Barnaby & Vikki Baby Sebastian’s big day!
Former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce’s new partner Vikki Campion says Sebastian has helped heal family rifts
He is arguably the most famous love child in Australia, but last week beautiful little Sebastian Joyce’s parents celebrated the joy he’s brought to their lives as they put the controversy and turmoil of the past six months behind them.
“He’s such a bright, bubbly little baby,” Vikki says.
“He’s an absolute delight. Barnaby loves Sebastian’s smile and his laugh, and I think it’s been great to have something so positive for both of us outside of all the political turmoil.”
The “turmoil” included a scandal over Barnaby’s relationship with Vikki, who was employed as his media adviser when she fell pregnant with his child – while he was still with his wife Natalie, who is mum to his four daughters.
And the turmoil and barrage of criticism levelled at the lovers only intensified when they agreed to do an interview about their affair, his marriage breakdown and the birth of Sebastian with Sunday Night – for $150,000.
Weeks later the scandal again erupted when Barnaby’s estranged wife Natalie admitted in an interview in The Australian Women’s Weekly that she called Vikki a “home-wrecking whore” during a confrontation in the street in Tamworth over the affair.
SPECIAL DAY
But last week Vikki and Barnaby, 51, couldn’t have looked happier as they proudly showed off baby Sebastian at his christening at the Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral in Armidale in the NSW Northern Tablelands.
“It was Sebastian’s christening and it was a really special day for him,” Vikki, 33, says, adding the now five-month-old baby “took great delight” in pulling off his matching bonnet and booties on the drive to the cathedral. Vikki and Barnaby have made a new life for themselves in Armidale, which is an hour’s drive north of Tamworth, where he lived with Natalie and their four daughters, and Vikki says the locals have both welcomed her and taken little Sebastian into their hearts. “I think they’re very proud of Sebastian,” she says, revealing she’s often stopped by complete strangers who want to see the baby, and she’s been blown away by the generosity of the townsfolk, who have showered them with handmade baby gifts.
“I walk into a shop and they’re like, ‘Is that Sebastian?’ and they all want to have a cuddle. A stranger will walk up with a gift for him. We’ve been given lots of handknitted blankets, which people have put their love into making.”
Vikki wouldn’t comment on whether Barnaby’s daughters attended the christening, and the politician’s media adviser did not respond to Woman’s Day’s enquiries. But there was a report he recently had a meal with two of his daughters in Canberra.
But Vikki did say “of course” she’d “absolutely” like Sebastian to meet his half-sisters one day, and revealed the gorgeous little boy has already helped heal a rift with her father Peter, who said Barnaby should “give himself an uppercut” when he found out about the affair and pregnancy.
PROUD FAMILY
Peter met Sebastian two weeks ago when Vikki and Barnaby attended the funeral of Vikki’s grandmother, Heather Young, in Cairns. “He had a cuddle and I think he was proud of Sebastian. I wish my grandmother could have met Sebastian, too.”
Vikki says the turmoil and hateful things levelled at her, including one stranger wishing Sebastian was “stillborn”, continue to affect the couple, but she hopes her “innocent” baby isn’t made to suffer because of it.
“You’d have to be made of stone for it not to rattle you,” admits Vikki, who says she’s unsure if she and Barnaby will have other children, and getting married is “not a priority” for her.
“I worry about Sebastian’s future. The thing is he’s five months old and doesn’t know about any of this stuff – and he will one day. He’ll know about it all when it’s appropriate.
“That’s what got to me from the beginning – here is an innocent baby caught up in all of this other stuff. The main thing is his welfare, that’s what comes first every single time.”
Vikki would absolutely like him to meet his half-sisters