WHETHER you loved her or hated her, there’s no denying Jackie Gillies was perhaps the most lovably eccentric cast member of The Real Housewives of Melbourne.
A champagne-sculling psychic who swears like a sailor but punctuates every second sentence with her relentlessly positive personal mantra ‘Shine shine shine!’, the Newcastle-bred 33-year-old seemed to exist on her own planet, away from the Toorak ladies who make up the rest of the cast.
This is a woman who opens our interview by turning the tables and shooting a barrage of chirpy questions at this writer: “Darling, are you shining bright? Shine shine shine? I love it darling! What’s happening? What’s news? Tell me everything!”
Q. A common complaint among people on reality TV is that they’ve been edited unfairly. Watching the show, has there been anything you’ve had an issue with?
A. None of this show is scripted, regardless of what anyone says — even if the other ladies try to say that, it’s not true. It’s all real. But there have been a few things taken out of context, like my ‘South Africa’ comment [Gillies asked a chef where he was from, and when he told her ‘South Africa’, she was shown to respond, ‘Oh, Zimbabwe?’]. I was actually talking about his accent, because there’s different dialects through Africa. That was probably something where I thought, ‘What the hell?’ But to be honest, that was probably the only thing.
Q. Real or not, the Zimbabwe comment was a great example of the humour you brought to the show. Are you OK with being a cast member people laugh with, or even at?
A. Yes. I’m secure in who I am. Viewers aren’t stupid, and they’ll always see the truth. If people want to have a laugh at my expense, then that’s good — I’ve made someone laugh. Even if somebody thinks what I did was a bit ridiculous or stupid, who cares? It’s television! You have people who do like you and people who don’t like you. It doesn’t really matter.
Q. It seems you were enthusiastic about the show from the get-go, but what about your husband [Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies]?
A. I’ve been blessed: my husband supports anything and everything I do, and vice versa. My husband purely did this show to support me. He’s a very private person, and before this show you’d never have seen us out at events being photographed. He took a little bit of convincing, but he said ‘Babe, if you’re happy, I’m happy.’
Q. You’re a professional psychic, but that seemed to fall by the wayside in the show after your initial reading with Janet in the first episode. Is it still part of your life?
A. I gave her several readings, on and off-camera. It’s a part of who I am and it’ll never change, but I’ve taken some time out from it because this show has taken up so much of my time. I have to be in a clear mind to focus on it, so I’m taking some time out for now.
Q. Tell us about launching your La Mascara pre-mixed cocktail range. Was it as difficult as it seemed on the show?
A. It really was that difficult. My father came to this country with 5 dollars in his pocket. I’ve worked three jobs in the past. People think I married Ben and that’s the happy life for me, but it wasn’t like that at all — I created my own wealth before I met Ben.
I did so much positive thinking, and people used to tell me I would fail. I used to have many vision boards, and people used to laugh, but I knew it would all come true. It’s been a hard journey getting La Mascara off the ground, and it didn’t happen just for the show.
The only thing that changed on the show was changing it from tequila to ready-to-serve cocktails, because I did a meditation and I knew I wanted it to be a reflection of me. Was it hard? Yes. Did I believe that it would happen? Yes. I’m the face of adversity — whenever I say I’m going to do something, it happens.
Q. In the second part of the reunion, airing tonight, you momentarily storm off set. What happened there?
A. When I stormed off, there was a lot of negativity going back and forth, and I couldn’t handle it. I needed a moment to myself to remove it. It’s going to be great viewing, I can tell you!
Q. Chyka got the nickname ‘Switzerland’ during the show for refusing to take sides — but you seemed to be able to stay out of a lot of the other ladies’ arguments too.
A. If you’ve got an issue with someone, you need to deal with that yourself. When Gina and I had an issue, people were talking about sending emails and stuff, but that’s not how I roll. Anything I did say, I’d make sure I’d say it to that person’s face, because that’s the right thing to do. If Gina and Andrea have an issue, that’s their issue. When I had an issue with Gina, I didn’t bring all five cast members into it, you know? I handled it myself.
Gina, Lydia and myself — we’re all European and we’re all quite fiery. But I have love for all the girls. People criticise on social media and I think, well hang on: you come onto the show, be put into all different dynamics and situations, and see how you get on. It’s a crazy situation at times.
The second part of the Real Housewives of Melbourne reunion airs tonight, May 11 at 8:30pm on Arena. And after that, this writer plans on being cryogenically frozen until the second series screens next year.
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