Former Play School star Noni Hazelhurst has opened up about her divorce from Wolf Creek actor John Jarratt after more than a decade of marriage.
Noni, 71, and John, 73, tied the knot in 1987 and split 12 years later in 1999.
They co-hosted popular Channel Seven lifestyle show Better Homes and Gardens while they were married.
Noni, who has just released her memoir Dropping The Mask, says she has been ‘in shock ever since’ their split.
‘John and I had some wonderful times together – and then we didn’t,’ Noni told Woman’s Day.
‘That’s true of many relationships. They start off full of hope and optimism and, along the way, buried issues come to the surface.’
Noni claims she knew her marriage was over when John had ‘grown close’ to someone on the Better Homes And Gardens production crew.
‘At that moment, I knew the marriage was over,’ she said.
Former Play School star Noni Hazelhurst has opened up about her divorce from Wolf Creek actor John Jarratt after more than a decade of marriage
‘We simply wanted different things. I wanted a family. John wanted another woman.
‘The ending of my previous relationships had been hard enough, but this was far worse. In some ways, I think I’ve been in shock ever since.’
Despite their relationship breakdown, Noni said her two children from her union with John – Charlie, 36, and William, 30 – had been a blessing.
‘Whatever happened can’t negate the joy they’ve brought me,’ Noni said.
When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, John said: ‘That was 20-odd years ago. It’s prehistoric and I’ve got nothing more to say.’
John, who played the iconic outback villain Mick Taylor in the Wolf Creek horror films, was Noni’s second husband after the lauded actress was married to director Kevin Dobson from 1975 to 1978.
Noni, 71, and John, 73, tied the knot in 1987 and split 12 years later in 1999. They co-hosted the popular Channel Seven lifestyle show Better Homes and Gardens while they were married
John has been married four times – twice to first wife Rosa Miano, Noni, and third wife Cody Jarratt, whom he wed in 2011.
He married Rosa in the 1970s and the couple share two children together, Zadia and Ebony.
After splitting with Noni and Cody, John eventually remarried Rosa in 2017.
While she is perhaps best known for her role on Play School, appearing as a presenter on the show from 1978 to 2001, Noni has also enjoyed a storied film and television acting career.
One of her most beloved big screen roles is in the 1982 film Monkey Grip, in which she stars alongside Colin Friels, 72.
In an exclusive extract from her memoir Dropping the Mask, published on news.com.au, Noni revealed that while she and Colin have have steamed up the screen in the film, all was not as it seemed.
Noni, who has just released her memoir Dropping The Mask, says she has been ‘in shock ever since’ their split
Noni recalled one steamy scene where Colin had to kiss her ‘up and down my upper body’ and while the end result was ‘ sensuous and tenderly romantic’, the rushes told a different story.
‘Without music to augment the scene, all we could hear, apart from the odd slurping sound, was [director] Ken Cameron’s voice talking us through the action,’ she said.
“Slower Colin, linger there a bit more, don’t eat her, be gentle, do that thing with your fingers in your mouth again Noni, slow down Colin, go up, go down, too rough, go sideways, slower Colin” and so on.”
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk