Debbie
starred on
the dating
show with
co-host
Greg Evans.
This sassy
bachelorette
has dating shows
in her blood
Debbie and
Tara have
a very close
mother-
daughter
bond. The
Perfect Match
co-host told
Tara to ‘be
herself’ on
the show.
clubs, had some simple advice for
her Gold Coast-based daughter.
‘I just told her to be herself,
because she’s a beautiful, kind
person,’ Debbie reveals to New
Idea exclusively. ‘I think Australia
will fall in love with her. She’s a
funny, down-to-earth girl who’ll
always stick up for the underdog.
She doesn’t have a jealous or
bitchy bone in her body.’
As an entertainment
professional, Debbie is keeping
mum on Tara’s secrets from
The Bachelor set.
‘I don’t want to spoil it for
viewers,’ she says. ‘But she loved
the experience. I think she became
a bit of a favourite with the
producers – she always loved the
camera, even as a little girl. So I
reckon she will get another show
out of this. That’s my feeling!’
Mother-of-two Debbie found
her own perfect match in second
husband Mark Learmonth, 59,
when they met through mutual
friends 20 years ago.
‘It was love at first sight for
both of us,’ she recalls from her
NSW Central Coast home. ‘He’s a
wonderful man who’s been a great
stepfather to Tara and my son
Troy, so I’ve been very lucky.’
By Jenny Brown
D
ating shows run in
the family for The
Bachelor’s bubbly
nanny Tara Pavlovic
- whose mum is
former Perfect Match co-host
Debbie Newsome.
‘I’m very proud of Tara,’
says Debbie, admitting she
urged her 27-year-old daughter
to audition for the hit reality
series following a painful
break-up with her boyfriend.
‘She kept saying she didn’t
want to do it, because they
might get back together. But she
was looking after an 11-year-old
at the time, who also told her
she should try. And that’s
what persuaded her,’ laughs
Debbie, who became an ’80s
TV icon alongside co-host
Greg Evans and Dexter
the robot.
The
56-year-old
showbiz
veteran,
who still
performs
her own
Janis Joplin
Experience
show
around the
Bachelor
shock
TARA’S
PERFECT
MATCH
MUM
TARA’S
PERFECT
MATCH
MUM
NI
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