Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew has recently opened up about the confession she made last year, revealing she and her husband, journalist Neil Varcoe, sleep in separate beds.
The popular news presenter, 40, has now shared that not only do they sleep in separate rooms, but they have recently started sleeping in separate homes…
WATCH NOW: Edwina Bartholomew announces pregnancy
“I have only spoken about it publicly once and the reaction was extraordinary. Hundreds of women slid into my DMs admitting they do the same. (Some men slid in, too – but that’s a conversation for another time),” she wrote in Stellar.
“For some women, snoring sent them packing; others wanted a sanctuary filled with throw cushions, their partners did not. Now our family has taken things to the next level. My husband lives in the country with the dog and I live in the city with the kids. Each weekend, we traipse back and forth between the two or meet somewhere in the middle, Cameron Diaz-style.”
Edwina has been sleeping separately from Neil, 41, for over seven years now – she said that this arrangement helps her value the time they do spend together and with their two children Molly, four, and Thomas, two.
“It feels like a Love Actually airport reunion every time we come together with a slow-motion embrace and those newlywed feels,” she said. “Was it Shakespeare or maybe Hallmark that coined the phrase ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’? Regardless, they were onto something.”
Judging by Edwina’s Instagram, which is filled with gorgeous photos of her life as a mum to her two children, you’d think the journey to playing happy families was an easy one.
But although she is now enjoying a rock-solid marriage to Neil and both are smitten with their two kids, the couple’s relationship almost wasn’t to be!
In fact, Neil initially rejected Edwina’s advances after they met while working together on radio station 2GB over a decade ago.
“I asked him out on a date and he said no, which he maintains was a miscommunication,” she told OK! magazine in 2017.
“I thought, ‘Well, you’re a bloody idiot, aren’t you? A girl asks you out for a drink and you say no?’”
Despite their romance almost crashing down before it even had a chance to blossom, fate fortunately stepped in and corrected course.
Edwina said she knew they had something special from the get-go, explaining: “Anyway, we eventually did go out on a date and we’ve been together ever since. I literally went home that night after that date and said: ‘I’m going to marry him’.”
Luckily for the breakfast TV stunner, Neil was just as keen to make Edwina his wife and six years after they began dating he popped the question in 2017.
Speaking to whimn, Edwina shared details of the proposal, which took place on Warramba, their property in New South Wales’ Blue Mountains.
“We went for a walk up our drive at the farm. He’s not a down on one knee-type guy. He’d spoken to my dad – he did it the traditional way. I had invited my sister up for the weekend and he was planning to propose, so he had to wait. He actually tried to propose a number of times before, but I would have something on that got in the way,” she told the publication.
“He had the ring. He had it made in consultation with my best friend. He actually had the engagement and wedding ring. It was quite funny as he dropped it on the ground as he proposed.”
After answering “yes” to Neil’s special question, Edwina revealed she couldn’t be happier.
“I’m elated – deliriously happy. Thrilled and excited. I do feel a bit different. You suddenly switch to ‘Wow, this is it’. How wonderful,” she added.
A year later, Edwina and Neil’s big day finally arrived and their wedding’s location held a special significance.
The loved-up couple exchanged vows in front of 160 guests at Warramba – the same place the proposal took place – one year exactly after Neil popped the question.
Edwina wore a vintage dress which has been worn by three generations of her family, including her much-loved grandmother in 1944. The gown was altered by Melbourne couturier Sonia Cappellazzo, of Cappellazzo Couture.
She previously revealed to WHO that the dress was not made by a designer, but described the gown as “an old dress, vintage, country romantic.”
The veil was given to her great grandmother by her sister for her wedding in 1915 and Edwina shared photos of the stunning frock with fans at the time.
“It’s so wonderful to be able to share our wedding photos with all of our wonderful Sunrise viewers,” Edwina told WHO on her wedding day.
“Everyone has been so kind since we announced our engagement last April. We have felt very loved.”
The milestones kept coming for the couple and in June 2019, Edwina announced on Sunrise that they were expecting their first child.
“I have a bit of an announcement myself,” Edwina told her colleagues David Koch, Sam Armytage and Natalie Barr live on air.
“The girls already know but Kochie surprise, surprise – we’re having a baby.”
Their daughter, Molly Matilda Christie Varcoe, was born just a few days before Christmas 2019, and Neil and Edwina have transformed into doting parents ever since.
Then, in March 2022, Edwina and Neil welcomed their second child, Thomas Donald Elliott Varcoe, making Molly a big sister!
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