She’s the mother of six who has just penned a series of children’s books.
And Neighbours star Madeleine West has opened up about how her eldest daughter Phoenix being bullied as a little girl inspired her to become a writer.
The 37-year-old revealed to Yahoo Be that Phoenix, now 12, called herself as ‘fat’ when she was just five.
Motivated: Neighbours star Madeleine West has opened up about how her eldest daughter Phoenix being bullied as a little girl inspired her to become a writer
‘She merely said “I’m fat”. When I asked what that meant she shrugged her shoulders and said, “it means I can’t run fast or play on the monkey bars”,’ she described.
‘She didn’t know what it meant as we don’t use that word. Another child was calling her that, probably not knowing what it meant either, just knowing it had negative connotations,’ she continued.
When Phoenix’s teacher told Madeleine ‘in this age group there is nothing’ in terms of books to help children deal with bullying, she set out to write her own.
‘I thought right, I’m going to create a nine-year-old character who is something to aspire to and the kind of girl they want to be like and also have as a friend,’ she said.
The actress created ‘Lily D’, a child method actor who learns to understand people from different walks of life by playing them in her drama classes.
She explained the character was partly based on her own experiences in addition to her children and ‘every kid who dreams big and sees the world more positively’.
‘I thought right, I’m going to create a nine-year-old character who is something to aspire to and the kind of girl they want to be like and also have as a friend,’ she said of her book series
A variety of topics are covered in the books, including sportsmanship, same-sex marriage death and illness.
Married to celebrity chef Shannon Bennett since 2005, Madeleine gave birth to Phoenix in December that year.
The couple then welcomed Hendrix in 2008, Xascha in 2010, Xanthe in 2012 and twins Xalia and Margaux in 2014.
Family ties: Married to celebrity chef Shannon Bennett since 2005, Madeleine gave birth to Phoenix in December that year and then the couple welcomed five more children