Jessica Mauboy has peeled back the curtain on nearly two decades in the spotlight, revealing how becoming a mum has sent her back to her childhood roots as she prepares to make her hosting debut on That Blackfella Show. The singer and actress sat down with Hannah Ferguson and Sarah-Jane Adams on the Big Small Talk podcast for an emotional chat that touched on her earliest memories in Darwin, the infamous on-air comments that sparked a national reckoning and why she says stepping into her new hosting gig is “probably the best thing” she has ever done.
‘It’s inner child healing’
Mauboy told the hosts she has spent recent months deliberately reconnecting with her childhood as she juggles new motherhood with her music career. “It really is taking me back to my childhood. So going back to my roots and where life really began,” she said, admitting the topic still catches her off guard emotionally. The 36-year-old, who shot to fame as a 16-year-old runner-up on Australian Idol in 2006, said she has been reflecting on the barefoot, mango-tree-climbing kid she once was in Darwin, and how that foundation carried her through the “roller coaster” of fame. “I grew up barefoot, running on hot gravel, like, you know, racing my siblings to climb up the mango tree to grab the last mango,” she recalled. “I was that little Darwin girl.”
Revisiting the Kyle Sandilands controversy
In one of the interview’s most candid moments, Mauboy reflected on the 2006 Australian Idol incident in which radio host Kyle Sandilands made comments about her appearance on air, sparking a wave of public backlash. “If you look back at the tape, me as a 16-year-old is going, ‘What the heck is happening right now?’ Because the room was booing him... I do remember things being thrown at him,” she said. Mauboy said she received hundreds of supportive letters from fans in the aftermath but admits she didn’t fully grasp the moment as a teenager. Looking back now as an adult and a mother, she says the experience leaves her with mixed emotions. “It saddens me today because if I wasn’t built on that foundation that my parents gave me, I would have reacted probably different. I would have gotten off that stage, I would have hidden in a toilet and I would have ripped myself apart,” she said, adding that today’s social media pile-ons worry her deeply. “It really breaks my heart.”
New music, new record
Fans hoping for new Mauboy music won’t be waiting too much longer with the star confirming she has been quietly writing her next record between projects. “I have been writing my next record, which has been nice,” she said, revealing she mostly works from home. “A lot of that is just on my laptop... and then just on the road.” She also opened up about the deeply personal process behind an earlier project paying tribute to the women in her family, including her grandmother Hilda, describing the record as one that came with “a lot of tears” but ultimately a “whole ‘nother knowingness” of who she is as a woman.
Stepping into the host’s chair for NAIDOC Week
Mauboy has also touched on her next big milestone: hosting That Blackfella Show on the ABC for NAIDOC Week, alongside co-star Ian Zaro. She admitted imposter syndrome nearly stopped her from saying yes to the gig which marks her first time hosting a live show rather than performing on one. “When I first got the call, the email had come through, I was like, I really second-guessed myself,” she said. “I think imposter syndrome was like knocking at my door going, ‘Just stay in your lane.’” She said watching last year’s inaugural season and thinking of trailblazers like Christine Anu, Cathy Freeman, Deborah Mailman and Uncle Archie Roach convinced her to take the leap. “I had dreamt of Christine Anu... Cathy Freeman, Deborah Mailman... all these amazing elders who have paved a pathway for me to then come into this space,” she said. “It was terrifying because I’m like, I’ve got no one to lean on. But just thinking of my family, that’s all I can lean on right now.” Of her co-host, Mauboy couldn’t speak highly enough. “Ian [Zaro], my co-host, it’s absolutely fabulous... he was a dream to work with. He’s just so funny,” she said, comparing the show’s chemistry to “sitting at home at the Mauboy house” swapping stories over a cuppa. “I think people are going to be really surprised or refreshed on what they’re going to see,” she teased. “It’s crazy, so excited.”
A message to her 20-year-old self
Asked what she would say to herself at 20 years old, freshly signed to a record deal and thrust into the industry, Mauboy grew reflective. “Hold on, because it’s going to be a crazy ride,” she said. “But it’s endless possibilities... just hold on.” She said the pressure to “grow up fast” while still a teenager taught her resilience she still relies on today. “Do the work, be really good at it, learn how to write, and you better sing really well because it’s all on you,” she said. That Blackfella Show, hosted by Jessica Mauboy, airs on ABC during NAIDOC Week. The full interview is available now on the Big Small Talk podcast.
