There’s no denying just how turbulent Carrie Bickmore’s life has been in the past six months. In an emotional statement, the TV WEEK Gold Logie winner confessed to splitting from her long-term partner Chris Walker last week.
“It’s with immense sadness that Chris and I have decided to separate,” she told her followers.
“While this is a tough time, our focus is to concentrate on parenting, loving and supporting our three amazing children, Ollie, Evie and Addie, with everything we’ve got. They are doing great. We won’t be making any further comment at this stage.”
Carrie announced the split via Instagram.
(Image: Instagram)DIFFERENT PATHS
It comes just months after the popular anchor walked away from her hosting duties on Ten’s embattled The Project.
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“I don’t think she’s been very happy for some time – she never really healed,” a source says, noting the grief she suffered after losing her husband Greg Lange after a 10-year battle with brain cancer in 2010.
“After leaving The Project her main priority was always going to be the kids but Chris is acutely ambitious and maybe they just weren’t on the same page any more,” muses an insider, who says she and Chris were quite different, even down to their social lives.
“The direction her life journey is taking is a whole lot different to Chris – he’s more of a complex character and can be hard to read, where she’s an open book.”
Carrie focused on her three children after resigning from The Project.
(Image: Instagram)Despite their different paths, Carrie has always praised Chris, who she shares daughters Evie, seven, and Adelaide, four, with, for supporting her through all the tough times.
“He like many people understands loss and suffered his own loss in life and I think he just has a huge amount of compassion and he will always be incredibly supportive of me and for our family,” she told TV WEEK in 2020.
While the news came as a shock to fans, those close to Carrie say the writing has been on the wall for the former couple. In May last year, Carrie was left utterly red-faced when Chris was caught with his pants down on a company Skype call.
The executive TV producer stripped naked in front of shocked ABC staff after he thought he’d left a video conference, leading to Nine staff witnessing the ordeal.
Following the incident, a staffer accused senior ABC managers of attempting to brush off the gaffe as something funny and explained some employees felt “dismissed”.
One staffer also accused the network of downplaying the situation because Chris’ production company is behind some of the public broadcaster’s most popular shows, including Hard Quiz.
Bizarrely, it wasn’t the first time Chris had accidentally exposed himself during an online call. In November 2021, Carrie revealed on her Carrie & Tommy radio show that her ex had walked in on her naked during a Zoom conference.
PLANS FOILED
Last year Carrie took a sabbatical with Chris and the kids to Europe, where she based herself out of London, continuing her Hit Network radio show, which many insiders say was likely a “make or break type of holiday”.
Fans were then perplexed when Carrie returned home early from her “family adventure” after just three months – despite selling their five-bedroom home in Melbourne just days before announcing her big trip.
Upon returning, Carrie laid bare that the trip was hardly what she had envisioned. “It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing… It didn’t all go to plan, and there were lots of times when it was really, really hard,” she told co-host Tommy Little.
Carrie and Tommy Little also worked on The Project together.
(Image: Instagram)Woman’s Day is told Carrie still very much hopes to live abroad and sources say they wouldn’t be surprised one bit if she does in fact purchase a home in the UK.
“Carrie has always wanted to replicate her Project mate Kate Langbroek’s year in Italy, but Chris had other plans,” says a source, who admits “this is what caused tension”.
Looking to the future, it’s clear Carrie is supported by an army of friends. Days before news about her relationship broke online, Carrie was pictured partying in South Australia at an exclusive Sam Smith concert at McLaren Vale. Among them was friend Frankie Braile, who shared a photo of the pair at the d’Arenberg Cube concert to social media.
