Jackie Gillies may be best known for her hilarious personality on The Real Housewives Of Melbourne, being a psychic and of course her marriage to musician and Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies, but all is not what it seems. There’s a whole other side to Jackie, as she reveals.
#1 “I can break dance!”
“I taught myself when I was growing up while watching the show Beat Street. I used to practice on the lino’ out the back of my house doing pop and drops. Then I started doing back spins and helicopters and went into break dancing. I used to have break dancing dance offs in clubs. Ben and I were out one night in Newcastle, and this American guy came up to me wearing an Adidas tracksuit and challenged me on the dance floor – and it was on! So here I was, wearing high heels and having a dance off. Guess who won? Me!”
#2 “I was born in Croatia.”
“Not many people realise I was born in Croatia – I have dual citizenship. I used to go back regularly for the European summer but I have not been for three years because I’ve been filming The Real Housewives Of Melbourne. I am going back this year. To me, Croatia is like going home. Australia is my home but so is Croatia. My parents and siblings live in Australia but all of my extended family – cousins, uncles and aunties – are in Croatia.”
#3 “I eat like a man.”
“I am a massive, massive eater – I eat like a man! I’m always eating. If we are cooking a lamb or pig on a spit, or if I’m out for dinner with my husband, I always eat a minimum of two plates. My mum looks at me and says, ‘Are you kidding, Jackie? Are you still eating?’ And I say, ‘Leave me alone. I’m still going.’ I have a high metabolism. What you believe is what you create. So I look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘It just falls off.’ And it does! I’ve been doing this since the age of 18.”
#4 “I love a pub counter meal.”
“I love a chicken schnitzel. A lot of these ladies [from The Real Housewives Of Melbourne] probably don’t go to their local pub. But Ben and I love, love, love a counter meal. I have a vodka and soda with it. I don’t drink beer – it makes me feel bloated.”
#5 “I have over 300 pairs of shoes.”
“I love buying shoes! I buy them online from Net a Porter and have them addressed to Ben, so when the parcel arrives he doesn’t know it’s for me. Parcels arrive when Ben’s in the studio so I can slip them into the cupboard! I also ship some of my shoes to my parents’ home in Newcastle. When I bring them back to [my home in] Melbourne Ben says, ‘Oh Jackie, I haven’t seen these before?’ And I just say, ‘Yes, you remember when I bought them?’ Charlotte Olympia are my favourites – they are so beautiful and so comfortable.”
#6 “I’m a massive visualiser in life.”
“I do visual boards and I’m a massive believer in them. My first vision board was at 19. On my last board I stuck on houses overseas and houses in Australia, handbags, legs on the red carpet, a TV show, and to this day everything on there I have!
“You have to act as if you have already received these things and that you are worthy of them. So for example before I was married I wanted to be debt free. I handed my last $50 for the week to a homeless man – as if I already was debt free. You have to be in the universal energy space to believe you already have these things and it works. The right heart and the right intent.
“I teach people how to visually manifest in my one-on-one psychic readings, which I’ve been doing since the age of 20. Psychic readings are inherent in what I do and I will never stop. I’m also speaking at Secrets in the Garden in Perth on March 6, along with Michelle Bridges and Lola Berry. I’ll be speaking to 3000 people about how to visually manifest what you seek in life.”
#7 “I do squats every morning.”
“I have a Sonos stereo system through the house which plays across all three levels. In the mornings, after my mediation and coming out of my dream state, I pump the music up with R&B or Michael Jackson, stop whatever it is I’m doing and start doing squats – wherever I am, even on the bed sometimes! I do 3 x 15 sets of squats to get the blood pumping. I’ve done it for six or seven years to get these legs looking on point
ABOUT: The Real Housewives of Melbourne premiers Sunday February 21 at 8:30pm only on Foxtel’s Arena. Season 3 sees the return of housewife favourites Chyka Keebuagh, Gamble Breaux, Gina Liano, Jackie Gillies, Janet Roach, Lydia Schiavello and Pettifleur Berenger. This season they’re also joined by Melbourne socialite and country girl turned Toorak Housewife, Susie McLean.
