New Idea 27 March 2017

My eldest daughter is off to her school camp today for four nights. When I write it like that, it all seems very straightforward – but actually, it’s far from that! She cannot wait until the bus pulls out of the school car park, but me? Not so much. At the moment, I am trying to pretend I am delighted for her and am just as excited as she is, but deep down I know how quiet our house will seem, how I’ll worry who she’s going to share a cabin with... and just how tired and cranky she’ll be when she returns on Friday and we work out she’s had about three hours of sleep across the week! Last year was her first-ever camp and I wrote notes for her to find…

PARENTS LET LOOSE! Husband and wife VINCENT FANTAUZZO and ASHER KEDDIE, parents to Valentino, two, had a fashion-forward date night at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. Batter up! Star REESE WITHERSPOON had all bases covered when she spent the afternoon in Santa Monica with her youngest son TENNESSEE while he played baseball with his friends. To find out about Reese’s catfight with Nicole Kidman, turn to page 20. No, you’re not seeing double! Despite their divorce, NICK CANNON and MARIAH CAREY buddied up to take their twins MOROCCAN and MONROE to the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in matching outfits. Cute! ROD’S SONS SHINE Their boys’ trip took a sporty turn when singer ROD STEWART and the two youngest of his eight children, sons AIDEN (right) and ALASTAIR, enjoyed a soccer match in Glasgow. And the…

Prince’s former wife Mayte Garcia has told of the heartache the pair suffered when their newborn son Amiir died from a rare genetic disorder. Prince, 57, died last April from an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. Since then, Mayte, 43, whose four-year marriage to the star ended in 1999, has been writing a book about their time together. Belly dancer Mayte, who first became friends with Prince as a 16-year-old in 1990, gave birth to their son in October 1996. But sadly, baby Amiir was diagnosed with Pfeiffer syndrome type 2, which causes abnormalities such as eyes forming outside their sockets and bones fused in the hands and feet. After little Amiir was born, Mayte recalls Prince saying: ‘Why is he not crying?’ In her book The Most Beautiful: My Life With Prince, she writes…

‘She was totally looking at me like: “This is a stalker, this is my worst nightmare”’ Hugh Jackman has revealed how he was so starstruck meeting Olivia Newton-John, he was convinced she thought he was a stalker! Hugh, 48, who’s starring as Wolverine in the smash-hit movie Logan, had a poster of the Aussie legend on his bedroom wall growing up. He was introduced to Olivia, now 68, by her Grease co-star John Travolta, when Hugh and John, 63, were filming the 2001 movie Swordfish. The actor even compared his wife, Deborra-lee Furness, 61, to the Grease star! ‘Olivia Newton-John was my crush – yes, I have met her,’ he says. ‘I had a poster of her on my wall. ‘And if you find a photo of my wife at around the same age when Olivia…

Natalie Barr reveals she was told she may never walk again. The sunny, popular TV personality has opened up about her terrifying brush with a life-threatening illness. Natalie’s spine began crumbling after she contracted a ferocious superbug, which began attacking her vertebrae. ‘I distinctly remember thinking I would never walk again,’ she told The West Australian. ‘I can distinctly remember lying on my back for that long, your muscles start wasting away – all your organs don’t work properly.’ At the age of 15, the Sunrise star, now 48, was struggling to sleep through the night, thanks to a searing pain in her back. After being passed from a doctor to a physio, the WA-raised presenter found herself in an orthopaedic surgeon’s office. ‘He saw me for 10 minutes and put me in hospital,’ Natalie recalls…

Still hoping to save his marriage, Ben Affleck has praised his wife Jennifer Garner after he emerged from rehab for his alcohol addiction. ‘I’m lucky to have the love of my family and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has supported me and cared for our kids as I’ve done the work I set out to do,’ Ben, 44, wrote on Facebook. The actor confirmed his addiction is ‘something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront’. ‘I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step.’ However, a source tells New Idea that Jen, 44, ‘wants to see him stick to…