‘I WAS TOLD I COULDN’T HAVE KIDS’
THE ALL TOGETHER NOW PERFORMER SHARES THE ACCIDENT THAT CHANGED HER LIFE
At just 18 years old, musical theatre performer, now a judge on All Together Now, Monique Montez was involved in a horrific accident that changed her life forever.
She was driving home from a dance workshop when a car full of drunks swerved onto the wrong side of the road and forced Monique’s vehicle off the edge of a cliff.
With a collapsed lung, a crushed hip and broken hand, Monique managed to crawl out of the car to find help.
“The ambulance took me to the hospital where my mum was working,” she emotionally reveals to New Idea. “They had to tell her, ‘an 18-year-old had an accident and it was your daughter.’”
The extent of Monique’s injuries meant that over the next year she had to learn to walk again, but her parents were with her every step of the way.
“My mum and my dad dropped everything to look after me,” she recalls.
But still just a teenager, Monique was faced with the fact she might never be able to have children.
“[Doctors] said that I might have difficulties having a child,” she says. “They said there could be ramifications and I was worried.”
Years later, Monique met her husband Nigel while working on the musical Saturday Night Fever and they have since welcomed a beautiful daughter Ruby, 8.
“I put [the news] totally out of my mind,” she admits. “So, when it happened she was a little dream come true.”
Despite being one of the hardest things she ever went through in her life, the car accident only made Monique more determined to pursue her dreams of becoming a musical theatre performer.
“Music was my saviour. It really got me through the tough times and it led me to where I am,” she reveals. “I never take a day for granted, that’s for sure”
She has since performed in shows including We Will Rock You and Fiddler on the Roof. Now, she is set to achieve her dream of performing at Sydney Opera House in the upcoming show In the Heights.
In the meantime, Monique is having a blast as a judge on Channel Seven’s All Together Now.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” she exclaims. “And I think Australia is loving it which is even better!”