"Fiona O'Loughlin's sister saved her life, because that's what sisters do."

Deep in the African Jungle, Australian comedian Fiona O’Loughlin has been opening up about her battle with alcoholism, and this week, she’s talked about the role her sister Kate played in her recovery.

“What my family did for me, and particularly one of my sisters, she saved my life,” O’Loughlin told her camp mates on Network Ten’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! 

As anyone who has a sister knows, that’s what sisters do. They save your life in a million ways, and sometimes, as in O’Loughlin’s case, quite literally.

LISTEN: Why ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ Looks so very different this year. 

Having three sisters of my own, I know saving your life, and/or saving your butt, is priority #1 of a sister.

But trolling each other comes a close second.

In 2017, O’Loughlin told Gold104.3’s Jo & Lehmo in a radio interview that when she was in hospital recovering from a two-week coma, her sisters couldn’t resist messing with her mind. Once they knew she was going to be ok, of course.

“Emily and Kate, my two sisters, played the worst joke on me. I’m three days out of a coma. They were talking into their wrists, and Emily said ‘They’re microchips in our wrists. We’ve all got them.’ Kate said, ‘You know you’ve been in a coma for seven years?’ I lost my mind.”

A classic sister move. I’d absolutely do the same – or worse – to one of my sisters if she were in the same position.

My poor sisters. They’ve been there in countless medical emergencies, paid for countless meals, and listened to my endless conversations about myself. For many decades. And I’m mature enough to admit that I’m the one who usually does any trolling.

Let’s look at what I’m about to do right now, for example. I’m about to show you a photo of me and my sisters, circa 1991, wrapped up against a European winter, in many layers. So much puffer. Very high pants.

My sisters HATE this photo. It’s extremely unflattering, and in a strange twist of what normally happens, I look somewhat typical, and they…look like this:

Please note the bumbag.

I'm so mean to my sisters, but perhaps they need to step up their game. Sure, they've been great to me, but they're no Oprah.

Oprah only learnt a decade ago that she has a long-lost sister, Patricia Lee. Since that time, Oprah has bought her a house and paid for her college degree. And then threw her a massive party in honour of her 50th birthday. (Just for comparison, I got an intimate celebration with the people I love the most for my 40th.)

Oprah says in the video about her relationship with her sister, “That was a new experience for me, to be in a relationship with somebody who actually didn’t want anything but was just there to be supportive of me. So, it’s been really great. Really great.”

I guess I could learn something from that. I suspect it might be something my sisters would like to hear from me occasionally? Who knows.

Ideally, I'd still love to be identified as Oprah's long-lost sister. But until that happens, my own incredible, long-suffering sisters will have to do.

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