I’ll admit it: I got it wrong about Tammy Hembrow.
When she sprinted down the aisle with Love Island’s Matt Zukowski last year, after just four months of dating, I thought she’d well and truly lost the plot.
And I wasn’t the only one. Her 17 million Instagram followers were basically waving giant neon signs in her face, begging her not to marry the walking red flag.
But she didn’t listen. Her marriage lasted about 200 days. I mean, we didn’t want to say we told you so… but we kind of did.
After her Vogue Bride wedding, we barely had time to blink before she’d dropped the inevitable tearful video telling us it was all over.
It was painfully predictable.
I wrote at the time that I pitied Tammy. How did she not see this coming?
And what was a gorgeous woman worth an estimated $50million with three young children thinking, attaching herself to a man whose main claim to fame is ‘reality TV contestant’ and a podcast on which he simply talks about himself?
‘I’m eating my words. Tammy Hembrow, take a bow,’ writes DailyMail+ columnist Amanda Goff
Last weekend, Tammy stepped out with none other than Geelong golden boy Bailey Smith – arguably the hottest player in the AFL (poor Matt’s favourite sport!)
But now I’m eating my words. Tammy Hembrow, take a bow.
The 31-year-old just pulled off a post-break-up move so stunningly impressive, you’d think it was brainstormed on a whiteboard by a marketing team.
Back in June, around the time of the split, Matt was papped with little-known sports reporter Tayla Little (you might need to Google her). Tammy didn’t bite.
Instead, we had to wait six whole weeks for her next move. And boy, was it worth it.
Last weekend, Tammy stepped out with none other than Geelong golden boy Bailey Smith – arguably the hottest player in the AFL (poor Matt’s favourite sport!)
The long-haired midfielder with the chiselled jawline and rock-hard thighs flew in from Melbourne just to take her for lunch at hotspot Rick Shores at Burleigh Heads.
A quick bite to eat? Hardly. The pair were anything but discreet, with Tammy’s revealing white top drawing the paparazzi’s cameras with ease.
Photos soon emerged of them chewing each other’s faces off at another venue.
We also got our hands on a photo that reveals just how frisky Tammy and Bailey got during their FIFO fling on the Gold Coast last weekend
Tammy’s marriage to Matt Zukowski lasted just 200 days – and at the time she announced their split, I wrote about how much I pitied her
To rub salt in the wound, at 24, Bailey is younger and fitter than Matt, and – best of all – doesn’t bore us with the sort of podcast chat that’s deadly to brain cells.
Perhaps the most satisfying part of the FIFO fling was that Matt had watched Bailey lead Geelong to beat his favourite team, Essendon, at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night – only for the Cats star to hop on a flight to the Gold Coast the next day to hook up with his estranged wife.
Oh, yes. Tammy has played us all and we shouldn’t really be surprised.
You don’t gain 17 million Instagram followers without being smart.
Now, let me get this out of the way… I have no idea what’s going on with Tammy and Bailey beyond the photos we’ve all seen. Their date at Rick Shores may well be the start of a lifelong romance! I’m not suggesting they are ‘faking’ anything.
But I also wasn’t born yesterday.
I’ve been papped with ‘mystery men’ myself in the past – I know how the game can work. Was Tammy getting with Bailey to one-up her ex? It’s possible.
This is my view: Tammy is newly single and having fun… and she’s cleverly reclaiming the narrative while she’s at it.
You can have a good time and enjoy some positive PR glow – it’s not a case of either-or.
Right now, she’s enjoying the sort of good publicity money can’t buy. She is stepping out with a bloke most 20-something women would kill to date – and doing it as a 30-something mother-of-three fresh out of a failed marriage.
Here’s a confession: I pulled a stunt a lifetime ago when I was publicly dumped.
Once the tears had dried, I posted on Instagram that my Ikea table was more stable than he was, then I went out and got papped with a hot, young model.
Petty? Yes. Spiteful? Sure. Cringe? Now I look back on it, very much so.
But did it feel good? Abso-bloody-lutely.
I don’t suggest Tammy’s pap date with Bailey was a similar scenario – but if it was… good on ya, Tams.
The best part about Tammy and Bailey’s lunch date? Bailey is clearly already smitten, jumping to her defence to correct a snapper on the pronunciation of her name.
‘It’s Hem-bro, not Hem-brow,’ he scowled. It’s the modern-day equivalent of ‘Nobody puts Baby in the corner’!
Your move, Matt. But if I were you, I’d be packing my bags and heading off to a monastery to die of embarrassment.
Just a few weeks ago, Tammy looked like she was losing the plot. But like any savvy businesswoman, she dusted herself off and took back control.
Now she’s the cat that got the cream. The single mum who bagged Bailey Smith.
Meanwhile, Matt is left muttering into the mic in his podcast studio.
Tammy, it’s not often I admit I’m wrong, but I take it all back. You didn’t need my pity.
As I typed my last column about your foolish mistakes, it’s clear you already had greater things on your mind.
You weren’t the fool. I was – for underestimating you.
As for Bailey? He’s got a starring role in the most brilliant post-split rebrand I’ve seen in years.
And it’s pronounced ‘Hem-bro’, just in case you forgot.
