Judy Nunn Finally happy
Actress and author Judy Nunn fibbed about her age for years, but turning 70 changed everything
Much-loved former Home And Away star-turned-bestselling author Judy Nunn laughs out loud at her own “stupidity” in trying to maintain a perfect figure and keep her age secret.
“I never thought I’d be at peace with getting older, but I now have a lust for life like never before,” reveals Judy, 72, who credits falling in love with helping conquer her body image demons.
“Ageing no longer terrifies me. On the contrary – I’m fully and honestly embracing being over 70, and that’s incredibly liberating!”
She says “extraordinary” actresses like Susan Sarandon, who turned 71 last week, and Dame Helen Mirren, 72, inspired her to get over her insecurities.
DEMONS TO REST
“They are both loving life – and with gusto,” she says. “Helen so bold and classy in gorgeous slinky gowns, Susan sassily flashing some cleavage. Both are wonderfully empowering.
“For me, gone are the silly worries of my younger years. Past demons are mercifullyy well and truly buried, ried, I’ve happily put on a few kilos over my ideal weight of ofo 55kg, and I no longer feel theheh need to fib about my age – I’m’m proud of it, so life is great.”
Those past demons monsm included a terrible obsessionio on with her weight, whichh resulted in an 11-year battlett tle with debilitating bulimia.mia.m
“I also became e a gym junkie,” she reveals.
“In hindsight, it was stupidity on a grand scale. But as a stage and TV actress I felt a need to be thin. I never saw myself as a beauty... but having been very sporty as a kid and into my teens, swimming and diving, as I got older I feared becoming fat.”
Judy happily admits falling in love with former Hong Kong police detective-turned-actorauthor Bruce Venables in 1985 helped her conquer bulimia and her body image issues.
‘For me, gone are the silly worries of my younger years’
“We met on a blind date,” she says. “It was like a crazy comedy from the start. Bruce was deliciously laconic and I was ridiculously hyperactive. Chalk and cheese. At the end of the night, Bruce offered to drive me home, and we’ve been together ever since.
“We wed in a backyard ceremony at our Bondi home in 1988, so next year we celebrate 30 years of marriage,” smiles Judy, famed for playing some of TV’S most iconic roles, including bisexual vixen Vicki Stafford on The Box and her 13-year stint as Ailsa Stewart on Home And Away.
Now one of Australia’s favourite authors after selling more than one million books worldwide, Judy says she’s always tackled life, love and work with passion, but since turning 70 there’s an extra exuberance to everything she does.
“My godmother lived to be 103, and she always said age was only a number, and that’s just the way Bruce and I see life,” she says. “What keeps you feeling young comes from within, and lots of laughter.”
Judy says in the early days of their celebrated romance they made a pact to make one another laugh every day. “Bruce never stops making me laugh. He has such a gift,” she says.
As they warmly embrace, Bruce, 68, still seems as smitten with Judy as he was when they fell in love all those years ago.
“She never changes, that’s what I love about Judy, plus we both inspire each other, whether it be with our work as writers, or if either of us are momentarily feeling down,” he says.
THE WRITE LIFE
“Sometimes Judy might look in the mirror and say, ‘Oh, I’m looking old – should I have a little something done?’ And I’ll say for God’s sake Jude, don’t. Be yourself, and we fall about laughing.”
Judy, who recently had a double hip replacement operation, is now arguably better known for her novels than her acting career.
“I started writing to pass the time between scenes on Home And Away, scribbling notes on the backs of scripts,” she says.
“I try to write a new book every two years. Our house is a constant clatter of keystrokes – Bruce has written a stunning crime trilogy, and has just released his fifth novel, Eureka Run.”