Latest news with #HarleyOliver
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Amanda Keller gets emotional on air as she marks 35-year marriage amid husband's diagnosis: ‘It's hard'
Amanda Keller got emotional on air this morning as she marked her 35th wedding anniversary with husband Harley Oliver. Speaking on JAM Nation with Jonesy & Amanda, the radio host reflected on the three decades they've spent side-by-side through all the highs and lows – and how their vows 'in sickness and in health' have rung true in recent years following Oliver's Parkinson's disease diagnosis. 'I don't want to get emotional. It's my wedding anniversary today. And in the old days, Harley and I would have been going out to dinner tonight. But he's not well enough to do that,' she cried on-air to co-host Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones. 'When you stand there on your wedding day and you say forever, what does that even mean? You don't even know,' she reflected. 'I think all you can say is, I kind of feel the weight of potential that we can go somewhere here. And when you say the words, for better or worse, you know, what do they mean when you're in your 20s?' Oliver, who has been married to Keller since 1989, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2017 but the radio host only made his diagnosis public in 2023 during an episode of her Double A Chattery podcast. At the time, Keller had noticed something wasn't right with her husband often dragging his leg and his hands started to shake. Soon after Oliver received news the couple had feared: he was diagnosed with Parkinson's – an incurable brain disorder that causes uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and co-ordination, with symptoms gradually worsening over time. 'In sickness and in health. And yet that's where we are. And no concept of what that means until you're living it,' Keller said this morning. 'I kind of fluctuate between taking great pride in the fight that we are alongside each other, and the strength that it takes to get up every day and still fight it and still live it.' 'But I don't think you can get to 35 years without the sands shifting between you beneath your feet. If you're living life, you don't get to cherry pick life. You engage with it as you find it. And Harley's very stoic, but it's hard. You know, I'm grateful today that here we are, 35 years and we're still in it together. But it's hard.' Keller says she doesn't dwell on the 'what ifs' and accepts their circumstances as they are but she'd be lying if she said she didn't sometimes have the 'absolute sh*ts' with what they have to deal with. 'We've lived a rich and wonderful life together, and we still do,' she added. 'But it's not the same as the old days where we'd be going out to dinner tonight. But the boys are coming over for dinner. And I'm grateful that we still have each other. But I wasn't going to get emotional. Anyway, happy anniversary, Harley.' Keller than said that everyone goes into marriage with no knowledge of what lies ahead in their journey, but that's all part of life – and she's grateful for it all. 'On your wedding day where you think no one knows what ride you're in for? None of us do. As Harley himself says, we all have an asteroid coming at us. We don't know what it is,' she said. 'We all think that we'll get to 90 and die in our sleep. I think the human condition is you can't afford to think otherwise, or you wouldn't get up in the morning. But people face stuff every day. And that's the meat of life. That's the meat of a long-term relationship. So, I'm grateful to have that.'
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Amanda Keller fights back tears on air as she reveals her husband is 'not well enough' to go out for their wedding anniversary following his heartbreaking diagnosis
An emotional Amanda Keller struggled to hold back tears this week while reflecting on her 35-year marriage to husband Harley Oliver. Back in 2023, Amanda revealed on her Double A Chattery podcast that Harley had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for years. A tearful Amanda, 63, opened up about the deeply personal highs and lows of the couple's three decades together, on her Jonesy and Amanda show on Monday. 'I don't want to get emotional,' she said. 'It's my wedding anniversary today.' 'In the old days, Harley and I would have been going out to dinner tonight. But he's not well enough to do that. But I've been thinking about this. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'How long have you been married, Brendan?' she asked co-host Brendan Jones, who replied, '30 years.' Amanda, who was in her late 20s when she walked down the aisle, added that the gravitas of the vows is often lost on young people at the start of their journey together. 'When you stand there on your wedding day and you say forever, what does that even mean? You don't even know,' she said candidly. 'I think all you can say is, I kind of feel the weight of potential that we can go somewhere here. And when you say the words, for better or worse, you know, what do they mean when you're in your 20s?' When Brendan brought up the concept of 'in sickness or in health' Amanda said it was a concept hard to grasp 'until you're living it.' 'I kind of fluctuate between taking great pride in the fight that we are alongside each other, and the strength that it takes to get up every day and still fight it and still live it,' she said. 'But I don't think you can get to 35 years without the sands shifting between you beneath your feet.' She added that life had been 'hard' since Harley's diagnosis and that making peace with the diagnosis can, at times, be difficult. 'Harley's very stoic, but it's hard. And, you know, I'm grateful today that here we are, 35 years and we're still in it together. But it's hard,' she said. 'You do fluctuate between dealing with what's in front of you and having the absolute s***s that you're dealing with what's in front of you.' While the couple's life has changed invariably since Harley's diagnosis, Amanda added that she was grateful. 'We've lived a rich and wonderful life together, and we still do,' she said. 'But it's not the same as the old days where we'd be going out to dinner tonight. But the boys are coming over for dinner. And I'm grateful that we still have each other. 'I wasn't going to get emotional. Anyway, happy anniversary, Harley.' Speaking to Stellar in 2024, Amanda admitted that it took her a long time to accept Harley's diagnosis. 'I've gone through a phase of being angry because I'd say things to him like, "Oh, come on, stand upright", or "Your voice…", I knew what it was, he'd been diagnosed,' she said. 'We've lived a rich and wonderful life together, and we still do,' she continued. 'But it's not the same as the old days where we'd be going out to dinner tonight. But the boys are coming over for dinner. And I'm grateful that we still have each other. 'I knew what was going on but I found it hard to accept. And I feel now I'm very much on the path of acceptance – or that radical acceptance, as we speak about.' She continued: 'Some days that's a phrase that I'm trying to live and other days I do feel it. But we're both on the same page now. For a while I was kind of fighting it.' Amanda revealed in October 2023 that Harley had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for years. The breakfast radio host, who has been married to Oliver since 1989, explained her husband received the diagnosis about six years ago, but the couple had only now decided to discuss the disease publicly. Parkinson's is an incurable brain disorder characterised by uncontrollable movements, including shaking, stiffness, and challenges with balance and coordination. Unfortunately, the symptoms of Parkinson's tend to worsen over time.
