It’s hard to believe Deborah Hutton is ringing in her milestone 60th birthday this year, as it seems like only yesterday that she was gracing the cover of Cosmopolitan and Cleo magazines.
And while the big day may be several months away yet, it’s a fact that not even she can grapple with.
“I can’t believe I’m actually here,” Deb tells Woman’s Day.
“When I turned 50 I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m 50’ but now I’m 60… I just find it amusing.”
“It’s actually a beauty to celebrate and every line on my face has been well worth it – they’re all memories from my wonderful life.”
The media personality tells Woman’s Day that she “can’t believe” she’s turning 60 this year.
(Image: Phillip Castleton/Are Media)Stellar Career
Boasting a career that spans four decades, Deb has mastered nearly every facet of the media industry.
Starting out as a model, she landed her first magazine cover when she was just 16.
Then it was onto hosting a plethora of high-rated TV shows such as Looking Good, Location Location and Amazing Homes.
Next came her career in publishing, with Deb becoming an editor at The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Now she’s releasing her own homewares line, Home with Deborah Hutton with MyHouse, and Deb acknowledges she’s struck the career jackpot time and again.
“I’ve also been the face of Qantas and Holden, did a line with Kmart, released a line of eyewear… so you’ve got cars, planes, only thing I was missing from was meat pies,” she laughs.
“It’s been fantastic really – such an incredible life.”
WATCH BELOW: Deb Hutton talks entertaining. Post continues after the video…
And while she credits everything to her modelling days, there’s one thing she wishes she had left behind.
“Look, I knew I wasn’t going to do it [model] for too long, I was always too short and probably just a bit too chubby for everybody,” she says.
“And I wish I could say I was over that – and I’m still more comfortable in my skin that I used to be – but I still think, ‘Oh crap, I need to lose a couple of kilos’,” she adds.
“I start shooting a new TV series [Foxtel’s Find Me a Dream Home] soon and I know I don’t have the body I used to and yet I’m still trying to fit into sample clothes. I have to think to myself, ‘Oh my god, I’ve been doing this for 40 years and I still have to lose a few kilos.'”
“I’d like to get to that day where you think, ‘OK, I’m fat and happy.'”
While the stunning TV host admits she still worries about her weight, she reveals she’s “more comfortable in my skin than I used to be.”
(Image: Phillip Castleton/Are Media)Heartache and Health Scares
Despite her successful career, Deb has also experienced enormous pain throughout her life. In 2007, Deb lost both her brothers, Rod and David, within a year.
Rod was 47 when he died from a sudden epileptic fit, while David passed away from liver cancer at the age of 50 – just three months after being diagnosed.
“That was a very dark, dark time,” Deb admits.
“And I don’t think you overcome these things, but David left behind the two most beautiful nephews and I see my brothers in them. So they’re still around in some sense, but it’s hard on Mum. I’m the last one standing.”
Four years later, Deb would go through her own health battle, with doctors finding an infiltrating basal cell carcinoma on her face.
While it was successfully removed back then, it aggressively returned to the same spot on her face last year.
“It was frightening, but to be honest I now see it is a gift, because we can turn it into something positive and I’m fully invested in raising skin cancer awareness,” she says.
Deb would go through her own health battle, with doctors finding an infiltrating basal cell carcinoma on her face nine years ago, with it returning to the same area last year.
(Image: Instagram)No Regrets
When asked whether she holds any regrets, Deb remains staunch in her belief that it’s a “waste of energy living with regrets” – particularly when it comes to her choice not to have children, despite being in long-term relationships such as her 11-year romance with celebrity agent Harry M Miller in the ’90s.
“I’m glad I don’t have children, to be honest with you. To bring up a child in the world today would be so insanely challenging and I don’t know how parents do it,” she says.
“And I have my nephews for that – they’re my biggest sense of family.”
A rollercoaster ride has never been a more accurate metaphor for someone’s life – but as she reaches her next stage, Deb is ready to “wind it all down to a gentle hum rather than a scream”.
“I just want to keep my body going, quieten things down a bit, get a dog, be on the socials less,” she says.
A rollercoaster ride has never been a more accurate metaphor for someone’s life – but as she reaches her next stage, Deb is ready to “wind it all down to a gentle hum rather than a scream”.
(Image: Phillip Castleton/Are Media)Next Steps
And while Deb’s choosing not to have a big 60th celebration this year, the party certainly isn’t over.
“Every day is a gift and I’m going to celebrate that. You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and that’s the beauty of life – you either accept it or you fight it and I’m certainly not going to fight it.”
Deborah is keeping busy with her new homewares line, Home with Deborah Hutton for MyHouse, and is about to start filming a new series Find My Dream Home with Foxtel.
(Image: Phillip Castleton/Are Media)
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