Former Neighbours star Natalie Bassingthwaighte has shared some insight into her new “beautiful” relationship.
In a candid interview with Stellar magazine and its podcast Something To Talk About, Natalie broke her silence on her dating life including her split from husband Cameron McGlinchey.
“I’m in a beautiful relationship with a woman who makes my heart smile and makes me really happy,” she said.
At the time, Natalie didn’t reveal any personal details regarding her new relationship nor did she reveal her partner’s identity. However, in a video shared to Instagram Natalie shared a snippet of her holding hands with a mystery person, followed by a repost of her partner, Pip Loth’s “appreciation post”.
“Appreciation post for the most incredible woman who is not only giving me strength, support, love and immense joy, but is teaching me to understand and accept that I am deserving of these things and have them within myself too,” Pip captioned the photo (above).
“She’s teaching me to breathe deeply, to trust and to be my truest self. I am so incredibly lucky and overwhelmingly grateful for you.”
In the following days, Natalie felt “incredibly grateful” for the messages of love and support, however, there was a “flip side.”
“On the flip side of love comes hate and I’m not a hater, I’ve never been a hater, I don’t understand it,” she said in a video shared to Instagram. “I don’t understand how people have time to go on people’s page and comment so viciously, and horrifically, and intentionally make people feel awful.”
“I won’t have it. My team will be looking at the comments and they will be blocking anyone who says anything negative towards anyone that I love and that includes my family, that includes Cam, my kids and my girlfriend. We all deserve respect and love because we are all human, we all cry, we all bleed, we all suffer.”
Since debuting their relationship, Natalie admitted she still feels ‘nervous’ opening up about her part in the LGBTIQA+ community, explaining members still feel ostracised after they come out and that “you can’t authentically be yourself”.
On Brekky Central she confessed, “I am still nervous about it today but when I truly sit in that truth I feel like I’m honestly my best self.”
“It’s very confronting — coming out at any age — but for me, it’s a very different situation, being an older woman.”
“It is scary, you know — so I very much realise how my friends felt, and a lot of the community (still) feel (about coming out).”
Prior to this, Natalie confessed to feeling “terrified” about sharing her same-sex relationship, and sought advice from her ex-husband Cameron.
“I rang Cam and I was hysterical. And he said, ‘It’s OK. This is your truth and you now have to sit in it and stand in it and own it.’ So to have that support from him has been nothing short of beautiful, and I’m very grateful for it,” she told Stellar magazine.
Natalie and Cameron met while working together in the rock band, Rogue Traders. The pair tied the knot in 2013, welcoming a two children Harper, 13, and Hendrix, 10.
In August 2023, reports were shared by The Herald Sun that the pair had “quietly ended their marriage” sometime in late 2022. For Natalie, it was a “terrifying” time given the high interest from the public and media.
“So having public interest, I won’t lie, was terrifying from the get-go,” she said.
“Since it first happened, I was waiting for someone to say something. And it just felt like I wasn’t ready. The hardest part was getting a phone call to say, the media know … they want a comment. I felt very overwhelmed.”
Despite their divorce, Natalie affirmed it was a “very successful marriage.”
“It was very beautiful. We’ve done amazing things together, achieved a lot and have two incredible children. We admire and respect each other, and there’s love there. It’s just different,” she said.