Rebecca Gibney has opened up about the secret to a lasting marriage in the entertainment industry.
The Packed to the Rafters star, 60, has been married to production designer Richard Bell for more than two decades.
The Kiwi actress who became an Australian television icon and was honored with a place in the Logies Hall of Fame in 2024, announced her upcoming stint on Dancing With The Stars as she embarks on the next chapter of her life.
In her Logies acceptance speech, the 60-year-old revealed for the first time how she met her second husband.
‘The man I met on the set of Halifax, he was production designer at the time, Richard Bell,’ she said.
In an interview with Stellar magazine last Sunday, the beloved actress shared the key to the longevity of her showbiz marriage, emphasizing that the foundation of their strong bond is their deep friendship.
‘He much prefers to be in the background. We are best friends. And … [that] doesn’t mean that there isn’t romance,’ she said.
She expressed her sentiment by saying, “This man is my rock. He is by my side through thick and thin. He accepts and loves me unconditionally, no matter the circumstance – through aging, weight fluctuations, and fitness levels. His love is unwavering.”
In a 2017 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Rebecca said she was 35-years-old when she met Richard.
‘I had dealt with my past and in walks this beautiful, tall New Zealander who happened to live on the same street as me when I was five.
‘We met in 1999, got together in 2000 and married in 2001 and have been happy ever since.’
The couple welcomed their only child, son Zachary Edison Bell, on April 7, 2004.
‘We love the same everything, doesn’t mean we always get on, we do argue, we compromise,’ she told Stellar.
‘But it’s like, don’t let the little shit get in the way of the big, important stuff. “And we’ve also gone through loss together.’
‘He is there for me in every circumstance as I am for him. And he’s my number one priority – he and my son.’
The actress’ comments come amid a string of high-profile separations among their friends and Hollywood peers – including the likes of Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron-Cohen and Deborra-Lee Furness and Hugh Jackman.
Rebecca admitted she has turned down offers of reality TV shows on many occasions and accepted Dancing With The Stars after her 60th birthday.
‘I want to say yes more than no,’ she said. ‘I want to do things that frighten and challenge me, and hopefully that will give me a little bit extra longevity.’
During the montage of highlights from her incredible decades-long career in television, the New Zealand actress, 59, revealed she was Jackman’s very first onscreen kiss.
Rebecca, who broke into Australian television in 1985 with her role in Zoo Family, locked lips with the heartthrob actor, 55, when they starred in Halifax FP together, a show which debuted in 1994.
‘It was kind of awkward and it was weird and he wouldn’t kiss me properly and he was like, “Well, it feels a bit weird.” Anyway, it kind of worked,’ Rebecca said of the historic moment during an interview in her montage clip.
When Rebecca was finally called up to the stage by her son Zachary to accept her award, The Dressmaker star could barely keep herself from bursting into tears as she read her emotional speech.
‘To my family, oh, okay I’m not going to get through this,’ she tearfully began.
‘The man I met on the set of Halifax, he was a production designer at the time, Richard Bell.
‘Thank you for always asking the question when a job comes up, “Will it make you happy? Will it bring you joy? Well then you have to do it,” and for sacrificing his own work on so many occasions so that I could.
‘You have been my rock and my love for nearly a quarter of a century and I am so grateful for that.
‘For my son Zac who continues to bring me the best kind of joy. I am so proud of you. I am so proud of the kind, gentle, ridiculously talented individual you are. Thank you for teaching me to be a good mum. I love you beyond words.’
Rebecca finished her heartfelt speech with: ‘I am very proud, to be one of only four women who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, but I know that there are many more to come.’
She is only the fourth woman ever inducted into the TV Week Logie Hall of Fame in 64 years, after Noni Hazlehurst, Kerri-Anne Kennerley and the late Ruth Cracknel.
