Natalie Bassingthwaighte is used to glittering red carpets, cameras and the glare of the spotlight.
However, the down-to-earth star of the mini-series Brock admits that at the end of the day she’s just an everyday mum trying to do her best with the juggle of work, life and family.
We sat down with “Nat” as she’s fondly known as, to chat about her latest venture – ambassador for educational program ABC Reading Eggs, and to get her thoughts on being a mum to kids Harper, 6, and Hendrix, 3.
Congrats on your return to TV in the Peter Brock biopic. You’ve said that playing Julie Bamford – Peter Brock’s last partner – had a profound impact on you?
Yeah it was amazing actually. She went through a traumatic time and I found playing her was a very spiritual and cathartic journey for me. It also reinvigorated my love of acting – I want to do more!
Does motherhood and everything else you’re juggling ever stress you out?
Oh sure, sometimes I’m terrible at dealing with stress. I’ll scream at Harper in the morning, “Put your shoes on! I’ve already asked you ten times!” However I try to exercise every day to keep the stress levels down. I try to commit to different exercise activities each week – a Pilates class, a personal training session and one cardio tennis section. That helps me so much, to have that time to myself to energise and refocus and not stress about kids and work.
At night I’ll listen to positive affirmations and I don’t look at my phone after 9pm which has made a huge difference! By 9am next morning I’m so much more switched on not as frazzled.
Do you think women who try to have it all with motherhood, their relationships and their careers are sometimes too hard on themselves?
I think we all look at other mums and think they must have it so easy, I must be a failure. But oh my god being a mum is crazy! You want to do such a great job. I feel like I owe it to my kids to encourage them to be the best they can be – that’s a big ask. Parents in general need to give themselves a break. We’re all doing the best we can. We might stuff up now and then and we might yell when we don’t want to. Life’s not perfect but you just have to keep on keeping on.
What attracted you to the role of ambassador for ABC Reading Eggs
I really love books and I want my kids to love them as well, so I couldn’t wait to be involved. Reading Eggs is basically a computer program and app that helps teach kids to read through lessons. It makes reading so much fun. It’s sped up my kids’ interest and ability, and has really enhanced their interest in books overall.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJR0CjEhYN1/?taken-by=natbassingthwaighte
What were your favourite books as a child?
I loved Enid Blyton and Dr Suess. His book The Places You Will Go was one of my favourites. I still love that book.
Do you spend a lot of time reading to Harper and Hendrix? Does your husband Cameron McGlinchey help out on that front too? What are their favourite books?
We both read to the kids every night and we all love it. Harper loves most books, however at the moment we are having fun with Dr Suess. Hendrix is loving his Digger books and one in particular called Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site.
My daughter has always loved to learn and always had a natural interest in books from early on so we would read three books a night to her. However my son has been more difficult to engage in reading. I sometimes felt a bit guilty because I feel like we didn’t read as much to him – the whole second child less attention thing! He also never had that many books of his own. We just gave him Harper’s which is probably a bit sad! However he’s into it so much more now.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ7sVo4Bozo/?taken-by=natbassingthwaighte
How is your kids’ clothing label Chi Khi going?
It’s going really well – I’m so busy with it! We’re about to launch a Chi Khi competition where people can have their picture taken next to a Chi Khi wall and then post the selfie onto our Instagram to win vouchers. I also recently did a promo for the business alongside Kate Richie talking about motherhood which was a lot of fun. This year we’ve also started wholesaling in Australia and countries such as the Netherlands and China. It’s very exciting.
What’s it like working with your husband again in your band Rogue Traders?
It’s great. We’re about to do a gig with Icehouse, Josh Pike, Mark Seymour which is exciting. The kids haven’t seen us perform yet so we both can’t wait for that. We were going to bring them to our gig at the Grand Prix this year. Thank goodness we didn’t – the fighter jets were soooo loud!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKVa4YABSR0/?taken-by=natbassingthwaighte
