Michelle Bridges reveals the very surprising way she bonds with her nine-year-old son – and hints at his future career plans

Celebrity personal trainer Michelle Bridges has revealed the very surprising way she bonds with her nine-year-old son Axel.

The Australian fitness icon, 54, told Daily Mail Australia at an International Women’s Day event earlier this week that they connect through travelling together.

‘I’m having the best time with my son. We went to Uluru, I took him to Europe last year and I’ve taken him skiing in Japan this year! It’s like me and my bestie,’ Michelle began.

She then hinted her young son looked set to be following in his mother’s footsteps by having a career in showbusiness.

‘Right now he is into drama, he is into acting. He brings the drama, don’t you worry!’ she joked.

Michelle became a mum at the age of 45, while her partner Steve ‘Commando’ Willis had three children from a previous relationship. 

Celebrity personal trainer Michelle Bridges has revealed the very surprising way she bonds with her nine-year-old son Axel

The duo shot to fame in 2007 when they burst onto TV screens as the hard-hitting, no-nonsense trainers and TV hosts of The Biggest Loser. 

Co-parenting doesn’t come easily to anyone, Michelle explained on an episode of the Mental As Anyone podcast: ‘It comes with its challenges but the sentence has always got to start in Axel’s best interests.’

The famous duo debuted their romance on the red carpet in May 2013, shortly after announcing splits from their respective partners at the time. 

They welcomed their son Axel in December 2015, and later announced their split in 2020, the same year Michelle was convicted for drunk driving. 

In 2021, the former Biggest Loser star told Good Weekend magazine she suffered her fair share of ‘dark’ days following her split from Steve.  

‘I felt very alone,’ she said.

‘To be honest, it was the hardest time of my life, ever, leading up to what happened. I felt like I was in a fog, and I didn’t know what was happening.’

In the wide-ranging podcast interview, Bridges said in the mess of life, ‘I think you’ve just got to find the joy and love.’

The Australian fitness icon told Daily Mail Australia at an International Women’s Day event earlier this week that they connect through travelling together

Michelle became a mum at the age of 45, while her partner Steve ‘Commando’ Willis had three children from a previous relationship

For her, that’s Axel – the son who she wasn’t sure she’d ever have. 

‘My son. Straight away. He got into the finals for the poetry competition and he did so well. He’s delightful.

‘He is everything. I feel really blessed because as you would know, my career took off right in the time frame when women often start thinking about having a baby.

‘Around 35 my career just blew up. 

‘I never really thought I was going to have a child anyway because I didn’t feel like I was that maternal. I had him late – I was pregnant at 44 and I had him at 45, in medical world that’s a geriatric uterus.’

She said when her and Willis make co-parenting decisions they think, ‘Okay, what is going to be the best thing for him.’

‘I’m with him probably 95 per cent of the time, but his dad is there, and that’s really important for him, for his mental health, that he can see that his parents are working towards everything for him,’ she said. 

‘But it’s not without its challenges, ask any parent that is co-parenting, it is a work in progress.’ 

She and Willis appeared as trainers on The Biggest Loser Australia from 2007 to 2015. 

The former solider, 48, was notorious on the weight loss program for his gruff persona as he shouted in the faces of the overworked contestants.

Steve left The Biggest Loser after the tenth season aired in 2015 and attempted to launch an acting career in 2018 when he made a guest appearance on Home and Away.