They talked a big game from the very first episode, but My Kitchen Rules’ most outspoken duo have proven they’re the biggest threat in the competition.
Queensland radiologists Kate and Mary, who on Sunday’s opening episode declared themselves a “threat” while Kate also had a dig at her fellow contestants taste palates, have achieved near-perfect scores for their main course and dessert from judges Manu Feildel and Nigella Lawson.
There were high hopes for the “fine-dining” friends, who only faulted on their barramundi entree which was inconsistently cooked and served without crispy skin.
British home cooking queen Lawson, who is Pete Evans’ replacement for 2022, said she understood where they were going with the entree, but that they failed on the execution.
“I eat barramundi a lot when I come (to Australia), it doesn’t exist where I come from,” Lawson told them.
She added: “I think you understood what you were trying to go for and it just needed a bit more acidity and a bit more salt to make it what you wanted to. You don’t want to drown flavors out, but you don’t want to be too timid.”
But the self-confessed “food snobs” bounced back with their main course, with their “perfectly cooked” quail praised by the judges and their fellow contestants.
And they went another step further with their dessert, a macadamia tart with poached pears and creme fraiche, which Feildel dubbed “textbook”.
Kate and Mary’s fellow contestants equally enjoyed their instant restaurant, giving them overall scores of 7s and 8s.
Meanwhile, the judges scored them a combined total of 87, which saw them rocket past Peter and Alice’s score of 54 on the leaderboard.
The winner of the instant restaurant round goes straight through to the semi final, with Kate and Mary potentially scoring high enough to finish on top.
“After our instant restaurant, I think the contestants are going to be double thinking what they do for their restaurants,” Kate said.
“We’re a threat,” Mary added.
My Kitchen Rules continues tonight on Channel 7 at 7.30pm
After surviving cancer in 1992 and again in 2013, it returned in 2017 and on August 9, 2022, the Grammy-award winning singer lost her battle with spinal cancer.
In a statement released by her husband John Easterling, she was described as a symbol of “triumph and hope”.
Olivia Newton-John has died aged 73. (AP)
“Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer,” the statement read.
She died peacefully on her California ranch, surrounded by family and friends, the statement said.
With a career spanning more than five decades, 100 million albums sold, four Grammy Awards, ten #1 hits and over 15 top 10 singles, Newton-John has well and truly earned her place as one of the world’s most successful stars.
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta star in Grease in 1978. (Paramount Pictures)
Born in Cambridge, England in 1948, Newton-John was the youngest of three children born to her father, Professor Brian Newton-John and mother, Irene, daughter of Nobel Prize winning physicist, Max Born.
Newton John spent just five years in the UK, before moving to Australia in 1953.
It was winning a television talent contest, called sing sing sing, hosted by Australian rock ‘n’ roll icon Johnny O’Keefe in the 1960’s, that saw the singer’s career really take off. By the age of just 15, Newton-John had formed an all-girl group called Sol 4 and the teenager began appearing on local music programs in Australia and the UK.
She recorded her first single, Till You Say You’ll Be Mine, in 1966 and not long after she released her debut album, Let Me Be There. The record earned her a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocalist and a Country Music Awards for Most Promising Female Vocalist.
Newton-John was an actor, singer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. (Getty)
And that was just the beginning. 1974 was a big year for Newton-John. She came fourth in the Eurovision Song Contest, losing out to global pop supergroup, ABBA. Later that year she released a new album, featuring her single by her; I Honestly Love You. It became a worldwide hit and her first number one single in the United States and Canada.
Newton-John’s portrayal of sweet-as-pie Sandy Olsson in the movie grease, alongside Hollywood’s John Travolta, catapulted her into stardom. The movie’s soundtrack spent 12 weeks at #1 and yielded three top five singles for her including; You’re The One That I Want (with John Travolta), Hopelessly Devoted To You, and Summer Nights.
Synonymous with the film is the spandex pants and off-the-shoulder top Newton John wears in the movie’s final scenes, still inspiring fashionistas four generations later. It was also a role that very nearly didn’t happen.
Already 29 years of age at the time, the actress thought she may have been “too old” to play the part of a high school student.
Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu (1980). (Universal Pictures)
“I was very nervous about pulling it off. When I look at it now I think I was nuts. But when you’re really young you’re just more fussy about that stuff. When you’re older you’re just grateful, “She told The Washington Post in 2019.
Since then Newton-John went on to star in many other films and TV shows such as Xanadu, A Few Best Men, and more recently in 2010, she appeared as herself in two episodes of the hit series Glee.
It was in 1981 she released her hit song Physical. The song caused quite the controversy at the time of its release as a result of its sexually suggestive content, and despite being the #1 best-selling single of the ’80s, it was banned by some radio in America over the lyrics.
“For me it’s about the music. If it’s a great song then it’s going to sell itself anyway,” Newton-John told Fox News in 2016.
“But it’s a very competitive world. I’m so grateful I started when I did because these girls I think are probably pushed to get wilder and wilder to get noticed.”
In 1984, the songstress married her boyfriend of four years Matt Lattanzi, who she met on the set of Xanadu. The pair divorced after 10 years of marriage in 1995. They share one child together, daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 36.
Olivia Newton-John and John Easterling in 2010. (Getty)
Not long after her divorce, the mother of one moved on with cameraman Patrick McDermott. After nine years together, he mysteriously disappeared from a fishing trip in 2005. While an investigation concluded McDermott most likely drowned, in 2016 he was reported to have been found living in Mexico.
The singer-songwriter went on to marry American businessman John Easterling in 2008. The pair had been friends for almost two decades before they fell in love.
“I’m very lucky I have a wonderful, beautiful husband who is just so loving and fantastic. I always tell my friends you’re never too old to find love,” Newton-John told People magazine in 2016.
The songmaker was sadly diagnosed with cancer three times throughout her life.
The first time was breast cancer in 1992, the same weekend her father had passed away from cancer himself. In 2013, Newton-John revealed the disease was back, this time in her shoulder, and in 2017 it returned in the base of her spine.
Chloe Lattanzi, Easterling and Newton-John attend the Olivia Newton-John Wellness Walk and Research Run in 2019. (WireImage)
“A lot of people see it as a fight, and that’s … however you choose to see it, that’s your prerogative. I see it as part of my mission,” she told the BBC in 2018.
Newton-John’s passion for health and wellness saw her open the world renowned and award-winning Gaia Retreat and Spa in Byron Bay in 2005. She opened the retreat as an ideal place to renew, refresh and restore and spent a lot of her time there .
Since her diagnosis over 20 years ago, Newton-John has been a strong breast cancer advocate and in 2008 opened the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center in Melbourne. The Center provides world-leading treatment and care and gives patients access to clinical trials and breakthrough therapies.
This wasn’t the only cause close to her heart. The entrepreneur was named the first Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Program and in 1991, and served as the national spokesperson for the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition.
Newton-John has shared the stage with a slew of icons, including John Farnham. (Getty)
There aren’t many accolades Newton-John hasn’t received. On top of selling an estimated 100 million records worldwide, she’s taken home a swag of music awards including; 10 American Music Awards, 9 Billboard Music Awards and four Grammy Awards.
She was also bestowed an Order Of The British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 1979, and an Order of Australia in 2006 and again in 2019. In 2018 she also received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from La Trobe University in Melbourne, in recognition of her significant and ongoing support of cancer research and holistic health.
It was in December 2019 that Her Majesty the Queen named Newton-John a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to music, cancer research and charity.
Up until her passing, Newton-John was living on a ranch just outside of Santa Barbara with her husband, Easterling. Newton-John once said; “I simply have a marvelous life, a very lucky life.”
I think we’re the lucky ones that she shared it with us.
In memoriam: The famous people who have died in 2022
WWE legend Virgil has made the starting claim that he has slept with one million women.
The 60-year-old, real name Michael Jones, was a star of the squared circle back in the 1980s and 90s.
But during an appearance of The Breadstick Diaries podcast, host Vinny Vegas read out questions from viewers – one of which received an astonishing response.
The former professional wrestler was asked: “What’s your number Virgil, how many girls?”
To which he incredibly replied: “I don’t know, maybe like… worldwide? Probably a million.”
Host Vinny immediately questions Virgil’s claim, saying: “Virgil, come on, a million?”
But the former WWE star doubles down on the number, adding: “Yep, you’ve got like how many people in the world?”
A gobsmacked Vinny then says: “So you’re claiming right now, you’re telling me, your estimated number of women you had sex with is a million?”
And Virgil concludes by insisting he may well have done.
However, social media was not convinced by the ludicrously high number.
And one person replied to the clip by breaking it down mathematically.
They said: “Okay, I did the math: Virgil was born April 7, 1951.
“For him to have been with 1,000,000 women, that’s an average of one women every 37.5 minutes of his entire life since birth.”
While another added: “I did the math as well over 40 years of wrestling. About 60 or so a day lol.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
The film, including signature duets of summer nights and You’re the One That I Want with Travolta, remains one of the most successful films of all time, earning more than a third of a billion dollars at the US box office.
In the film, which co-starred Stockard Channing and Didi Conn, Newton-John played an Australian schoolgirl transplanted into Rydell High School in America.
For Newton-John and Travolta the film laid the foundation of a lifelong friendship, the pair intermittently reuniting on concert stages and at special events to perform the movie’s signature songs.
Travolta was among the first to pay tribute to Newton-John publicly.
“My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better,” Travolta wrote in a post to his Instagram account.
“Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!”
Later, Newton-John evolved musically with more emotionally complex work, such as the albums warm and tender and Stronger Than Before.
Olivia Newton-John with John Travolta in Grease.Credit:AP
She also shifted her focus into healing and wellbeing, following a much-publicized battle with cancer, starting the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.
In the statement posted to her official Facebook account, Newton-John’s family have asked that donations be made in her memory to the fund.
Newton-John received an OBE in 1979, and in 2019 was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire knighthood, though the title Dame Olivia did not fall into everyday usage.
She was admitted to the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 2002; in 2019 she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia.
Oliver Newton-John with husband John Easterling.Credit:Justin McManus
Newton-John was married twice; first to actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984, who she had met on the set of the film Xanadu. The couple had a daughter, Chloe, in 1986 and divorced amicably in 1995.
In 2008, Newton-John married businessman John Easterling in an Inca spiritual ceremony. The couple bought a home on Jupiter Island, Florida, but never moved there. They later bought a horse ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, outside Santa Barbara.
Newton-John is survived by Easterling, daughter Chloe Lattanzi, sister Sarah Newton-John and brother Toby Newton-John.
She is also survived by her children and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall.
Motherhood may look easy on your social media feed – sleeping newborn photos, matching mum and bub outfits and cute family adventures.
However what that curated view of parenthood doesn’t show is the all the hard stuff. The dinner time tantrums, the messy nursery and the constant feeling of exhaustion at the end of each day.
So while I do post a bunch of adorable photos of my toddler Noah, I’ve recently tried to make a conscious effort to use my Instagram as a platform to share the realities of motherhood. LISTEN TO EPISODE SIX OF COME TO THERAPY WITH ME
Nikolina admits to not always being honest about motherhood. (Supplied)
For a long time I didn’t do this. As a mum I found it easier to lie about the state of my life, say everything was fine, than to admit to the chaotic truth of parenting.
During Noah’s first year of life I, as all parents, embarked on so many new and confusing journeys. Newborn sleep battles, breastfeeding struggles, developmental milestones, sickness, teething, starting daycare – I was always in the thick of a challenge.
But when family and friends would ask me how things were and how Noah was going – my response was always the same: “He’s great. We’re all doing great.”
The truth is we weren’t. I was anxious about sleep, dealing with food refusal, worried about milestones and up all night with a teething toddler – but I would never disclosed any of this.
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I never admitted I was struggling.
And now I know why. Because I thought that by admitting things were not OK, I was in a way admitting defeat. That I was failing as a mum.
Or on the other hand I was scared. Scared of being judged for me parenting style and the way I decided to raise my child – from disciplining him to sleep training and everything in between.
Now I’m looking to get past this fear of defeat and judgment. I want to be brave enough to tell the truth and strong enough to admit when I am struggling.
Because surely that feels better than pretending? And surely it’s a lot less isolating.
Join me this week on Come To Therapy With Me as I tackle this issue with Dr Charise.
Join Nikolina as she opens up her heart and her mind. Listen onSpotify,Apple Podcastsor wherever you find your podcasts.
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Gordon Ramsay has made a cheeky jab at rival chef Jamie Olivercontinuing their historic (and playful) feud.
Posting to Instagram, Ramsay, 55, revealed exactly where he keeps Oliver’s cooking secrets – which, if you were wondering, is nice and close. You can watch the clip above.
In the video, Ramsay responds to a follower’s comment that reads: “I bet you are one of those chefs that just steals other people’s recipes.”
READMORE:Socialite ‘outrage’ over Fergie’s ‘dirty’ $12M purchase
A dancing Ramsay revealed exactly where he keeps Oliver’s cooking secrets. (CNN)
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But instead of taking the comment to heart, Ramsay took a different line of action.
In the video, Ramsay does a little dance, wearing his classic all-black attire. When he wiggles all the way around, so his back is facing the camera, Oliver’s cookbook Jamie’s Dinners is spotted shoved down his pants.
As an explanation, Ramsay wrote in the caption: “When you let @tillyramsay do your social media 😂😂😂 Kid….my secrets out !!”
Tilly is Ramsay’s 20-year-old daughter. The youngster is known to love cooking, having appeared on Celebrity Masterchef Australia in 2021.
He also has four other children: 24-year-old Megan, 22-year-old twins Holly and Jack, and four-year-old Oscar. He shares his kids with his wife of 26 years, Tana Ramsay.
Tana is also a celebrated cook, with several published books that document her favorite recipes in home cooking.
Meantime, Oliver, 47, was quick to respond.
“Copy of my new cookbook ONE heading your way when it’s out in September then,” his official Instagram account @jamieoliver replied in the comments.
Oliver didn’t take his rival’s words to heart, and even gave his own cheeky reply. (Supplied)
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About the Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver ‘feud’
The video is just the newest installation in the celebrity chefs’ historic and long-running “feud”, which in the early stages, was actually rumored to be more than just some playful jabs.
In a 2019 interview on The Jonathan Ross Show (watch above), Ramsay even commented on speculation that he had at one point been true rivals with Jamie Oliver.
“There was animosity a few years ago wasn’t there?” Ross asked.
“Yeah, I think it was a bit of an exaggeration, a bit of he-said-she-said. The same old sh-t,” Ramsay replied.
“But listen, at the heart of it, he’s a super talented guy.”
Over the last few years, the pair have enjoyed poking fun at each other on various occasions, but maintain a friendly and respectful relationship.
In the interview with Ross, Ramsay even revealed that he was one of the first to call Oliver and offer support when his UK and Australian restaurants went into administration in 2019.
READMORE:Neighbor’s passive-aggressive parking note praised for its creativity
Former Spice Girl Mel C splits from long-time partner
Grease star Eddie Deezen has been branded a danger to society and been put in the care of health officials as his sad spiral continues.
Deezen, 65, was on Monday found incompetent after allegedly burglarizing a nursing home in April.
A commitment order obtained by TMZ deemed the actor who played Rydell High nerd Eugene Felsnic in the iconic film is unable to stand trial because of an unspecified mental disorder.
He has been transferred to the Maryland Department of Health for treatment.
The document reportedly states that the actor, who played Felsnic in the 1978 movie musical and its 1982 sequel, poses a “danger to himself and others around him.” He will stay in the health department’s care until the court believes he is no longer a threat.
Deezen was arrested in Maryland on April 9 for burglary, two counts of trespassing and disturbing the peace, his inmate record, seen by Page Six, showed at the time.
However, prosecutors reportedly changed the charges to assault and disorderly conduct.
Police alleged to TMZ that Deezen had forced his way into a privately owned nursing facility and refused to leave. He also allegedly tried to break into a patient’s room before being kicked out and arrested on the property.
Deezen was previously arrested in September 2021 at a Maryland restaurant after allegedly throwing plates and food at police officers.
He was charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct and trespassing for that rampage.
Before that, Deezen found himself involved in another incident at an eatery where he was accused of harassing a waitress after detailing his infatuation with her via Facebook.
“Eddie Deezen is af***ing CREEP who comes into my work at least once a week, calls and asks other servers for my schedule, and if he comes in and I’m not wearing makeup HE LEAVES,” the waitress, Kara Lashbaugh, wrote on Twitter in June 2021 with screenshots of Deezen’s all-caps posts about her. “And this grown-ass old man has the balls to post this on Facebook about me I’m losing my mind.”
Deezen played several other nerd character roles in a handful of films in the late 1970s and early 1980s before launching a successful second phase of his career as a voice actor.
His notable characters include the Know-It-All Kid in The Polar Express, Snipes the Magpie in Rock-a-Doodle and Ned in Kim Possible.
This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission
Dame Emma Thompson is in Australia promoting her new film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.
And on Friday, the British actress, 63, made the most of the sunny Sydney weather when she was spotted doing the popular Bondi to Coogee coastal walk with her co-star Daryl McCormack.
Emma cut a low-key casual figure in a white T-shirt which she teamed up with brown denim overalls.
Give me Down Under! Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack made the most of the sunny winter weather in Sydney, doing the popular Bondi to Coogee coastal walk on Friday
The Nanny McPhee star teamed her look with a pair of tinted white-framed sunglasses and a black backpack.
Emma showed off her ageless complexion for the outing, appearing to go makeup free as she enjoyed the spectacular views.
Meanwhile, her co-star Daryl, 29, was dressed in a button-up shirt which he teamed with navy colored shorts and black sneakers.
Stylish: Emma cut a low-key casual figure in a white T-shirt which she teamed up with brown denim overalls
Incognito: The Nanny McPhee star teamed her look with a pair of tinted white-framed sunglasses and a black backpack
After competing the costal hike, Emma took off her sneakers and made her way to Bronte Beach pool and watched Daryl take a dip.
The handsome hunk slipped into a pair of red boardshorts as he enjoyed some fun in the sun, with his tattooed body on full display.
Daryl recently revealed that he and Emma opted not to use an intimate coach for the film.
The new movie follows Nancy (Emma), a widowed school teacher who hires a male escort (Daryl) for a date, hoping to experience an orgasm for the first time – with the two characters sharing very intimate moments throughout.
Natural beauty: Emma showed off her ageless complexion for the outing, appearing to go makeup free as she enjoyed the spectacular views
Hike: After competing the costal hike, Emma took off her sneakers and made her way to Bronte Beach pool and watched Daryl take a dip
Downtime: The handsome hunk slipped into a pair of red boardshorts as he enjoyed some fun in the sun, with his tattooed body on full display
But Daryl told how he, Emma and director Sophie Hyde chose to navigate the scenes themselves as they felt it would be more ‘special’ to do their own ‘unique’ thing, with the actor adding that things were never ‘awkward’ between them.
While many TV shows including Normal People and Bridgerton brought in an intimacy coach for the sex scenes, the trio instead chose to choregraph their own sex scenes after first becoming comfortable with each other.
In an interview with Bustle, the Irish actor, 29, said of the intimacy scenes with Emma, 63: ‘We felt like it was something we could do together, so we did. ‘It feels that little bit more special because it’s our own unique thing.
Home time: After enjoying a refreshing swim, Daryl was seen drying off before returning to his hotel
‘It started with simple things. Just talking about our body: the things we like and don’t like. There’s something about detaching judgment from yourself and just seeing the potential in your body and what it can offer you. That gives you access to step into the intimate nature of the film.’
Thanks to their rehearsals and concerted efforts to know and be comfortable with each other (Emma and Daryl enjoyed walks around the park together), when it came to the more intimate scenes, the duo were able to fully embrace the moment.
Daryl explained: ‘It didn’t feel awkward, giddy, or anything like that. We enjoyed what we were doing and felt safe doing it. We were such a team.’
Stars: The new movie follows Nancy (Emma), a widowed school teacher who hires a male escort (Daryl) for a date, hoping to experience an orgasm for the first time – with the two characters sharing very intimate moments throughout
With the promotion of their film, Daryl and Emma have had open and candid conversations about sex and intimacy, with the Peaky Blinders star noting that he’s learned from his character Leo that intimacy is ‘deeply intertwined’ in ‘almost every facet’ of who we are as people.
He went on to add that people need to learn to ‘get away from’ the idea that intimacy is a ‘shameful’ thing and urged that it needed to be brought to the ‘surface’ and be spoken about.
Close: With the promotion of their film, Daryl and Emma have had open and candid conversations about sex and intimacy, with the Peaky Blinders star noting that he’s learned from his character Leo that intimacy is ‘deeply intertwined’ in ‘almost every facet’ of who we are as people
Ashton Kutcher has revealed that an auto-immune disorder left him without the ability to see, hear or walk.
“Like two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis that, like, knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out, like, all my equilibrium,” Kutcher, 44, said in a sneak peek of Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge obtained by Access Hollywood.
The That ’70s Show alum said it took him about a year to build each sense back up again, Page Six reported.
Vasculitis is a very rare auto-immune disorder that can cause inflammation of the blood vessels, resulting in restricted blood flow. There are many types of vasculitis, but most affect at least one organ.
“You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone,” Kutcher shared.
“Until you go, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to see again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to hear again, I don’t know if I’ I’m ever going to be able to walk again.’
“[I’m] lucky to be alive,” he added.
Now fully recovered from his terrifying health scare, the No Strings Attached actor said he does not let any challenge stand in his way of success.
“The minute you start seeing your obstacles as things that are made for you, to give you what you need, then life starts to get fun, right?” said Kutcher, who shares two children with his wife Mila Kunis.
“You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.”
This story was originally published by Page Six and has been reproduced with permission
Judith Durham’s talent shone brightly across the Australian music landscape, her powerful bell-like voice, unpretentious nature and stoicism in the face of adversity securing her countless loyal fans.
Durham, who has died in Melbourne aged 79, was the distinctive voice of the Seekers, the folk-singing quartet who became an international sensation from 1964 until 1968, when Durham left to forge a solo career as a jazz singer. The band healed their rifts and reunited in recent times, reigniting enthusiasm for the Seekers and introducing younger audiences to the music of their parents’ generation.
In their short time together the Seekers, including Keith Potger, Athol Guy and Bruce Woodley, became Australia’s first international supergroup. Multiple hits, including I’ll Never Find Another You and The Carnival Is Over, put them at the top of the Australian and UK charts, and for six months in 1966 they were outselling the Beatles and Rolling Stones. They became the first Australian band to have a US No 1 with their biggest hit, the theme song for the film Georgy Girl, which was nominated for an Academy Award. The Seekers sold more than 50m records and still hold the record for the largest concert audience in Australia after more than 200,000 attended their 1967 concert at Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl.
It was a meteoric rise to fame for the four Melburnians. What had begun as a 10-week stint on a cruise ship to London extended to four years and by that time Durham, who had a chronic health condition, was exhausted and struggling with her self-image. The Seekers were collectively named Australian of the Year in 1967, but the following year Durham gave the band notice that she planned to pursue a solo career. In later years she conceded she had had no idea how much her decision had affected her bandmates or their fans.
The Seekers perform on the UK TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1966. Photograph: ITV/REX/Shutterstock
“I never thought for a million years that they would have thought that I turned my back on them… I thought everybody was feeling fine,” she told the ABC’s Australian Story program in 2019.
Judith Mavis Cock was born in Melbourne on 3 July 1943, the youngest of two daughters of William, a second world war aviator and DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) recipient, and his wife, Hazel Durham. Judith’s sister Beverley Sheehan also became a jazz singer.
After leaving school, Judy Cock, as she then was, set her sights on a career as a classical pianist while dreaming of singing musical comedy or opera. However, a night sharing the stage with a jazz band at a dance when she was 18 led to her instant success as a gospel, jazz and blues singer. Opting to use her mother’s birth name for her, Durham went on to record her first EP for her at 19 with Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers.
On her first day working as a secretary at the J Walter Thompson advertising agency, Durham met an account executive, Athol Guy, who invited her to join him and his friends Keith and Bruce who were booked to sing acoustic four-part harmony folk and gospel at a Melbourne coffee shop that night. Although Durham sang with a few bands, she quickly became the Seekers’ Monday night regular.
In 1964, the band was invited to work their passage to London on board the SS Fair Sky, but as they cast off, the foursome had little idea of the impact they would have or what they would find in the then music and fashion capital of the world.
“My trendsetting idol was the Queen, so I’d have my matching handbag and gloves,” Durham said in a 2019 interview. “I was, you know, not at all tuned into Carnaby Street.”
After leaving the Seekers in 1968, Durham approached the composer Ron Edgeworth in London and asked him to become her musical director and pianist. He later asked her to be his wife de ella and they married in Melbourne in 1969.
Together the couple formed a musical partnership, with Durham touring and recording around the world. Her one-woman show An Evening With Judith highlighted her vast singing range, from jazz to pop, country gospel and folk. From their base de ella on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Durham wrote and performed her own compositions and attended international jazz festivals.
Judith Durham performs with the Seekers in Canberra during their Golden Jubilee tour in 2013. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP
In 1990, Durham sustained a fractured wrist and leg in a car accident that killed the driver of another car. The support she received from fans while recovering from her helped her decide to reconnect with her former band mates.
Much to the delight of their fans, old and new, the Seekers reunited in 1993 for the Silver Jubilee tour and, buoyed up by the response, continued to intermittently tour and record, selling out concert dates and making television appearances. However, during their 2013 Golden Jubilee tour, Durham had a brain hemorrhage, requiring six months of rehabilitation before resuming work. The Seekers would have celebrated their diamond anniversary this year.
In adopting her husband’s vegetarian, health-conscious lifestyle, Durham hoped to better manage her reduced lung capacity caused by bronchiectasis. Her authorized biography of her, Colors of My Life was released in 1994. Edgeworth died the same year after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, prompting Durham to throw herself into raising the profile of MND.
In 1995, Durham and her bandmates each awarded the medal of the Order of Australia. In 2014 they were made Members of the Order.
Durham and Edgeworth, who were married for 25 years, chose not to have children. Durham is survived by her sister of her.
