AMANDA GOFF: Sam, Tim, I’m happy for you. Really. But every woman I know is saying the same thing about those photos…

I love a good love story. I love romance. I love to see couples find their soulmate – even if it’s their second – or third – time around.

So I was genuinely happy to see photos of strapping NRL legend Sam Burgess at the beach in Noosa with his new wife Lucy Graham and their 10-month-old daughter Robbie over the weekend.

Fresh off the back of celebrity accountant Anthony Bell’s star-studded wedding, seeing these two sun-kissed Brits canoodling in the surf had me thinking to myself, ‘Oh, to be young again!’

I also couldn’t help but smile knowing Sam is happy again after his awful, drawn-out divorce from his first wife, Phoebe Burgess, with whom he shares a son and daughter. 

But was there just a twinge of envy looking at their sun-soaked PDA and Lucy’s flawlessly toned body in a G-string bikini? Oh, perhaps…

Before I had chance to dwell on that, another eye-opening set of photos suddenly popped up – this time of divorced Nova radio host Tim Blackwell, 43, debuting his much younger girlfriend Lizzie Baxter, 28, at the ARIA Awards.

The photos are remarkably similar to pictures of Sam at the beach with his then-wife Phoebe in 2018. Amanda writes, ‘We’ve all seen divorced men miraculously spring back into the dating pool and come out with a whole new family almost identical to the last one’

Now, I wasn’t the only one to notice the uncanny similarity between Lizzie, a producer for Fitzy & Wippa, and Tim’s ex-wife Monique, the mother of his three kids.

When they were first pictured together, there was some commentary about their age difference – but I won’t criticise him for that.

Anyway, this isn’t a column about celebrity pairings. Famous people, like all of us, are allowed to move on – and I’m the first person to throw the confetti when two people find love again after unhappy marriages.

What I want to talk about is ‘the replacement’.

It’s a concept every woman understands: a man gets divorced, then picks himself up, dusts himself off… and ends up dating a ‘younger model’.

Yes, we may say we’re happy for you (and we are!) but we women are all whispering the same thing to each other when see photos of Sam and Lucy or Tim and Lizzie – or any of the millions of divorced men who replace Model A with Model B.

‘Here we go again.’ 

It’s the ultimate cliché, a tale as old as the hills, and as a woman who turned 50 this year, I am sure I’m not alone.

Amanda also has some thoughts about radio host Tim Blackwell, 43, going public with his 28-year-old radio producer girlfriend Lizzie Baxter

‘What I want to talk about is ‘the replacement’. It’s a concept every woman understands: a man gets divorced, then picks himself up, dusts himself off… and ends up dating a younger model’

Whenever this happens – and it happens a lot – we are filled with an ever-deepening sense of dread. Have I passed my sell-by date?

Now, I don’t need to tell you how hard dating is in Australia; just listen to the conversations women of all ages are having with each other around the country, recapping their dismal dates over wine or coffee, and you’ll get the picture.

Now if it’s hard for them, imagine being the older ex-wife holding the baby – literally.

While older women are often a fantasy for men under 30, generally speaking men dating after divorce are only after one thing: newer, shiny, younger versions of their ex-wives.

They may wallow at the start, but we’ve all seen divorced men miraculously spring back into the dating pool and come out with a whole new family almost identical to the last one, complete with a younger wife and newborn. The only difference this time around is they’re a little older and softer around the edges.

I always marvel at how similar the new wives look to the exes too. And so the cycle repeats itself.

My theory is that divorced men just can’t be alone. They struggle being single. They find it hard coming home to an empty house, asking for a table for one at restaurants, attending functions without a woman hanging off their arm.

Divorced women, on the other hand, love their solitude – they bask in it.

‘I always marvel at how similar the new wives look to the exes too,’ writes Amanda. (Pictured left: Tim Blackwell and his new girlfriend Lizzie Baxter at the ARIA Awards yesterday; and right: Blackwell with his ex-wife Monique at an Oscars party in March 2018) 

Most of my separated girlfriends, myself included, swear off men and promise to never live with one again, let alone get married. Why invite chaos back in?

But it still hurts knowing I couldn’t compete with a younger woman for the attention of a man my age – even if I don’t particularly want to.

Believe me, I don’t wish being younger again. Right now, I am older, wiser and happier than I’ve ever been. A big part of that is accepting my body doesn’t look the way it used to and that new wrinkles are appearing with every passing year (well, I do have Botox for that).

Another reason for my happiness is not having to worry about the fights, stress and door-slamming a marriage can bring. I’m sure Monique, Phoebe and all the other ex-wives out there feel the same.

Tim, Sam, I wish you well. I know you don’t mean any harm, and I hope your new relationships bring you all the happiness your last ones didn’t.

But spare a thought for your exes – and the rest of us.