When Katie Lamb was pregnant, she felt a wave of fear. Everywhere she turned, people warned her about the sacrifices ahead: goodbye to sleep, farewell to freedom. It weighed heavily on her mind. Would she get bored? What if she didn't enjoy motherhood?
Then Charlie, a little strawberry blonde dream, was born on a winter's day last year, and everything fell into place.
"I have loved it so much more than I ever thought possible," says Lamb, Triple M Perth's breakfast presenter, as she celebrates her first Mother's Day. "I've made a whole new group of friends in my mother's group, and I've just embraced everything that comes with motherhood, even the hard parts. I've found it such a fun chapter in my life, because it's brought so much more laughter and love and joy."
For the radio personality, also known for her hilarious skits on social media—her Married At First Sight videos have a cult following—motherhood has brought another upside: a whole new world of content possibilities.
"The unsolicited advice has been my absolute favourite thing," Lamb jokes. "That's a video that I did on my social media, about people coming up to you with things like, 'oh, you just need to sleep when the baby sleeps'. Like... as if. It's so funny."
While on maternity leave, Lamb also signed a multi-year contract extension with the radio network, where she presents the 5.30am-8.30am flagship show with former AFL player Xavier Ellis. After hearing so many stories of women's careers being sidelined after becoming mothers, she felt "very lucky" to have job security—especially since it's a role she has wanted all her life.
"Being in a show, specifically breakfast, was always my dream," says Lamb, whose gig at Triple M started in late 2022 with an Instagram DM from Eagles star Andrew Embley, who was then hosting Rush Hour.
Lamb had been in radio for more than a decade, after graduating with a sports science degree and then being selected for the competitive diploma of broadcasting at WAAPA. She started with dawn shifts on the Hit network, then moved to Nova, where she did "everything under the sun": weekend announcing, answering phones, helping to produce the breakfast program, being a panel operator, and eventually becoming the station's operations manager.
"I had finished a shift, and I go on Instagram, and there's a message from Andrew Embley," Lamb remembers. "And I was like, what the hell? He was like, 'Hello, mate, how are you going? Hope you're well, give me a buzz when you can.' There was zero context. I thought maybe it was an MC gig or something, but I had no idea, so of course I called him because I was intrigued."
Embley told her his co-host was moving on, so there was an opening on the drive show. Would she be interested? Interested was an understatement, and after Lamb's demo secured the gig, she moved to Triple M. Less than two years later, she picked up her dream job on breakfast, where she has fast become a beloved fixture in Perth radio circles.
"I just love being able to go to work and jump on air, and it's just having a laugh with your best friend," Lamb says. "I'm lucky that I've got a co-host who I genuinely get along really well with; Xav and I are mates, and off air, we'd go to the pub together on the weekend and have a beer. Our aim is that when you are listening, you feel like you're at the table with us, having a drink and having a laugh. I think that's something that Xav and I are really good at."
She returned to work on January 19, when Charlie was about five-and-a-half months old. Lamb admits it was an anxious time, as she wondered how she'd balance her much-loved old job with her all-important new one.
"To be honest, I was really nervous about it, just because I think when you have that mat leave, it's such a special time," she says. "Your whole focus is them and learning to be a mum, and breastfeeding and doing all these first-time things, which was amazing. But to all of a sudden have to switch your brain to back-to-work mode was really daunting. But honestly, from my first day back, I loved it. The 4.30am alarm to get me up to go to work didn't bother me, because I've been so used to getting up to a baby."
"The thing that I miss most is waking up with her in the morning, but it's a sacrifice for having an epic job, one that I love, and also one that finishes early—Lamb says she's usually home by 10.30am. Not many mums get to finish a job so early and spend the rest of the day with the baby, so I'm really lucky in that regard."
When STM arrives at Lamb's house, which she shares with fiancee and Eagles AFLW backline coach Martene Pearman, Charlie has just gone down for a nap. She's teething and has a little sniffle, but when she has to be woken for photos, she is surprisingly serene. Lamb says it's her nature.
"Charlie's been the best," she says. "All I wanted was what every parent wants, just a happy and healthy baby, and I got exactly that. She's such a chilled, content little thing. She takes after me in the food department, absolutely loves her food, feeds like a legend. She's been sleeping really well too."
Pearman, who has a 13-year-old son from a previous relationship, has been on leave and taking care of mornings with Charlie. "Martene is really enjoying it. It was a bit of a shock to the system to go back to the newborn days, but we just love how happy and content and chilled Charlie is, so we've been able to really enjoy her together."
So what has been her favourite stage so far? Lamb has to ponder the question. "The newborn bubble was awesome, and I've loved every phase, but I think now has been the best part," she says. "She's seven-and-a-half months and really started to have her own little personality. She's starting to engage a lot more. She's trying to crawl, but just not quite. She's starting solids, which is terrifying at the same time, but even just introducing her to new foods is fun. She's laughing and she's smiling and engaging with you, and it's just so fulfilling. When she looks at you and she's excited to see you, even though it's like, 'I literally saw you two seconds ago'—that's amazing."
Lamb's life has taken on a different pace; big nights out have gone by the wayside, replaced by mornings at their local cafe and Charlie's swimming lessons and Gymbaroo sessions. But Lamb doesn't feel different in herself; "I haven't changed in who I am, as a person. I've just sort of evolved, into a new season and new era of my life." Besides, some things never change: "I mean, I still take Charlie to the pub; she's half grown up at The Morris," she laughs.
Another big part of Lamb's life has been her burgeoning social media; she now has more than 91,000 followers on Instagram and almost 64,000 on TikTok. Since dipping her toe in with a video more than three years ago, she's built a fan base that she credits with being part of the reason Triple M wanted to hire her.
"I would see these funny videos, and I always thought to myself, 'I could do that'," she says. "I just gave it a go and posted a video, and I got lots of engagement from it. Slowly but surely, I started posting more and it just started taking off. I feel like it put me on the map. My videos are very situational and relatable humour, so people say, 'oh, that's happened to me or happened to somebody I know'."
Lamb says she feels some pressure to post, but mostly she loves doing it. "I love entertaining people. I love making people laugh," she says. "And now, I think motherhood content is actually my favourite content so far, because once you're in that world, it's like you're a gang. So many mums are commenting on it and laughing, so I'm hovering between that and the MAFS videos. It's just something I do for fun."
Her comment section remains, refreshingly, a pretty pleasant place. Lamb puts it down to the fact her intention is never to be "nasty, mean or controversial." "I'm just sort of taking the piss out of everyday situations, so for me, it has been a really positive experience," she says.
Lamb comes from a close family, the youngest of three girls—her dad is WA football identity Phil Lamb. When she speaks to STM, she has been staying at her parents' house for a week while Pearman is away for work, where her mum Julie has been cooking her favourite dinners.
"I had an amazing childhood growing up with my two older sisters; we'd go on family holidays, and we just would always have a laugh together. So when I fell pregnant, my family were over the moon, really excited for me to become a mum," Lamb remembers. "I have a really close relationship with my mum. For me, she's the best mum in the world. If I could just be half the mum she is, then I knew I'd be a good one. They say it takes a village, and my family is the best village you can have."
It's a dynamic she wants to emulate for Charlie. She and Pearman got engaged in 2024, but the wedding has been pushed into the future by the more pressing dreams they have for their family. "I did hear somebody say that you need to get married before you have kids, because otherwise you'll never get around to it, which is so true," Lamb laughs. "I think once you have a baby, you're like, 'oh my god, weddings are so expensive!' So for sure, one day we'll hopefully get married, but I'm very much looking forward to going on family holidays and hopefully giving Charlie a similar childhood to mine. I'd love to have another kid at some point too, and give Charlie a little sister or a little brother. So I think the future for us will hopefully be a couple of kids and family holidays and good times."
Good times, and busy times. But try explaining that to someone who wants—nay, needs—Lamb's take on the latest MAFS scandal immediately, if not sooner. "It is actually funny because people do message me, 'can you upload a video on this?' 'Can you do something on that?'" she says. "You guys, I'm meant to be sleeping when the baby sleeps! I've got a seven-month-old and she's teething; like, I don't have all of the time in the... OK yeah, let me just put her in the corner, I'm sure it'll be fine," she jokes.
