Marriage

The tradesman and TV host opens up about the importance of family traditions and the moment he knew he'd met his future wife.

She is extremely thrifty, and at one point she wore the same dress six years in a row. That night, I told Mum I’d met the girl I was going to marry. You have to work hard at a marriage. I saw my future wife, Ann, a schoolteacher, on the sidelines, and I fell instantly in love. I wasn’t a good dancer and I didn’t have a chat-up line. I don’t think there are too many relationships in which a mother and daughter go on holiday together, but every year they do. I took her favourite pavlova to the hospital and spent Christmas day with her. One weekend, I went to the Blue Mountains to watch some mates play footy. I was frightened of girls as a teenager. I grew up with Nana around me, as we went to my grandparents’ house in Bondi every Sunday. It was a great shock when my father, Allan, died at 53. The 59-year-old opens up about his grandmother, love at first sight, and the importance of family traditions.