THE STORY OF US
Theirs is a story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely children. Until the one day, when the lady met this fellow … the rest, of course, is history for popular TV medico Dr Ginni Mansberg and her husband Daniel Rubinstein.
Certainly, for the now parents of six children ranging in age from 26 to 13, the comparisons to The Brady Bunch are plain to see.
“Except without the ‘Alice’,” says Ginni, adding with a laugh, “And if anyone has a free Alice lying around, please give her my number! But Daniel and I did give each other three children for a wedding present.”
Safe to say, too, that Ginni – now appearing as an expert on popular new SBS series Medicine or Myth?, which explores whether the benefits of alternative remedies are real or an illusion, as well as being a resident GP on Seven’s Sunrise, author, podcast co-host, university tutor, board director and practising Sydney doctor – may keep a few more balls in the air than Carol Brady.
“I would say I have one or two extra things on my plate than Carol did – God love her!” says Ginni, laughing. “And don’t we all?”
It was back in 2006 when Ginni, now 50, and Daniel, 48, met through a local running club.
“We only got together in 2008,” says Daniel. “There was this chemistry happening for a while, but timing wasn’t working and there was also a courage thing that was required! Finally, I decided to give Ginni a call.”
That’s not to say, though, that the couple’s first night out went according to plan. Far from it!
“We had an incredibly eventful first date,” recalls
Ginni. “We got to this really beautiful restaurant and I then got a phone call about my 15-year-old son – who is now 26, working in New York and just the most successful and beautiful person.
“His friend called me at the time and said my son was not feeling at all well. It turned out he had a dreadful case of the Smirnoff virus – he’d drunk too much Smirnoff !
“We hadn’t even got our main meals, but Daniel insisted on going with me to pick him up – which was literal. He had to be carried by Daniel into the car, by which point Daniel was covered in puke. And it went from there! I didn’t think I’d ever see Daniel again.”
Thankfully, however, Daniel had already fallen head-overheels with Ginni. Was there any hesitation to committing to a long-term relationship second-time around?
“I didn’t really think very deeply about it until Ginni and I started going out,” he says. “But when we did, it kind of went from zero to 100 really quickly.”
“And that,” says Ginni, “was the start of a very, very big romance.”
On February 28, 2012, the couple exchanged vows in a low-key ceremony on Sydney’s Rose Bay Beach.
“It was around the corner from where we were living at the time,” says Ginni. “We got up in the morning, did the laundry and the shopping, made dinner and then went around the corner and got married. It was very casual.”
From that day, the couple – who also co-founded their popular skincare company ESK – have lived life by each other’s sides. And they’re still counting their blessings.
“We can’t believe how lucky we are,” says Ginni with a smile.