Love Stories

Sports broadcaster Georgie Tunny and actor Rob "Millsy" Mills join Tiffany Dunk to share the love story that began with an Instagram DM, a three-day wait and a Harry Potter spoof play. They talk about long distance, big careers, winning The Amazing Race Australia together, and why their fairytale ending now looks a lot like Rob as a dad.

When Amanda Ferrari left Sydney for the tiny town of Trangie, she was warned there were two eligible bachelors she should stay away from. But when she walked into the local pub and locked eyes with farmer Ross, everything changed. More than 30 years later, Amanda and Ross join Tiffany Dunk to talk about love, farm life, drought, raising twins, building community, buying the pub where their story began, and what it really takes to make a new place feel like home.

In the 1970s, Deb Lawrie took on Ansett and became Australia’s first female commercial pilot. Now, with her son Tom beside her, she reflects on the fight that changed aviation, and the family legacy that followed.

When Katie Noonan’s 20-year marriage ended, it wasn’t a clean plot twist, it was the slow unravelling of the life she thought she’d be living forever: two boys, one family, a future she could name. In this episode of Love Stories, Katie chats with Deputy Editor Tiffany Dunk of The Australian Women's Weekly about her layered grief: losing her Dad, becoming suddenly single, and realising that the person you have to learn to love again is yourself.

A friendship forged under the Masterchef studio lights quietly turned into a relationship for Sarah and Declan Cleary. One that had to make room for a child, a dog, two careers and the logistics of building a life in the real world, not just on camera. But the centre of the episode is the birth of their twin girls: an emergency C‑section that descended into 14 of the longest minutes of their lives.

Who loves you for the longest? Not in the dramatic, fireworks way but in the quiet “did you book your scan?” way. In this episode, we sit with Miss Universe Australia Lexie Brandt and her mum, Penny, in the kind of conversation that usually happens in hospital corridors or parked cars outside imaging clinics Lexie was 11 when Penny was diagnosed with high grade breast cancer on the same day Lexie started Year 6 and became a school captain. It’s the age when you’re meant to be stress crying about friendships and braces, not mammograms and mortality. Overnight, the roles between mother and daughter shifted: Penny became “the patient,” but she was still quietly choreographing everyone else’s feelings, telling Lexie, “This is sad, but we’re getting it fixed,” and turning terror into a family action plan. Tiffany Dunk Deputy Editor of The Australian Women's Weekly asks Penny and Lexie to take us through the journey, the GP visit Penny almost said no to, the waiting room that slowly emptied until there were only two women left, the phone call where Lexie half remembers 'something different was happening" and remembers asking for an ice block because kids still want snacks even when the adults are falling apart. They talk about how you tell an 11 year old you have cancer without breaking her, how you parent when you’re the one who can’t get out of bed, and what it means for a daughter to grow up with the C‑word as a constant, invisible third in the room. Moments You'll Hear:  How a routine 41st‑birthday check up one Penny initially tried to decline caught her breast cancer early and probably saved her life. Lexie’s memory of “the day Mum told me,” and how Penny’s language of action over despair became the moral she now lives by. The messy logistics of illness:  families, step siblings, proud partners who relish accepting a lasagne drop off, and the invisible admin women shoulder while they’re meant to be “resting.” What helped most: bringing “home” into hospital rooms with photos and soft pyjamas, letting friends drive the school run, and allowing themselves to accept help instead of performing strength The way cancer rearranged their bond but didn’t define it Lexie still sending outfit pics for approval, Penny still being the person everyone else orbits, and both of them now using their story to push other women towards early checks and being part of the strong community and event The  Mother’s Day Classic. If you’ve ever been the child trying to stay brave for a sick parent, or the parent editing your own fear so your kid can sleep, this one will feel uncomfortably, tenderly familiar Thank you for listening ❤️  before you leave...  🗣️ Get in touch   What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.auEmail us your love stories (and any feedback) at awwlovestories@aremedia.com.au If you share your love story on social media please tag us – we’re @womensweeklymag – and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at subscription  👈🏽 If you loved hearing Lexie and Penny's story see more  Support and be apart of the Mothers Day Classic  Lexie Brantt Miss Universe Learn about the Mothers Day Classic    🙏 Our special thanks for making 'Love Stories' our home:  Vixin  real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancy Lexie and Penny and The Mothers Day Classic  Credits:  Edited by Phoebe Zukowski -Wallace  Production by Thomas Crnkovic   Our wonderful Australian Women’s Weekly team   Learn More: Womens Weekly Website     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories, we’re talking about the kind of love that pads down the hallway on four legs and leaves a paw-shaped crater when it’s gone. 🐾💓You’ll meet Ryan Wilson, a former SAS soldier whose life was literally saved by a military dog named Fax during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, and whose heart was later held together by Kenny, the clumsy, grinning working dog who became his shadow for 15 years.  Ryan shares the moment Fax sensed danger on the wind, found the hidden fighters waiting to kill them, and paid for that instinct with his life.  He walks us through the ramp ceremony they gave Fax, just as they would any fallen soldier, and why he’s certain the death toll in Afghanistan would have been far higher without dogs like him.Back home, Ryan turns that shock into devotion, retraining as a dog handler and being paired with Kenny, a Belgian Malinois who bolts the first time he’s let off lead and later becomes the unit favourite the dog who runs into trees, matches Ryan’s clumsiness, and still gives 110% every time he works.  We follow Kenny into retirement on the couch and down to the beach, but also into the quiet, awful reality of a working dog’s body breaking down: spinal damage, failing back legs, and the moment Ryan has to admit the pain is too much.If you’ve ever stayed up all night on the floor beside a pet, convincing yourself a tiny mouthful of food means they’re “doing better,” this conversation will feel uncomfortably close.  Host Tiffany Dunk shares her own recent goodbye to her beloved cat, and together she and Ryan sit in that specific, complicated grief: wishing the animal would slip away in their sleep instead of forcing you to make the call, bargaining with the small wins, and then living with the decision long after the vet’s car has driven away.  Ryan talks about how he got through the day he let Kenny go inviting 15 old comrades over to his house, telling stories, having a drink, and putting Kenny to sleep at home, surrounded by the people who knew what he’d done and who he’d been.This episode also peels back the curtain on what a “life of service” really means for military dogs once the missions end.  Ryan explains why these dogs so often retire with serious injuries, how common PTSD is in canine veterans, and why handlers are suddenly left to shoulder eye‑watering vet bills completely alone.  Out of that injustice came Working Paws Australia, the charity Ryan co‑founded to pay for the surgeries, medications, and ongoing care retired working dogs need so handlers no longer have to choose between their mortgage and their best friend’s pain.  We hear about the dogs they’ve already helped, the families who were on the brink of financial freefall, and why simply listing each dog’s tours of duty on the Working Paws website feels like its own kind of honour roll.Through it all, this is a story about unconditional love in its purest, least performative form: the dog who greets you the same way whether you’re your best self or your worst, who jumps out of helicopters with you and sleeps at your child’s feet, who doesn’t ask for anything back.  Ryan reflects on what dogs can teach us about love that humans often can’t manage loyalty without conditions, presence without judgment, and the quiet insistence that you are worth showing up for, every single day.  And in the space Kenny has left, Ryan is pouring that love into his young daughter and into every retired working dog his charity can reach.If you’re listening with a dog at your feet, or still reaching for a pet who isn’t there anymore, this episode is for you.Moments You'll Hear:   A war story where the hero has four legs, not a medal.The private, unvarnished reality of deciding it’s time to say goodbye to a pet you can’t imagine your life without.How it feels when your grief for “just a dog” or “just a cat” is so big you hide it from social media—and why it deserves to be taken seriously. The creation of Working Paws Australia and the families they’ve already pulled back from the brink of losing both their home and their dog.A gentle, raw conversation about the ways love doesn’t end when a life does—it just has to find somewhere new to go. Thank you for listening ❤️  before you leave...  🗣️ Get in touch   What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.auEmail us your love stories (and any feedback) at awwlovestories@aremedia.com.au If you share your love story on social media please tag us – we’re @womensweeklymag – and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at subscription  👈🏽 If you loved hearing Ryan's story find out more about the work he does with Working Paws and how you can support too.   🙏 Our special thanks for making 'Love Stories' our home:  Vixin  real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancy Ryan Wilson  Kenny, Armani and all of our four legged furry friends 🐾   Credits:  Edited by Phoebe Zukowski -Wallace  Production by Thomas Crnkovic   Our wonderful Australian Women’s Weekly team   Learn More: Womens Weekly Website     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sensitive issues raised 💓 Love Notes bonus episode is part of our series of Love Stories -  short, quiet episodes from The Australian Women’s Weekly. With small reminders that love is something we practise, not just something that happens to us. In this Love Note, we sit with Charmaine Caldwell, CEO and founder of VIXIN and Deputy Editor Tiffany Dunk as she uncovers something special she calls her “why book”: a journal stuffed with handwritten messages from customers, friends, charities and, most of all, her son. She reads a note she wrote to herself 16 years ago a letter for the days when everything feels heavy, and quitting would be easier and explains why she carefully copies it into every new book she starts Charmaine talks about raising her son alone, walking through a decade of menopause “fog” while building a skincare brand for women who no longer recognise their own faces in the mirror, and the messages from customers that have kept her going including one woman with cancer who asked to be buried with her VIXIN products because they made her feel beautiful on her worst days. This is a 'Love Note' episode about the love we pour into other people and the love we’re still learning to offer ourselves: packing orders with intention, sticking Maya Angelou’s “they’ll never forget how you made them feel” on the warehouse wall, and trying, every day, to be kinder in the way we speak to ourselves than the world is. If you need a gentle reminder to keep going, or permission to start talking to yourself like someone you actually care about, this Love Note is for you.  Thank you for listening ❤️  before you leave...  🗣️ Get in touch   What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.auEmail us your love stories (and any feedback) at awwlovestories@aremedia.com.au If you share your love story on social media please tag us – we’re @womensweeklymag – and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories. Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at subscription  👈🏽 See More:  Menopause Symptoms No One's Talking About Naiomi Watts 'Menopause It's Not The End' If you loved hearing about Charmaine, you can follow her on Instagram and learn more about her products :  Learn More About Vixin VIXIN Instagram   🙏 Our special thanks for making 'Love Stories' our home:  Today’s episode is brought to you by VIXIN Beauty, high performance, Australian Made skincare built for real skin and real results. No complicated routines, no watered down formulas, just powerful actives that support your skin at every stage. Explore the range at vixin.com.au and enjoy up to 30% off bundles Credits:  Edited by Phoebe Zukowski -Wallace  Production by Thomas Crnkovic   Our wonderful Australian Women’s Weekly team   Learn More: Womens Weekly Website     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sensitive issues raised. 💓 Before she was the first winner of MasterChef Australia, Julie Goodwin was a 19‑year‑old girl on Pennant Hills Road, in a car with a quiet boy who loved rock music. The Angels came on, “I Just Want to Be With You” started to play, and somewhere between the traffic lights and the chorus, Mick casually said, “This’d be my song for you.” For Julie, that was it. Her heart locked on. “This is my person. In this episode of The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories with Deputy Editor Tiffany Dunk , we meet Julie and Mick not as TV talent and “the husband”, but as two teenagers who grew up together through youth‑group blanket drives, three babies under three, sickeningly tight finances and one life altering car accident that broke both of Mick’s legs and quietly cemented Julie’s love.  Then life does what it does. There’s the global juggernaut of MasterChef and the strange disorientation of fame strangers kissing Julie in the supermarket, overseas trips, new opportunities and the pressure of becoming a “public person” overnight. There’s the reality of raising three boys while money was so tight that beer and pizza with friends feels like unthinkable luxury, and the dawning recognition that “the best cuisine comes from poverty” because you learn to make magic out of whatever is in the pantry. And then there is the crash you didn’t see on TV: the years of unrelenting standards, perfectionism and deepening mental ill‑health that Julie became expert at hiding – even from the man she calls her best friend. “I think my best energy was put towards making sure he didn’t know how bad I was,” she says. “He’s the person I wanted to let down the least, which of course means he’s the person I let down the most.” Mick speaks quietly about the guilt of not seeing, the anger at himself, and the moment he realised there was something much bigger happening than being “a bit stressed” Together, they talk about breakdown, hospitalisation, shame that “dies in daylight”, and the long, work it took of building a life back up, as a series of daily choices to stay, to love and listen and to sit in pain with someone you are devoted to. They describe their marriage as shoulder‑to‑shoulder, facing outwards: sometimes pulling in opposite directions, often resetting to remember that they still want the same point on the map. Along the way there are grandparent fart jokes, volunteer shifts in homeless kitchens, a caravan they’re restoring, and a promise to aim for 60 years together. What makes this conversation so affecting is not just what they’ve survived, but how ordinary it all feels  a love story that moves from school‑captain youth group meetings to national fame to ICU waiting rooms and back again, without ever losing the thread of “we”. Julie says she plans to keep falling in love with every iteration of Mick that comes next. Mick says this is simply “the life we signed up for”  the rollercoaster they agreed to ride, side by side If you’ve ever loved someone through a hard season, hidden your own unraveling from the person you trust most, or wondered how couples actually stay together when life goes sideways, this episode has something to say to you.    Thank you for listening ❤️  before you leave...  🗣️ Get in touch   For support: Contact https://www.lifeline.org.au/ free of charge 13 11 14 What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.auEmail us your love stories (and any feedback) at awwlovestories@aremedia.com.au If you share your love story on social media please tag us – we’re @womensweeklymag – and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories. Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at subscription  👈🏽 If you loved hearing Julie, you can follow her on Instagram and read her book:  Your Time Starts Now    available now wherever you get your books.  Julie’s Tour dates and locations Julie Goodwin website   🙏 Our special thanks for making 'Love Stories' our new home:  Vixin  real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Love stories rarely look this cinematic in real life, but Jessica Rowe and Pete Overton make a strong case for the romcoms they both adore. In this intimate new conversation with host Tiffany Dunk Deputy Editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly, the long time couple pull back the curtain on 22 years of marriage, IVF heartbreak and joy, teenage daughters, rescue pets, and the small daily rituals that keep their love stubbornly, gloriously alive.  This episode marks an exciting new chapter for The Australian Women’s Weekly as it steps beyond the page and the screen and into your ears, with stories now living across socials, the website, and this new podcast. It’s the same warm storytelling you know, now designed for your commute, your kitchen bench, and those late night scrolls.  🎧Moments you’ll hear:   From a work experience crush at Channel Nine to a Logies night almost‑miss, Jess and Pete trace the slow burn origin story that became a lifelong partnership.  They relive the phone call that changed everything, when Jess decided to break the rules and ask him out herself  and why they now tell young women (and men) to “pick up the phone” and risk the yes.  Their wedding was unapologetically cat coded: a Tom Jones bridal waltz to “What’s New Pussycat,” feline themed cake, and cat cupcakes for guests.  Jess shares the raw reality of IVF  the repeated attempts, the car park phone call when “third time lucky” didn’t happen, and the Milan hotel room moment when Pete finally heard, “You’re going to be a father.  Pete reveals the story that broke his on‑air composure the murder of Hannah Clarke and her daughters and what it taught him about letting the audience see his humanity  Listen for a tender, funny, quietly radical love story  and a very Australian reminder that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is make the call, say the thing, pour the coffee and share an honest  conversation.     Thank you for listening ❤️  before you leave...  🗣️ Get in touch   What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.auEmail us your love stories (and any feedback) at awwlovestories@aremedia.com.au If you share your love story on social media please tag us – we’re @womensweeklymag – and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories. Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at subscription  👈🏽 If you loved hearing from Jess, follow her on Instagram or listen to The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show podcast.  Peter presents Nine News Sydney nightly at 6pm https://www.9news.com.au/sydney    👀 See more  The Ying and Yang of Jessica Rowe and Peter Overtons relationship Putting Yourself First  Welcome to the Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories Podcast   🙏 Our special thanks for making 'Love Stories' our new home:  Vixin  real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancy.   Credits:  Edited by Phoebe Zukowski -Wallace  Production by Thomas Crnkovic   Our wonderful Australian Women’s Weekly team   Learn More: Womens Weekly Website       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.