Jennifer Hawkins has a secret weapon for happiness for the rest of this year’s Melbourne Cup carnival – her husband, Jake Wall.

While Hawkins, 33, was front and centre as the queen of the luxe Myer marquee in Flemington’s Birdcage for Derby and Cup days, builder and model Wall, 34, stayed behind in Sydney for work.

But with a day off between the Cup and Thursday’s Oaks Day, then Stakes Day still to come on Saturday, Hawkins had downtime to fill and had her fingers crossed Wall would be on hand.

“He might be coming down actually, just to hang with me in the hotel in between,” she told The New Daily, lounging on a round red velvet sofa inside the luxe trackside marquee on Tuesday.

“I’d be happy with that. Otherwise I won’t get to see him here,” Hawkins said, adding that instead of being solo during her trip away, “I’d prefer to be in a hotel bed with him”.

On show for long days at the Myer marquee, Hawkins is a true professional: unfailingly friendly, fun and natural, even though she still “gets nervous” doing media calls.

Her private world is a long way from the glamour of the track. In September, she and Wall – who married in Bali in 2013 – finally moved into the waterfront mansion they spent three years designing and building in Sydney’s Newport.

Hawkins chose her Alex Perry dress for Melbourne Cup a month ago, and added a last-minute jacket. Photo: Getty

A self-confessed homebody who tells The New Daily her everyday life is “very chill, jeans, tees and sneakers”, Hawkins said she is “so grateful” for her new home, which reportedly has a four-car garage with lift as well as a gym and pool with harbour views.

“I said to Jake, ‘Can you believe we’re in this house?’ It’s a dream come true and it’s a dream house.”

The model and businesswoman’s favourite room in the home is her kitchen.

“I love that area, and it flows onto an open plan,” she said.

“We entertain downstairs and our family is very comfortable there. They all stay over and I love it.

“They said, ‘You want to kick us out?’ I said, ‘No way’. I could have them there all the time. I just love having people stay. You wake up and make breakfast and you have different conversations to other times.”

While Hawkins used to love playing Mortal Kombat on Playstation (“I’d give it a good crack”) in her downtime, these days she’s binge-watching Animal Kingdom with Wall and is picking up new moves with girlfriends.

“I like to have a dance,” said Hawkins. “We sneak out and go to a public salsa night. I get noticed but I don’t really care!”

She also recently had a “massive” wardrobe cleanout for a good cause.

Over 100 pieces of designer clothing and accessories by Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Toni Maticesvski were handed over to the Salvation Army and auctioned on eBay, raising over $11,000.

“That felt really good,” says Hawkins. “Jeans, designer shoes, gowns, everything.”

Well, not quite everything. She kept the red Misha jumpsuit she wore to last year’s races, and said she wouldn’t have parted with her 2017 Cup dress – an Alex Perry black and blush tulle ballerina look – either.

As to what Jennifer Hawkins’ bespoke wardrobe in the new house looks like:

“I didn’t want it to be too big and not functional,” she told The New Daily.

While Wall is “not typically neat”, if he drops things, “I’m like, ‘That’s your s––t’”, says Hawkins. “I don’t pick it up.”

–with Susannah Guthrie