With her beautiful blue eyes sparkling and skin glowing with good health, Kate DeAraugo, has never looked more radiant as she breaks out in a huge smile to share the happiest news of her life.
“I’m 32 weeks pregnant,” beams Kate, 36.
“My greatest hope is that I can raise a little human to be all the things I am now, and not have to go through all the insecurities I went through as a kid and an adult.
She is 32 weeks along.
(Image: Phillip Castleton)“If I can raise another human to be comfortable and love themselves, then I’ve done my job.”
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Kate won Australian Idol in 2005, and became a huge star with her first ever single, Maybe Tonight, topping the charts and going platinum, before going on to star in the Young Divas.
But a lifetime of insecurities about her body image overshadowed her incredible rise, and it can still wound her, even now, after years of therapy and lots of hard work to learn how to fully love herself.
“Re-finding myself was one of the scariest adventures I’ve ever been on and it took a lot of courage to do it, but to be at the other end of it, and to have the understanding of myself and who I am and who I want to be in this world is the most rewarding thing I have ever achieved,” she says.
They met in 2019.
(Image: Phillip Castleton)“I’m a big advocate for therapy and being able to talk to people. I think deep down everybody should have a person. I couldn’t do it all on my own. I needed to help to understand things.
“I certainly have a lot more acceptance than I ever have had. Is it perfect? No. But it’s a work in progress, and being pregnant has certainly challenged me and I think a lot of women will be able to relate to that.
“It’s also taught me a whole other level of what to love in this moment. Some days I wake up and go, ‘oh no, what’s happened?’ I’m not going to pretend I don’t have those feelings of stress or not liking what I see, but because of where I’ve been and what I’ve done I redirect that, and practice kindness.”
She won Australian Idol in 2005.
(Image: Phillip Castleton)Fortunately Kate has handsome Melbourne building foreman, Shannon Riseley, 40, to help hold her hand and shower her with love on those difficult mornings when her old insecurities flare up and dint her confidence.
The couple met in 2019 after deciding to look for love on dating app, Bumble, and found each other on their first ever foray into online dating. When Covid hit a short while later they decided to ride out Melbourne’s first long lockdown together.
“I’m a very lucky man,” grins Shannon, who says Kate is going to be the best mum. “I think she’s going to be a really caring mum, and a fun mum. We both want this so much.”
Kate has undergone therapy to help with her insecurities.
(Image: Phillip Castleton)Kate says Shannon had her heart from their first date at a coffee shop in Essendon, Melbourne.
“We clicked straight away,” she says, admitting that Covid fast-tracked their relationship, after lockdowns left them spending all their time together, which fortunately only deepened their love.
It also helped that Shannon had no idea who Kate was and that she had been the star of one of Australia’s biggest TV shows, experiencing all the highs and lows of life in the public eye.
