They slept together, romped naked in a spa and got matching tattoos – so it’s not surprising Tim and Tallena’s partners had a lot of questions last night.
It was the first time the Seven Year Switch couples had met each other’s partners and Jackie was up first – and top of her mind was those matching tattoos.
She had been shown a photo of Tim and Tallena getting inked but assumed they were faking it – to which Tallena pulled off her sock and proudly showed off her fresh tatt.
“Well then, Tim and I are over,” Jackie said. “Done. If he wants to get a rise out of me that bad that he’s willing to get a tattoo with you, then yeah, he can get f—ed. I would never in a million years get a tattoo with someone else’s partner.”
Tallena tried to defend Tim, but Jackie wouldn’t have it: “Nup. Over. You can tell him. Over. He can get f—ed.”
Jackie was devastated
Meanwhile, in a pub across town, Brad and Tim were getting down to business, with Brad opening proceedings by asking if Tim had ever shared a bed with Tallena.
Tim admits he got into bed with her once but claims she got straight out.
“So you attempted to sleep next to my partner?” Brad said. “Why would you put her in that predicament or me or Jackie? That’s pretty low. I’m a little disheartened from hearing you tried to jump in bed next to my partner.”
Brad then asks if Tim had been in the spa with Tallena. He admits they had, but pretends to be sketchy on the details – like whether they had clothes on or not.
“Was she in a bikini? I can’t even remember to be honest,” he said.
The spa? Tim’s face says it all.
Brad is not happy. “It’s not a frat party. Like, f*** man, that’s ridiculous,” he said. “It really is. That pissed me off. You’re aren’t thinking about your other partners.”
Then it’s time to talk about the tattoo, which Tim thinks is a barrel of laughs until Brad tells him Jackie wants to split up because of it.
And Jackie’s not the only one who wants to call it quits – Brad has decided he wants to dump Tallena, but reconsider when he reads a sweet letter from her.
“I still love her and I still want to marry her. At the end of this, as soon as I get home, I’m gonna have a cheque waiting for our wedding,” he said. “Nothing’s gonna stop me proceeding with our wedding.”
But does Tallena feel the same way? We will find out next week.
A mother's love stays with you long after she has passed away. Here, five women pen what they'd say to their mums if they could be reunited on Mother's Day.
Journalist Ita Buttrose’s heartfelt words to her mum…
Dear Mum
The other day, for some unexpected reason, one of my favourite childhood memories of you popped up in my mind. I used to love coming home from school, opening the front door, and seeing you across in the lounge room playing the piano. Your music made me feel happy and, as if, it was welcoming me home.
That memory made me think about those special “girls’ nights out” of ours when we’d walk around to the local picture show and watch a movie that Dad and the boys would have hated. I loved being able to talk to you about this and that as we did the 20 minute walk there and back. It was so nice to have you to myself rather than share you with those noisy brothers of mine.
I was speaking at a function recently and at question time someone asked what was the greatest lesson I learned from you.
“Compassion”, I said. You were always so kind to people Mum. Even when you were in the nursing home you thought about others. I’d often find you sitting and talking with residents whose family
rarely visited them.
I told the audience how there was always a place at our table on Christmas Day for someone who had no place to go.
I told them how when we were teenagers you had me – and the boys – out selling buttons for Legacy in Sydney’s CBD; manning stalls for the Spastic Centre (now Cerebral Palsy Association); collecting coins for Royal Prince Alfred Hospital at outdoor concerts at Bondi Beach. You were always volunteering our services!
The lesson of helping others that you instilled in me has stayed with me all my life and influenced the voluntary work I’ve done for many organisations. I’m so grateful to you Mum as my community work is important to me. It has enriched my life.
You would adore your great grandchildren – all 16 of them. One of them is called Clare in your memory. She’s the second daughter of my lovely Kate.
And Mum, it’s quite uncanny but sometimes I look at Clare and I see you.
Lots of love,
Ita.
Actress and media figure Noni Hazlehurst.
Dear Mum,
If you were here this Mother’s Day, I would tell you how often I look at your picture, hear your voice and cook your recipes. How strong your presence is in my life, even after 13 years.
That your grandchildren and great-grandchildren are brilliant people, weathering the vicissitudes of life with courage and humour.
I’d tell you about Charlie and William, who are men now – and such sweet souls. Ratbags as well, yes Mum – but you’d be so proud of their talents – a fourth generation of professional performers!
My sweet memories are of you and me in our own little bubble of creativity – constant activities, developing a love of words, reading, music and nature, [English nature, not Australian – too many unknown terrors!] inventing stories in which kindness, humility and compassion were rewarded and egomaniacs punished, seeing musicals, showing me what constituted a good performer, seeing you blossom when you expertly wrote, directed and produced the Church concerts, utilising your past theatrical experience.
Without close siblings and extended family in this country, what you gave me instead as a young child were true gifts: your time, the space and the tools to fully engage my imagination.
Protection from the outside world, while perhaps not altogether desirable, meant I had free rein to create my own worlds, characters and friends. To become a storyteller.
Twenty four years of Playschool and my subsequent passion for the protection of small children were due to your influence. You suggested I audition; and as I learned how and why the programme worked, and with children of my own, I recognized how important peace and an adult’s consistent, focused and benevolent attention are for pre-schoolers’ development. And how difficult it is to provide them in our distracted days.
I was blessed to have had such a start in life – thank you.
Love you,
Noni.
Journalist Anne Summers.
Dear Mum,
It is nine years since I have been able to speak to you. Your sudden death in April 2005 left so much unfinished business between us, so I am glad to be able to say a few things now. Many mothers and daughters have tense, difficult relationships and we were no exception although perhaps ours was exacerbated by the fact that I was the only girl and the oldest child in a family of six.
I had no sister with whom to share your often obsessive preoccupation with how you thought girls ought to be. And being the first child, I was the guinea pig – the one, as you later admitted, you learned your mothering on. Both things probably explain why we were so hard on each other.
You resented the freedom I enjoyed from not having children while I was always irritated by your always finding fault with me. As you often complained, we found it difficult to relax enough with each other to be confidantes, let alone friends. These days I talk to you often but of course you are not here to hear me.
So, Mum, today I’d like to say how much I regret that I did not try more to reach out to you. I had no idea how much I would miss you. It hit me really hard the first Christmas after you’d gone. I was at Heathrow airport where, on my then very frequent overseas trips, I always bought duty-free Chanel and other luxuries for you.
Suddenly I was confronted with the fact that I would never again be able to buy you anything. And I also understood then that these gifts had been a substitute for intimacy. Much as you appreciated them, you would rather we’d been close enough to have the conversations you craved and that I denied you. I would give anything to be able to have them now – when it’s too late.
The Weekly’s art director, Jane Cramer.
Mum,
it has been three years since your heart took that last gentle beat, surrounded by your children and grandchildren. If you could have a perfect end, you had it Mum. We stayed by your side taking it in shifts so you would never be alone. We played you your favourite music and sat and told you stories.
Until that last night when we could feel we weren’t alone in your room and we knew that Dad had come to get you and you would never be alone again.
Mum you had this incredible sixth sense of when I needed you. You always knew. You were so often the first call of the day and the last, signing off “I love you to bits.” When I said, love you too, you would always say “I love you more.”
You taught me not to be judgemental, to be humble and grateful for what we have. To see the good, and don’t dwell on the bad. Yes Mum, I now smile and talk to complete strangers.
You also gave me my great love of sport, all sport. I miss you calling at halftime while watching the Rugby or the Tennis to discuss the game. I miss you calling to see how Saturday sport went or to wish the kids luck. I miss you calling every time we went on a long car journey to see where we were and that we were safe. I miss hearing your voice. I miss you being my Mum.
Maryann read this poem to you when we sprinkled your ashes. Maybe you heard it, maybe you didn’t. In case you didn’t, here it is now. I know you are never far away. I know you send me feathers as a sign you are near. The other day I was watering your garden, and there one was, at my feet. I know I will always feel your love.
“Your mother is always with you. She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street. She’s the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick, the fragrance of life itself. She’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not feeling well. She’s your breath in the air on a cold winter’s day. She is the sound of rain that lulls you to sleep, the colours of a rainbow, she is
Christmas morning. Your mother lives inside your laughter. She’s the place you came from, your first home, and she’s the map you follow with every step you take. She’s your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you – not time, not space … not even death.”
AFL commentator, Sam Lane.
Dear Mum,
While in my mind you remain ageless – the same gentle, loving and beautiful 37-year-old you were on the day we last saw one another – I have grown.
Ten then, I’m 34 now, and there’s nothing I wish for more than talking with you woman to woman.
If we could do that, Mum, I’d tell you that your spirit is alive and well.
I’d say that while I can’t see you, I can feel you. For 25 years that’s felt as profound as it has comforting.
I’d thank you for your selfless dedication to bringing me up. For how you made me feel utterly loved and safe. For how you made our home and garden a grounding, peaceful and bright sanctuary.
For how you allowed me to imagine.
I’d thank you for how you worked night shifts in the nursing home so we could enjoy those precious little holidays together. For how you taught me that money doesn’t grow on trees. For how you encouraged expression. For how you included Dad.
I’d thank you for our Sundays – salt and vinegar chips at the movies, but only after our jobs at home were done. Without instruction, that taught me about working before rewarding, and that simple pleasures are the best kind.
I’d tell you that I can still hear your laugh as clear and familiar as it was when you’d sit on your lounge room chair of an evening.
I’d tell you that when I see geraniums, red and white impatience or jasmine, I think of you, and that sometimes I look up into the sky, or out to sea, and swear you’re radiating back. I’d thank you for those moments because they’ve reassured and sustained me.
I’d tell you that you were, and will always be, the most magnificent person I’ve met and that while I wish with all my heart that we could still be together as we once were, that I believe that will happen again.
Love, eternally,
Sam
A version of these letters first appeared in the May 2014 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Behind every good man is a good mum. Whether he’s an aspiring cook, or a budding AFL star, mothers maketh the man. From organising practices, driving to auditions, or forking out her savings to pay for shows and equipment (or paying for $2900 calls to Santa, we’re looking at you, Darren McMullen), mothers have always gone the extra mile when it comes to their sons.
In celebration of this year’s upcoming Mother’s Day, The Weekly has talked to five famous Aussie men and the inspirational mums who always, always believed in them.
“She was the best baker. I was always hanging around her apron strings, desperate to lick the spoon. The aroma in the kitchen when she was baking was to die for,” says celebrity chef, Curtis Stone, of his mother, Lorraine. “After I told her what I wanted to do, she said the best thing anyone has ever told me: ‘Follow your dream’. I wouldn’t be anywhere without her support.”
“The good thing about my mum is she’s one of my mates,” says cricketer Jackson Bird of mum, Jenny. “I can tell her anything. I’ve got no issues with bringing mum along to have a few beers with my mates – the first thing they ask me is how my mum’s going.”
“Just knowing the hardships she’s been through and what I’ve been given – I value everything I’ve got,” actor Firass Dirani with mum, Sobhia, “I think her strength resonates in my life, because it motivates me.”
“I think I’ve got the greatest mum in the world – someone who’s soft and caring, but at the same time strong enough to push you to be the best you can be,” Darren McMullen, Scottish-born TV presenter, says of his mum, Ellison. “The hard thing is trying to find a wife who’s as fantastic as her – that’s why I’m single at 31. She’s a hard act to follow.”
“Mum was always positive and got to Melbourne as much as she could,” says AFL footballer Jack Trengrove of mum, Deb. “You always hop off the phone feeling so much better than when you started.”
Notorious hit-and-run killer Thomas Towle will be released from prison in two weeks after serving just seven years of his 10-year sentence.
Nine News reports Towle is expected to be granted parole in May 16, less than a year after he was jailed again for breaching the terms of his 2013 parole. By the time he is released this time, he will have served just seven years.
Towle was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he ploughed his car through a group of young people near Mildura in 2006, killing six people.
He then fled the scene of the crash.
His latest parole plans have further angered the families of the victims, who says it’s an insult to the memories of their loved ones.
“When is the justice system actually going to work in favour of the victims’ families?” the uncle of two victims, Richard Prowse, told Nine News.
A woman has been left feeling like a “bit of an idiot” after she mistook a totally innocuous picture for a floating body.
Sarah Gallagher was taking a walk when she decided that the beauty of her surroundings warranted some happy snaps but when she got home she was horrified to discover what she thought was a drowned corpse and called the police.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh my goodness that’s somebody’s arm. It belongs to a person, it’s a human arm’”, Sarah, a college lecturer told The Metro.
After a two-day police manhunt in the Tarn Hows area of the UK’s Lake District the 45-year-old woman was told by authorities that what she had actually taken a picture of was a floating log.
Sarah says while she did feel a little silly, she thinks she did the right thing in reporting it.
“I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a body, but in the back of my mind I thought there are so many people who go missing, maybe this could help a relative’s family who are looking for answers.”
Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the women who play such an important part in their children’s lives.
This is no less true of celebrities and made us think we should shine the spotlight on the hardworking women supporting their famous offspring from behind the scenes.
Can you guess who the celeb is for each of these mums? Clues and answers provided.
This mother has two regal daughters – Her Royal Highness and Her Royal Hotness.
Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her mother Carole Middleton.
This mother has the same taste in sunglasses as her movie star son.
Johnny Depp and mother Betty Sue Palmer.
This glamorous mum shares her rock-star wife daughter’s love of acting.
Gwyneth with her mother, American actress Blythe Danner.
bake,boil/steam,blend
This mum’s angelic smile belies her son’s love of televised couch jumping.
Tom Cruise and mother Mary Lee.
This mum is an expert at washing her daughter’s gold hotpants.
Kylie Minogue and her mother Carol.
Was this Aussie mum the source of her daughter’s famous “Body”?
The memorial for murdered disabled Australian schoolgirl Zahra Baker has been vandalised with rotting fish.
Locals reported the area in Hudson, North Carolina to authorities after they noticed a foul odor and when inspected at least 20 dead were discovered at the site, reports AAP.
The Caldwell Journal reported on Sunday that a truckload of sand had to be tipped on the area to quell the “unbearable and sickening” smell.
Wagga Wagga-born Zahra, who was deaf and had a prosthetic leg after losing it to a childhood cancer, went missing in 2010 when she was 10-years-old.
Soon after her tortured and dismembered body was found in North Carolina bushland and her American stepmother, Elsa Baker pleaded guilty to second degree murder in 2011.
Baker was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Zahra’s Hudson shrine, which is normally the site of flowers and teddy bears, has been targeted by vandals and thrives in the past, reports AAP.
If you thought your family was in a gender-drought you might think yourselves lucky once you hear about the Underdahl family.
For the first time in 101 years the Underdahl’s were able to cry “it’s a girl!” after only birthing boys since 1914.
Scott Underdahl and his wife Ashton, of Post Falls, Idaho, became parents to Aurelia Marie Ann on April 12 – breaking four generations of only boys.
Scott, who said he wasn’t even sure what an Underdahl girl might look like, seemed delighted he got a little daughter.
“I’m a little at a loss as to what to do – I grew up with three brothers and haven’t spent much time around girls,” Scott, 27, a manager for a lumber company told PEOPLE. “But my daughter has been a lot of fun so far. Everyone is excited to have a little girl in the family.”
The last girl in the family was Scott’s great-aunt Bernice, born in 1914.
Australian-based photographer Natalie McComas has embarked on an inspiring project that she hopes will change the way people look at those with prominent port wine birthmarks.
McComas has spent months working on ‘In This Skin’ which saw her travel the world taking pictures of beautiful and brave subjects who have large birthmarks.
In an interview with the ABC McComas said the idea for her project was born after meeting Patience Hodgson, the lead singer of Australian band The Grates who has a distinguished port wine birthmark.
The photographer has captured pictures of young children, twins, and musicians in a series of beautiful images she hopes will normalise birthmarks, as well as show those who have them they are nothing to be ashamed of.
“Lots of people have never seen a large birthmark … so when they do see it in the street maybe they’ll remember this exhibition,” McComas told the ABC.
“Maybe they’ll remember seeing the photos and reading the stories and have some education about that. And hopefully they’re a bit more compassionate about their reactions.”
According to to the Royal Children’s Hospital about 3 out of every 1,000 kids are born with a port-wine stain — a birthmark that literally looks like maroon wine was spilled or splashed on the skin.
The cause of the birthmarks are not fully understood. It is thought they could be a result of a problem with the nerves that control how much the capillaries widen in the area where the port wine stain mark is.
On her Instagram Natalie has shared some of the pieces she’ll be showing, including the above of little Sophia who suffers from Sturge-Weber syndrome.
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