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Megan Gale on raising her son, her love life and coping with fame

Megan Gale with partner Shaun Hampson.

Megan Gale with partner Shaun Hampson. Photo: Getty

At 41, Megan Gale has a life many would envy.

Together with her 28-year-old partner, Richmond AFL player Shaun Hampson, she is raising her 28-month-old son River whilst maintaining a decades-long modelling career and breaking into television and film.

Based in Melbourne, Gale spends her time shooting and promoting reality TV series Australia’s Next Top Model, on which she is a judge, lending her looks to magazine covers and high-profile brands, and being a full-time mother. 

Here, she tells The New Daily a few hard truths she’s learned over the course of her career, her love life and her recent foray into parenthood. 

What no one told me about … having a baby

There’s stuff people tell you that you kind of know, but you don’t really know until you experience it. They say there are sleepless nights – they don’t say that [the lack of sleep] is a complete form of torture and it goes on for a while.

Another thing I wish someone had told me about was childbirth. I knew it would be full-on and I knew it would be painful but I had an incoordinate labour – I wish someone had told me what that was.

All I was told about labour was that you have contractions, they start far apart then gradually get closer together and when they’re between three and five minutes apart, you should be in hospital.

Mine started at five minutes apart, so I didn’t know what was going on. Then they went to nine minutes apart and then to three and then to six. I was like, ‘Is this labour? Or is this something else? Do I go to the hospital or do I stay at home?’.

You also don’t really understand how much you love your child until you’ve had them. The thought of anything happening to that little person is heartbreaking.

What no one told me about … love

All relationships are hard work. You have to communicate properly. Communicating is not yelling and screaming. You have to be completely supportive of each other, especially when you go through parenthood. I think men do get a bad rap but they’re getting much better at being involved.

I’m so lucky, I’ve got such a great guy, he’s a great communicator, he supports me, he accepts me and we’re a strong team. As an AFL player, he’s either completely free like now the season is over, or he’s getting absolutely flogged physically, but he’s a very committed dad.

You have to be a good team, especially when your kid starts getting smart and wants to play you against each other – which has just started to happen for us.

What no one told me about … fame

You don’t really understand how precious and valuable your anonymity is until it’s gone.

For me, it wasn’t really a goal to be a public person or famous in any way, it just kind of happened, it was almost a freak thing. I had to get my head around it really quickly.

I had to learn as I went dealing with media and dealing with paparazzi and dealing with the odd stalker.

You have those moments where, even though you might not be working, there’s a guy behind a bush that’s got a camera, so you better not sun bake topless.

What no one told me about … being a model

There are so many things I could say. I think you’ve got to be very clear on why you’re in the industry, what you want to get out of it and what you’re prepared to put into it

It’s not an age thing. There are some girls who are 16 or 17 but they’re old souls. They’ve got their head screwed on. Then you get some girls who are 21 and just want to be famous and to wear pretty dresses and are in it for the wrong reasons.

What no one told me about … money

When you’re younger you think the money is always going to come. I’d encourage my son to really learn how to save and to always think for the future – the economy can be unpredictable.

When I got my first credit card I wasn’t really that savvy. I knew I could buy things on it but I didn’t know you could get rewards.

I wish I had been a little bit better with that because there could have been more flights home to see my family in Perth!

(Disclaimer: Megan Gale is the face of an American Express campaign on the use of credit card points.)

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