Oh, I do love a good party – even one I’m not invited to.
Because when a woman celebrates the ink finally drying on her divorce papers with a speech, bubbles and a room full of her ‘ride-or-dies’, you know it’s not an ordinary knees-up. It’s a fierce female about to enter the best bloody decade of her life.
We absolutely love to see it.
This weekend, Monique Blackwell – the former Mrs Tim Blackwell, of Nova’s Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel drive show fame – did just that.
And who could blame her for wanting to party?
Just a year after the couple – who were married for 14 years and share three children – announced their separation in 2023, Tim stepped out at the ARIA Awards with his new girlfriend, Lizzie Baxter.
It must have stung. With her blonde hair and pretty face, Lizzie is a carbon copy of Monique – with one caveat.
She’s about 15 years younger.
Tim and Monique Blackwell (pictured) were married for 14 years and share three children. They called it quits in 2023 – and a year later, Tim stepped out with his new, younger girlfriend
It’s a tale as old as time – as we pointed out at the time – but it doesn’t make it any less mortifying for the ex.
And, honestly, it also felt a bit embarrassing for Tim, who, days after going public with Lizzie, hit the red carpet looking like a Temu Liam Gallagher. Oh, the trials of middle-aged men.
I’m cringing just thinking about a separated 43-year-old father-of-three trying to have a meaningful conversation with a 28-year-old producer just starting out in her career.
What could they possibly have in common?
Anyhow, what Monique did next makes her a better woman than I. She didn’t publicly call him out on Instagram, hit the bottle hard, or have an ill-advised rebound fling – all things I’ve done after being kicked to the kerb by a man.
She sat back in quiet dignity.
While Tim did the woe-is-me podcast interview revealing how he ‘clearly failed at the marriage’, Monique didn’t say a word.
After a brief statement announcing the separation, she set her Instagram to private. Then, she got to healing.
Tim went public with Nova producer Lizzie Baxter in November
They went red carpet official at the 2024 ARIA Awards days later
The yoga teacher and business owner no doubt breathed through the pain, meditated away the regret, and drowned her sorrows in green juice.
I’m sure she surrounded herself with her most Zen friends, crying on their shoulders, then laughing her arse off at the sheer absurdity of it all.
Because, by the time the divorce papers arrived, she was radiant. Glowing with health, bursting with happiness, ready for the new chapter that was thoroughly well-deserved.
And – the best part – she had a new man on her arm. The gorgeous silver fox Liam Walsh, former head honcho of Facebook Australia and New Zealand.
How’d you like them apples, Tim?
Throwing a ‘Divorceeeee parteeee’ – Monique’s words, not mine – might not be for everyone. Some find them a little cringe.
But who could deny Monique played the long game and won? That’s a feat more than deserving of a few glasses of champagne and a dance with the wonderful friends who helped get her here.
Photos from the bash show Monique looking better than ever, grabbing a mic and making a speech. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall.
What did she have to say? I wasn’t there, but I think every woman who’s been through a separation only to find herself replaced within a year by a younger model has a pretty good idea.
But, honestly, it’s not even about the words she chose. It’s about how we know she must have felt when she was saying them.
Monique has bagged a silver fox with a thoroughly impressive résumé, Liam Walsh
What did Monique say at her divorce party? I wasn’t there, but I think every woman who’s been through a separation only to find herself replaced by a younger model has a pretty good idea
The relief of knowing a really s**ty time is well and truly behind you. The excitement about moving forward with your life. The joy of knowing you’ve come out the other side so much better off.
And the satisfaction of choosing the tougher – but far more rewarding – path of doing the work on yourself, rather than chasing midlife-crisis clichés.
It’s a glorious feeling, let me tell you.
Oh, Tim. Your ex surely got a standing ovation, tears and cheers after she spoke of your marriage breakdown and her triumph that followed.
Monique Blackwell just pulled off the most elegant revenge of all with her divorce party, writes DailyMail+ columnist Amanda Goff
Look, you haven’t committed a crime. You’re not the first pushing-50 fella to split from his wife and emerge phoenix-like with an Oasis haircut and a younger girlfriend 12 months later.
The only real downside for you is that now we all have an opinion about it – because you’re a well-paid celebrity who never hesitated in the past to wheel out your family in interviews when it suited.
I can only hazard a guess what you’re feeling right now about reading about your ex-wife’s divorce party in the Daily Mail. But I expect Monique’s grace, strength and wicked sense of humour make you feel – perhaps – just a little bit small.
There’s something so deliciously satisfying about watching the ex-wife get the last laugh – not with venom and with resentment, but with a bottle of bubbles and a sexy new bloke who doesn’t dress like a ’90s Britpop throwback.
Because for every one of us women – me included – who has split from a man only to realise we were so easily replaceable, Monique’s moment is a win. And I hope she knows how many of us are quietly cheering her on.
And as for you, Tim, I wish you and Lizzie well. I hope it goes the distance, but my life experience shows the odds may be stacked against you.
If it doesn’t work out, there’s always yoga.
Namaste.