Jackie O’s ‘it’ girl moment is a good thing for all women

Jackie O has been having a huge year but her moment as an ‘it’ girl actually exposes an important truth.

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Jackie O Henderson is having a moment and hasn’t even had to be caught barefoot limping in a park in Noosa to get it.

The radio heavyweight has become the 2023 ‘it’ girl, and she’s pulled it off without even having to become Russell Crowe’s date to a Rabbitohs game.

The gorgeous blonde is the talk of the town, and it’s happened without even a whisper of celebrity scandal.

She hasn’t needed to capture a celebrity boyfriend, go through a high-profile divorce or have to backtrack a weird political opinion to get there.

Jackie O is having the year she deserves. Picture: Instagram

She’s thriving. Picture: Instagram

It is an admirable feat, considering women are told as they age, their social currency will crash like an Australian Idol contestant’s career once the season is over. Remember Phoebe Stewart? Yeah, me neither.

Sure, Henderson’s lost over 18kg, and that always gets people a bit excited, but Chrissie Swan has recently lost heaps of weight and while she’s had to spend half the year saying, “I’m just walking more” on a loop, it hasn’t morphed her into a new stratosphere.

Henderson is just suddenly everywhere, and everyone is happy to see her, like when the fun aunty that brings the good wine turns up on Christmas Day.

She’s spotted going to fancy lunches, she’s stealing the fashion show at The Logies in that red strapless dress that Sonia Kruger wishes she wore, and she’s even admitting she’s on dating apps.

She’s living her best life. Picture: kyleandjackieo/Instagram

Nicole is far more private. Picture: Richard Dobson

Not to mention she is doing fireside chats with Gwyneth Paltrow, preaching to a sea of Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs onlookers who are transfixed in their $500 Jac and Jack blazers. Partly, the moment is down to the fact that unlike other celebrities her age, like Nicole Kidman, she is still accessible.

You aren’t going to catch Kidman strolling around town at one of those restaurants influencers take photos of their food at, but Henderson will happily perch herself at one, and she might even post about it on Instagram.

Often middle-aged famous women hit a big peak in their careers, and realise they don’t have to keep sharing with the public to maintain their status. Instead, they become reclusive and mysterious and start wearing impossibly big hats.

Jackie O with mates Gemma and Carrie Bigmore Picture: jackieo_official/Instagram

Nicole and Keith are more low-key. Picture: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Not Henderson. She’s never been more influential, but she’s still prepared to joke about her favourite sex position live on-air.

Sure, Kidman will attend the occasional event and nuzzle her husband, Keith Urban, in public, but she remains extremely private. You won’t run into her on Sydney’s iconic Finger Wharf, but you might run into Henderson.

It isn’t even like Henderson has gone through a social reinvention. She hasn’t ditched her crowd and she’s got famous mates, but she’s hanging out with Carrie Bickmore, not Lara Bingle.

She hasn’t discarded her laid-back style to suddenly start wearing all-black, paired with giant sunglasses and a stern look. No, she’s stayed true to herself.

The difference seems to be that she’s ready to be an ‘it’ girl, and the public is eating up what she’s feeding us.

So what does this teach us? That women don’t expire; they merely get richer.

Originally published as Jackie O’s ‘it’ girl moment is a good thing for all women