Latest news with #MadeleineWest
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Neighbours star Madeleine West calls for Australian parents to receive child care subsidies from the government in wake of daycare abuse scandal
Madeleine West has ruffled a few feathers with her 'REVOLUTIONARY' call for the Australian Government put child care subsidies directly into parents' back pockets. The former Neighbours actress, 47, recently birthed her seventh child and on Friday, weighed in on the fiery debate surrounding child care centres in the wake of Joshua Dale Brown's arrest. The Melbourne child care worker, 26, has been charged with 70 offences, including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. The latter charge refers to alleged contamination of food with bodily fluids. His arrest triggered a public health alert, with Victoria's Chief Health Officer warning that 1,200 children should get STI testing. 'I'm just heading to work. I take my baby with me. I have from the beginning. So far, it's worked out. But it won't always and it doesn't work out for everyone,' Madeleine began in a video posted to Instagram. 'But I just had a brain wave. I qualify for the child care subsidy. So, why don't we cut out the middle man here? How about the government gives me the money instead of subsidising daycare?' 'And I stay home with my kids.' Madeleine widened her eyes and made a shocked sigh to emphasise her point as she bounced her newborn on her chest. 'I know it sounds simplistic but the simple fact is, if there is no access, there is no abuse.' From January 2026, Australian parents will have access to three days of guaranteed subsidised childcare after Labour brought the new laws forward ahead of the federal election. The 'three-day guarantee', first introduced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in December, will remove the current activity test and guarantee subsidies for families earning up to $530,000 per year. Madeleine lives in Suffolk Park, Byron Bay, where she purchased a $4.6million property in 2022. The actress turned child safety and victims' advocate moved to the coastal area to be closer to her six children after her breakup with celebrity chef Shannon Bennett. Previously, she and Shannon lived together in a $16million Melbourne mega-mansion, which they purchased after selling two other lavish properties for $7.7m and $5m respectively. Her call to action proved to be divisive. 'I know you mean well, but shaming working parents by implying you are given abusers access is not OK. Abusers are everywhere (sadly mostly in the home),' one annoyed parent wrote. 'Yes! Let's make raising our own children the norm again,' one supporter commented, with working mothers quick to criticise the notion that all women should stay at home. 'Oh please,' another retorted. 'You aren't the odd one out. Some mothers enjoy working for their mental health. Some mothers have to work for economic reasons. Women are allowed to be mothers as well as retain their ambition and identities outside of the home.' Even parents who backed Madeleine's call for the direct payments voiced their reservations about writing off daycare centres altogether. 'Excellent idea,' one dad said. 'Also, hate to be THAT guy but some kids receive their best care at daycare. Socialising with other kids, clean nappies, consistent meals… could you imagine those terrible parents who don't care about their kids getting more money to stay home and neglect their children? There are bad people everywhere. At home and at work. I see it too often in my line of work. But not discounting your idea which I'd love for my wife.' Madeleine's call to action proved to be divisive, with some parents voicing concerns about putting the onus on mothers to give up their careers in favour of child rearing Madeleine's post comes after Louise Edmonds, a founding member of the Independent Collective of Survivors and Karl Stefanovic exchanged a war of words on the topic. She appeared on Today on Thursday, advocating for a complete ban on male workers in the childcare sector. Stefanovic pushed back, highlighting the challenges already faced by men in the sector: 'Men have a right to work in that area. And so many of them are dedicated,' he said. 'The perception is already hard enough for them. And when a story like this happens, it makes it even more difficult.' Ms Edmonds argued while there are 'good men' that want to be positive role models, the safety of children must come before concerns about gender equality.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Neighbours star Madeleine West reveals shocking details of her eating disorder to make herself look like Barbie as she shares scary red carpet picture: 'Almost killed me'
Madeleine West's heart breaks for her younger self when she sees old red carpet photos of herself taken in the early 2000s. On Wednesday, the Australian actress, 47, shared a photo taken at the Royal Albert Hall in London during one of her very first outings on the world stage after she joined the cast of Neighbours. In 2000, a 22-year-old Madeleine was cast as Dione 'Dee' Bliss on the beloved soap. The photo shows a beaming young blonde on the cusp of stardom— dolled up in a vibrant blue gown as she stepped out onto the red carpet for England's National TV Awards. 'This image breaks my heart,' Madeleine captioned the throwback image, adding a trigger warning for eating disorders as she detailed newfound fears for her daughters in the age of AI. 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. Madeleine welcomed her seventh child to the world in April. The star already shares five daughters and one son with her ex-partner, celebrity chef Shannon Bennett. In a column for Kidspot, the mum-of-seven wrote about the fears she holds for her daughters now that their toys are being integrated with AI chatbots. 'Thanks to AI, Barbie will soon be talking back. I for one am worried…because as a little girl, I wanted to be Barbie,' she said. 'Barbie epitomised what I thought it meant to be an empowered woman. She could be a doctor, a sports star, ballerina, anything and everything despite the fact that structurally Barbie couldn't stand on her size 3 feet or fit any organs into her negative size 0 body. 'None of that made me doubt for a second that she had an enormous brain in that equally oversized head that her elongated neck was incapable of supporting. 'She was all I wanted to be, and I got close. 'All it took was a fanatical addiction to fitness, fakery, and an eating disorder that almost killed me twice in my teens.' 'By virtue of the suggestibility I suffered from living most of my life in the shadow cast by childhood abuse, I almost made the fantasy a reality,' Madeleine continued in her caption. 'But I knew, deep down, that she wasn't real.' In June, Mattel announced it will partner with OpenAI to 'design, develop, and launch groundbreaking experiences' for its iconic toys, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Polly Pocket. Madeleine is calling on parents to ask if integrating generative AI models, such as ChatGPT, with beloved children's brands can be deemed safe. The child safety and victims' advocate first spoke about her battle with anorexia two years ago, after revealing she was the victim of childhood sexual abuse. Speaking to Stellar magazine in February 2023, the actress said the trauma of being abused as a child caused her to become obsessed with looking 'perfect' - a task that was both 'punishing' and never-ending. 'For every sexually abused person, what has happened to them will manifest in their life in some self-destructive behaviour,' she told the publication. 'They are never, ever to blame. What happened to them is a cross to bear.' Madeleine revealed that in her early teens, not long after the abuse stopped, she developed anorexia as a coping mechanism. 'My autonomy over my body had been snatched away, so to demonstrate I had some control over it I denied that most simple desire: hunger,' she explained. 'I just wouldn't eat, then over-exercised. Pain and hunger made me feel something, because I had become accustomed to operating in a state of utter numbness.' Madeline played Dione 'Dee' Bliss and Andrea Somers on Neighbours from 2000 to 2020 and also starred in the WWE movie The Condemned in 2007.
News.com.au
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Erica Packer and celebrity chef boyfriend Shannon Bennett have ended their romance
Erica Packer and her celebrity chef boyfriend Shannon Bennett have ended their romance. The mother of three and the part-time MasterChef judge are said to have split earlier this year. Friends say distance played a key role in the breakdown of the couple's 18-month union. Packer, the ex-wife of billionaire James Packer and the mother of his three children, lives in London having relocated to the UK with her children in 2023 to be closer to her sister. Melbourne-born Bennett, whose business Culinary Wonderland is based in Sydney, lives at Belongil Beach near Byron Bay. 'The distance was always going to be a challenge for them,' said one friend. A year ago Bennett admitted the then 46-year-old Erica was spending a fair bit of time travelling. 'She's really good. (Erica is) going back and forwards a lot. It's a fun and amazing adventure. It's amazing we haven't met earlier. We're loving life. I'm a very lucky man.' According to sources the travel became less 'fun and amazing' with the passage of time. Further complicating matters was the couple's combined brood of nine children.. Bennett has six children with former partner, ex Neighbours actor Madeleine West. The couple welcomed five daughters, Phoenix, Xascha, Xanthe, Xahlia and Margaux and a son, Hendrix, during their 13-year relationship, which ended in 2018 when their youngest children, twin daughters, were just two. The chef and onetime owner of Melbourne's Vue du Monde restaurant later told the Herald Sun the couple's six children live with him. Packer's three children, Indigo, Jackson and Emmanuelle are heirs to their businessman-investor father's billion-dollar fortune. The chef and the onetime model reportedly met at the wedding of Sydney chef Guillaume Brahimi and chicken heiress Tamie Ingham in Paris in June 2023. They managed to keep their love affair under the radar until photographers captured the entire clan cavorting together on a Byron Bay beach at Christmas in 2023.
Daily Mail
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Neighbours star Madeleine West reveals she feels like a 'smashed vase' as she details life with newborn after welcoming seventh child at age 47
Madeleine West welcomed her seventh child last month. The 47-year-old is adjusting to life with a newborn, telling The Sunday Project this weekend that while she is looking well on the outside, it's a different story behind the scenes. 'It's all smoke and mirrors. I'm just a smashed vase that someone has wrapped up with gaffa tape' she joked. 'Don't put flowers and water in me as it will leak straight back out.' The Neighbours actress continued: 'I'm on auto pilot. I'm deep in the delirium. 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. 'At 3am I got up for a glass of water and decided it was time to scrub out the fish tank and bake a cake, which is what I did.' Madeleine was on the show to promote her partnership with the Federal Police, which has seen her produce It's Never Too Early, a guide book to keeping kids safe. 'This is so personal for me. It's things that I think most parents would never have considered. Asking yourself really simple but ultimately important questions, like, who will I allow to change my baby's nappy?' she explained. 'If I'm letting someone babysit, who else will have access to that child? Perfect example. If you let a good friend babysit, are they dating someone you don't know well? If he comes over to visit, they get up to answer the phone, am I comfortable with that person having unsupervised time with my child? 'If I look at babysitting, will there be other children in the house who have access to my child? If I'm looking at daycare centres, how can I find one that's government endorsed where everyone's been certified so I know my child is safe? 'Questions that when we're in the thick of early parenting, and we're exhausted, and on the cusp of delirium, it is hard to know the day of the week, let alone important decisions of how to best secure safety.' Madeleine announced the arrival of her seventh child in April, sharing a glimpse at her newborn in an Instagram post and revealing the bub was in excellent health. Alongside a truncated image of the child, she star wrote: 'Earthside at last… and utterly perfect'. The Australian actress did not reveal the sex or name of her new arrival at the time. It comes after Madeleine opened up about her seventh pregnancy at the age of 47. The star already shares five daughters and one son with her ex-partner, celebrity chef Shannon Bennett. In a preview for an interview on 60 Minutes, West said she is not letting naysayers get to her and is determined to keep 'dancing to the beat of my own drum'. She said many people were shocked to learn she was pregnant with yet another child at her age, but she was also 'surprised' by the sheer amount of support she received. 'There was a lot of shock, naturally. And then, "Are you sure? You're at this point in your life. Your career is blossoming. You've got all these kids,"' West told host Tara Brown. 'But I am surprised by so many people who have reached out saying, "I've done what you're doing and I felt so alone. I felt like everyone would see me at the playground and they would think I'm grandma."' When asked if she had ever been called a 'grandma at the playground', the actress responded: 'Oh yeah, naturally. But my argument has always been I've always danced to the beat of my own drum. 'I've always done things a little bit different. A little bit outside the norm.' West revealed the response she received from her friends after she announced her pregnancy in January. The TV star—who shares Phoenix, 19, Hendrix, 16, Xascha, 14, Xanthe, 12, and twins Xalia and Margaux, 10, with Shannon, 49 - said her pals' initial reaction to her pregnancy news was surprise. 'When I first reached out to my circle and revealed the big news, there was certainly a look. A bit of a stunned mullet, I would say,' she shared. However, she added the shocked expression was soon followed by 'wow' as her friends asked if she was going to 'keep' the baby. The controversial question also opened up a conversation about 'geriatric pregnancies' and the risks which come with them, which she expanded on in her interview with Stellar Magazine. 'I strive to not see motherhood as a limitation on my capacities,' she told the publication, but rather something that 'adds to it exponentially'. She went on to say while falling pregnant certainly wasn't something she was expecting, it was a welcome surprise nonetheless. 'I feel like this little person has come along at the best possible time when I'm so very ready,' she said. West went on to say she now has 'more time, wisdom and experience' when it comes to parenting. Reflecting on what is often coined as a 'geriatric pregnancy' she expressed her frustration with the world's lack of conversations around later pregnancy. West said it's not something 'society discusses at large' despite 'the very real fact that the rate of women having babies in their 40s is increasing'. Back in January, West announced she was pregnant with her seventh child a decade on from her most recent birth. She revealed the surprising news in an Instagram post. In the photo, she flaunted her growing baby bump in a tight-fitting tank top which was lifted to reveal her bare tummy. 'WHOOPS!' she captioned her post. 'Thought it was #perimenopause. I thought WRONG! It's not too much Christmas pudding either. I couldn't be happier.'
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Madeleine West details the 'traumatic' birth of her seventh child at the age of 47: 'I've never felt pain on that scale'
Madeleine West has shared candid details about the 'traumatic' birth of her seventh child. The 47-year-old former Neighbours actress penned a column for this week's Stellar magazine, explaining how she 'felt her C-section'. 'My baby's birth was capital T traumatic. I still choke up talking about it. But talk we must, because when things go pear-shaped... we don't do ourselves any favours,' she wrote. Madeleine, who gave birth last month, said she refused to be put under anaesthetic as she underwent a Caesarean section because she wanted to be 'present for my baby's first breath.' 'Suffice to say I've never felt pain on that scale... between passing out, gritting my teeth, and dropping the odd F-bomb, I did my best to make it appear tolerable to avoid sedation,' she continued. 'Immediately my body went into shock. Organs started to fail, and I swelled to Michelin Man proportions with extreme oedema.' 'But my mind proved hardest to wrangle. It replayed the sensations on an endless loop, and tries to still, striving to make sense of the incomprehensible.' Madeleine said she delivered a health baby but this was 'tarnished by pain and an utter loss of control.' It comes after Madeleine shared a touching tribute to her seven children on Mother's Day. The former Neighbours actress posted a throwback Christmas picture of herself posing with her six eldest kids to Instagram on Sunday. A smiling Madeleine can be seen sitting alongside Santa as she hugged one of her children. The actress used a smiley emoji to obscure the identity of each of her kids in the picture in order to protect their privacy. The TV star—who shares Phoenix, 19, Hendrix, 16, Xascha, 14, Xanthe, 12, and twins Xalia and Margaux, 10, her ex partner Shannon Bennett added a lengthy message to her children including her newborn in the post. 'My magnum opus SEVEN times over!' she began. 'My crazy, cantankerous, curious, clever, chaos of children (collective noun trademarked!) 'Thank you. The woman I've become, as your mum, is the best version of myself I could ever wish to be.... 'Thank you for your trust when you reach out for me. Thank you for your forgiveness when I don't have all the answers. Thank you for the love in your eyes when you call my name,' Madeleine said. 'I don't always get it right, but thank you for your patience as I try to do my best. 'The journey has not been easy, what journey ever is? 'It is an honour to bear witness to your trials and tribulations every day, and to witness the incredible people you are and contribute to become,' she continued. 'Please know I love you, now and forever, more than words can say. 'Who knew the human heart could hold so much? And who knew that love could continue to grow, expand and flourish. 'I'm so blessed to be a Mother of Many (even if you lot are a lot harder to train than dragons). 'My babies always and forever. Just call, I'm always here.'
