When STM’s first edition hit the streets on February 8, 2004, Rebecca Twigley’s life was sweet and pretty simple.
Newly 21, she had just switched degrees to study speech pathology at Curtin University. She was a few months into dating West Coast superstar Chris Judd, after a classic Perth love story involving a meeting at Club Bay View and then, later, a Sunday session kiss at the Cottesloe Beach Hotel.
But by the time STM’s first anniversary rolled around, things looked very different for Ms Twigley — courtesy of a daring red Ruth Tarvydas dress, worn to the Brownlow Medal later in 2004, as Judd won the AFL’s best-and-fairest award for the first time.
Looking back on it, now Bec Judd, juggling a media career with parenting the couple’s four children, it was a sliding doors moment.
As STM celebrates its 21st year, Judd flew home to Perth for a special shoot and to guest edit the magazine, reuniting with people she’d worked with over many years, including stylist Teagan Sewell, who helped create her 2012 STM cover, and Hendra Widjaja, who did her make-up for her first modelling shoot when she was 17.
Out of the window of the presidential villa at Crown Towers, she could see over to one of the streets she grew up on.
Although Judd now lives in Melbourne, she still considers herself a Perth girl.
“Perth girl attitude actually doesn’t go unnoticed in eastern cities, because it’s a different vibe,” she says. “Perth girls are relaxed. They’re chill. They don’t take themselves too seriously . . . A big part of me and who I am is because of my upbringing there.”
In many ways, it was that Perth energy that made Judd stand out in the sea of gowns on that red carpet 21 years ago. In fact, that famous red dress was so Perth Judd had absolutely no inkling it would cause such a ruckus.
Camera IconBec Judd wears a Self Portrait rhinestone top from Elle, Nedlands; Ena Pelly Ana suede skirt from enapelly.com.au; Alaïa thong heels from Cultstatas, Claremont. Lava bangle sets in 9ct yellow gold, from $5,270; Lava rings from $1565, Lava drop earrings, $3,295, Soklich & Co. Credit: Cheyne Tillier-Daly
“I had no idea,” Judd admits with a laugh. “Ruth Tarvydas, bless her soul, she was making dresses like that prolifically in Perth at that time . . . All of her dresses were just sequins and sparkles and sexy cuts and beautiful colours. She was really the designer of the moment. Every girl in Perth wanted a Ruth Tarvydas dress.”
When Judd knew she’d be attending the Brownlow, she went to see Tarvydas, who pulled out a red version of a black dress Judd had seen someone wearing the weekend before. She loved the colour and took it to Melbourne, without thinking too much about it.
“When I walked down the red carpet, I could see all the east coast press, and their jaws just dropped on the ground,” Judd remembers. “Like, ‘Who is this girl and what is that amazing dress?’ Everyone was shocked . . . For Perth people it wasn’t a big deal but I guess people in Melbourne didn’t really dress like that.”
Camera IconThen-Rebecca Twigley and Chris Judd at the Brownlow Medal in 2004. Credit: Wayne Taylor WMT/Fairfax
It catapulted Judd immediately out of the life she knew.
After Chris became the first Eagle to win a Brownlow, they were upgraded at Crown Towers for a week (“just two kids staying in this big, fancy villa we couldn’t afford”), fashion labels started offering to dress her, a media pack congregated downstairs, and media personalities including Derryn Hinch found her phone number and started texting her interview requests.
“It was wild how much my life changed,” Judd says. “No one had any interest in me before, and then suddenly I became public property. Navigating it was a challenge, and I don’t know if anyone had really trod that path before me.”
In walking that path, Judd has carved out a space as a high-profile model, brand ambassador, TV presenter, co-founder of the Jaggad activewear label and now a podcaster, with her Vain-ish show with friend Jess Roberts recently signed to a two-year deal with LiSTNR.
Many major networks don’t commission new podcasts, but LiSTNR took a chance by giving the duo six episodes to test the concept. It went to No.1 on Australia’s Apple top podcast charts within 24 hours of launch.
Camera IconFriends Jess Roberts and Bec Judd host the Vain-ish podcast on LiSTNR. Credit: Supplied
“I think within three weeks, we’d already had 100,000 downloads and then it was, ‘OK, we are on’,” Judd says. She believes her and Roberts’ “no BS” approach helped them stand out in a saturated market.
“I think when you speak your truth, and that’s who you are, people really appreciate that,” she says.
“Jess and I came at it from the angle of, we actually just want to talk about all of the things that we talk about as girlfriends that are a little bit taboo; who you’ve seen for your laser, or have you had anti wrinkle, or what’s that make-up product?
“We don’t take ourselves seriously. That’s why we call it Vain-ish — we’re more ‘ish’. Red carpets are a very small percentage of my life The other 90 per cent, I’m in ‘ish’ mode; pyjamas or activewear and a topknot and no make-up whatsoever.”
The podcast has faced some criticism for normalising beauty procedures and products that are out of the reach of many, but Judd says she believes the subjects resonate with listeners because of the transparency they offer.
“It would be like me saying I don’t have wrinkles because I’ve got a really good SPF,” she says. “Of course, yes, I wear SPF every day — but I also get anti-wrinkle injections, I spend a fortune on good skincare, I get a laser every four to six weeks.
“I’m not going to bulls..t people and say, ‘Oh, I just use sunscreen and drink water and get a good night’s sleep’. Like, come on. And if I did a podcast about that, do you think anyone would listen? Absolutely not. You just lose your audience’s trust.”
Another area where Judd values transparency is in her family life; she jokes that her Instagram grid might look glossy, but her stories are “where the fun stuff happens” as she navigates the inevitable chaos of life as a mum of four.
Camera IconBec Judd wears a Chloé cropped jacket, trousers and hobo charm bag, Alexander McQueen cuff, Bottega Veneta aviator sunglasses, Alaïa thong heels, Déhanche belt (all from Cultstatus, Claremont), Aria necklace, Halcyon link bracelet with pearl enhancer, Adored ring, Open Orbit ring (all from Kailis Jewellery). Styled by Teagan Sewell. Credit: Cheyne Tillier-Daly
Judd found out she was pregnant with her eldest, Oscar, the day before her hens’ party and was 10 weeks pregnant on her wedding day.
“I just sat on a glass of champagne all day,” she says. “I felt like crap, and it was 45 degrees and we booked the venue until 2am because it was a New Year’s Eve wedding. At about 11pm, I grabbed Chris, and I said, ‘Can we go home?’ And he was like, ‘You can’t leave your own wedding!’
Their daughter, Billie, was planned and the couple were toying with the idea of a third when they went on holiday to New Zealand.
“Life was great, we were feeling on top of the two-kid thing, we could divide and conquer. We were just nailing parenthood. And we went, ‘should we have another one?’ And then, before we could even change our minds, I was already up the duff. I’m extremely lucky (with fertility),” Judd says.
Camera IconRebecca Judd on the cover of STM, May 6, 2012. Credit: Supplied
Judd felt “particularly awful” during the early weeks of the pregnancy, even asking her obstetrician at their first scan about the possibility of twins. He reassured her he could only see one baby.
A month later, as she went for the next scan alone and made small talk about how rotten she felt, Judd saw her doctor’s expression change as he moved the ultrasound wand.
“On the screen, and there’s the baby, and then there’s a blob up in the corner. He moves the scanner over the blob, and it turned into a baby that was moving. I screamed,” Judd remembers, with a laugh.
“I started shaking and sweating . . . (The obstetrician) called Chris and I could just hear F-bombs coming down the phone.”
Judd identifies the two big moments in her life as that red Ruth Tarvydas dress and the birth of her twins, Tom and Darcy.
Camera IconChris and Bec Judd with their children Billie, Oscar, Tom and Darcy, in 2019. Credit: Jessie Obialor/Jessie Obialor
“I’ve been late, disorganised, forgetting things ever since,” she says. “Two kids, I was all good; I was still a type-A person, I never dropped the ball. But you can’t do it all, not with four kids and working and managing a house and all the other things. And I overcommit to everything: ‘yeah, I’ll coach Billie’s netball team’, ‘yeah, I’ll manage five cricket teams’.
“But I’ve got so many children who do so many activities, and I never want to be the parent that doesn’t chip in.”
Navigating life as a public person has also been a balancing act, but Judd has arrived at a good place in terms of weathering negative comments.
Camera IconBec Judd wears a Dolce & Gabbana lamé jacquard mini dress from Elle, Nedlands, geometric wheat sliding necklace, Nexus choker, Manhattan Keshi ring, Pure ring and Nyx ring, from Kailis Jewellery. Credit: Cheyne Tillier-Daly
She first experienced it just after her red dress breakthrough, when she naively dipped into the comments section under a news story.
“There were 300 comments and . . . they were pretty much all negative and attacking my appearance or my intelligence,” Judd remembers. “That was quite an adjustment and hard to navigate and process.”
She drew inspiration from how Chris handled booing and trolling as a footballer. His attitude was simply that when you are doing something good, some people won’t like it, and their response says more about them than it does about you.
“It made total sense; I would never say something negative like that to someone unless I was having a s… day,” she says. “Hurt people hurt people, right?”
Judd tried various approaches to trolling on her own social media pages. First, she wouldn’t respond, but found she’d dwell on negative comments, or her supporters would defend her and a back-and-forth would start, sometimes enough to spark a news story.
Next, she removed the ability to comment altogether, which ensured a couple of peaceful years — until the algorithm was introduced and her media clients needed more engagement on her posts.
Luckily, around the same time, Instagram introduced comment controls, including words that would cause a comment to be hidden.
Camera IconBec Judd wears a Maticevski gown and Pearl Octopuss.y necklace from Elle, Nedlands; Alaïa heart mules from Cultstatus; Keystone earrings, Fleur bracelet, Luna cuff, Fleur pearl ring and Audrey tennis bracelet, all from Kailis Jewellery.
Credit: Cheyne Tillier-Daly
“You should see my controlled list of words,” Judd laughs. “There are basic insults and swear words, but there’s also things like burger, because people would troll me all the time saying ‘eat a burger’.
“I’ve traded words with my girlfriends; like, what’s on your list? We could make a comedy show about it. My list is a lot but it means most of the stuff gets filtered out . . . I can’t be bothered with the negative energy.”
Another important shift was the “let them” theory, popularised by American author Mel Robbins and shared with Judd by her friend, Nadia Bartel.
“I’ve really leant into that — that if someone you don’t know thinks something about you, don’t try and change their mind. Let them. That’s on them,” Judd says.
“Once I adopted that, I genuinely feel it. I just actually give zero f…s now, and it’s been liberating.”
Camera IconBec Judd wears a Victoria Beckham dress from Adam Heath, Claremont; Australian South Sea pearl strand; and Flame Noir ring, from Kailis Jewellery. Food by Nobu. Credit: Cheyne Tillier-Daly
So what would today’s Bec Judd say to that young woman back in February 2004, blissfully unaware her life is about to be transformed?
“I would say ‘Listen to your gut’, because it’s never let me down — never,” Judd says.
“I would also try and explain ‘let them’ to her, because it’s taken me this long to get to this really positive mindset . . . If I could meet her now, I’d explain the theory in the hope that she might then have a little bit more of an enjoyable time in that regard.
“But I’ve got no complaints. It’s been an amazing journey. I love my life and love my family, I love my friends. I’m appreciative of where I am.”
You could win a 21st birthday gift like no other. To enter, find the weekly codeword inside your birthday edition of STM, only in The Sunday Times between 2 – 23 November.
