800 Words’ Bridie Carter talks about her life on and off the hit show
THE 800 WORDS STAR OPENS UP ABOUT HER FAMILY LIFE BOTH ON AND OFF THE SHOW
Bridie Carter just loves babies – the more the merrier! She adores the smell when they’re freshly bathed, the cuddles, their tiny fingers and toes – not even dirty nappies are a problem.
So playing new mum Jan Andrews on 800 Words is a gift for the former Mcleod’s Daughters favourite, who is raising two growing boys – Otis, 12, and Tobias, seven – with husband Michael Wilson in her life outside the show.
‘Oh I love babies, just love, love, love them,’ smiles the fresh-faced star, who earned two Gold and five Silver Logie nominations for her breakthrough role as feisty Tess Silverman Mcleod.
‘I could have had 10 children, but we stopped at two. That was one of the decisions you make as a family, otherwise I would have just kept having them, because I was really lucky. I had great pregnancies and I loved being pregnant.
‘That means I’m enjoying work even more at the moment,’ says Bridie, 46, whose surprise TV twins made their big debut on 800 Words this season. ‘You’re pretty privileged when someone lets you come on set and cuddle their tiny newborn babies!’
Off screen, the Dancing With The Stars champion is still recognised from Mcleod’s Daughters wherever she goes – even in New Zealand, where 800 Words is filmed in and around Auckland.
It’s a lengthy commute from earth mother Bridie’s personal slice of heaven on 75 lush acres near Byron Bay in northern NSW, where her husband raises pure-bred Hereford beef cattle to sell at market.
‘Years ago, you needed to be based in Melbourne or Sydney, but it doesn’t really matter where you are today,’ the NIDA graduate says of her living situation. ‘You can get out of the rat race, live on a beautiful farm with your family and fly off to film elsewhere quite easily.
‘In some ways, it’s crazy – time-poor, extreme deadlines, high stakes – but you get to work with wonderful creative people and then go home to the simplicity of nature. I’m very fortunate!’