagram, at least.

Sophie Cachia in this week’s issue of Stellar. Picture: Sam Bisso/Stellar

‘I want to take back a piece of me.’ Picture: Sam Bisso/Stellar

“A lot of people have been asking me, ‘Which [name] are we going with?’” she told host Sarrah Le Marquand of the latter decision.

“For me, it’s both. Cachia has been and will always be my family name. From a professional standpoint, I’m Sophie Cachia. My [sleepwear label] is Cachia. I’ve been separated for five years now, so it was never about getting my last name back.

“But there was a part of me that, as I’ve gotten older and I’ve really fallen into who I am, and coming from a family of four girls as well, where we all went off and got married, I thought: No, I want to take back a piece of me.”

Sophie and Jaryd Cachia. Picture: Instagram

Sophie with her children, Florence and Bobby. Picture: Instagram

‘We’re a team,’ Sophie said of co-parenting with Jaryd. Picture: Instagram

Asked what her relationship with Jaryd – who she married in 2015, after the pair met in their early 20s – is like now, Sophie said she didn’t want “to give any clichéd answers, but we’re a team”.

“Going back to sort of the Cachia roots, the Cachia family as a whole is really embedded into me. I still call [Jaryd’s father] my father-in-law. We will always call each other that,” she said.

“My father-in-law instilled very early on into our relationship that family is family. And we show up as a team. We show up as a united front, and we will always do that.

“Our children absolutely come first. That’s not to say we don’t allow ourselves our own personal lives and our individual lives, but family comes first.”

‘I’m a gay woman. I’m very proud of that.’ Picture: Instagram

‘Emotionally, and when you’re looking for a partner as well, I say my soul is with women.’ Picture: Sam Tabone/Getty Images

In the years since the end of her marriage, Sophie has been involved in a number of high-profile relationships, including with Matildas star Alanna Kennedy, a situation she later described as “toxic”.

In March 2022, she proposed to WNBL basketballer Maddie Garrick – only to shock fans that October by announcing, “with sadness and a great deal of pain” that she had ended their engagement.

Sophie and ex-fiancee Maddie Garrick. Picture: Instagram

Sophie, whose 2022 memoir, Then There Was Her, delved into her attraction to women and the relationships that changed her, told Le Marquand that “right now” she identifies as a lesbian.

“I’m a gay woman. I’m very proud of that. There have been times throughout this journey where I’ve had attraction to men again. But emotionally, and when you’re looking for a partner as well, I say my soul is with women,” she said.

“Life experience has taught me that change can come at any time, so I’m a bit hesitant to lock something in for that reason. But right now I’m very happy being a lesbian and I love women.”

Stellar is out today in The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (South Australia)