Chris Walker, the former husband of Carrie Bickmore has spoken about the couple’s split, marking the first time he has publically shared details of their separation.
The couple, who announced they had ended their 11-year relationship in early 2023, have remained tight-lipped on details following their initial statement posted to Instagram last year. But now, Walker has sat down for a candid interview with Luke Darcy’s Empowering Leaders podcast.
Walker admitted that whilst the media intrusion following their high-profile split was difficult, the hardest part of their separation was saying goodbye to the family unit he and Bickmore had built.
“We built a family together. It’s what I thought our life would be. But life had a different plan,” he explained. “The media part of it wasn’t a big deal for me. It’s so far down the list of, you know, saying goodbye to the kids twice a week.”
Walker, who shares two daughters with Bickmore, Evie, 9, and Adelaide, 5, and is also stepfather to 16-year-old Ollie, added that he had found not seeing his kids every day “enormously challenging.”
“I had always assumed I’d be around them a hundred per cent of the time,” he added. “It’s the one thing in life that I’m happy to be super confident borderline hubristic about … I’m a really good dad.”
Walker and Bickmore announced their separation in January 2023, taking to Instagram to share a joint statement, writing: ”Hi there, it’s with immense sadness that Chris and I have decided to separate.
“Whilst this is a tough time, our sole focus is on parenting, loving and supporting our three children Ollie, Evie and Addie with everything we’ve got. They are doing great. We won’t be making any further comment.”
The pair first met on the set of The Project where Chris was a producer and Carrie was a presenter.
After losing her first husband – Greg Lange – to brain cancer in 2010, Carrie previously told TV Week that Chris had a deep compassion and understanding of the situation, especially since he has had to deal with tragedy in his own life.
”He like many people understands loss and suffered his own loss in life and I think he just has a huge amount of compassion and he will always be incredibly supportive of me and our family.”
