‘MY LITTLE GIRL’S GIVEN ME STRENGTH’
After the shock loss of her husband, the Studio 10 co-host tells how her daughter is helping her cope
Behind her smile and polished professionalism in front of the camera, veteran entertainment reporter Angela Bishop is hiding a very personal pain.
In November last year, her cherished husband Peter Baikie died from a rare form of cancer – and Angela, alongside their daughter Amelia, 10, has been struggling to come to terms with the loss ever since.
FINDING STRENGTH
“You never know when the grief is going to happen,” the Studio 10 co-host told Stellar magazine last week. “You never know when it’s going to hit.”
Eight months on and aside from the job she loves, Angela, 50, has a very good reason to get up each morning and keep going. Amelia has been Angela’s rock since Peter, her husband of 13 years, passed away.
“I’m blessed with family and friends you would pin medals on,” Angela says. “They’ve been incredible. But fundamentally, the most strength I’m getting is from Amelia. We’re just a team. I think we’re giving strength to one another.”
That Angela – and Peter – doted on their only child is clear to see. The couple, who met in 2002 and married in 2005 enjoyed bushwalking with their little girl and she loved to go for drives in Peter’s vintage car – a 1958 Imperial Southampton.
“She had a leopard print car seat in the back when she was little,” Angela says. As a family, ‘Team Baikie’ as they called themselves, also loved to visit family in country NSW.
“We’d ride motorbikes and horses out there,” she says.
Angela’s working life changed after Amelia’s arrival, too.
“My trips are really short now, I keep them to an absolute minimum,” says the star, who hasn’t missed an Academy Awards red carpet in years and travels to the US almost every month. “But I do think it’s great for Amelia to see her mum doing what she loves – and becoming a mum also gave me a better perspective as a journalist.”
BLESSED WITH A CHILD
Before Peter’s death, Angela spoke about why their bond with Amelia was so special. “She’s everything to us,” she said. “I didn’t plan on having
‘I think it’s great for Amelia to see her mum doing what she loves’
her late. That was just when I met my husband. And then it took a couple of years for us to have her. I would’ve loved for it to happen sooner. We feel utterly blessed to have her.”
PAINFUL LOSS
Sadly, their team of three fell apart after Peter’s shock diagnosis in February 2016.
“He fought courageously until the end and passed away on Wednesday November 22, 2017, surrounded by his family and friends,” Angela said in a statement after her husband’s death at the age of 54.
Angela and Amelia are still learning to live with their loss.
“It’s too soon,” says Angela, who admitted she broke down into a ‘full-on sob’ after reporting on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, which brought back memories of her own special day.
But the star, who’s interviewed everyone from Audrey Hepburn to Oprah Winfrey says she draws comfort from the fact she sees so much of Peter in their daughter.
MOVING FORWARD
“She’s got his mannerisms, his sense of humour and his fearlessness,” says Angela. “I’m so glad. Now Amelia and I must navigate our way forward. Our bond is so special and precious.”