celebrity

Six years on, Megan Gale opens up about her controversial break-up with Andy Lee.

Back in January 2011, model and presenter Megan Gale was facing one of the toughest times in her glittering career.

Not because of her success on the runway or on our television screens – but because Gale was tackling a personal dilemma that threatened to penetrate her reputation and likeability.

Looking back on Anh Do’s Brush With Fame, the 41-year-old said announcing the disintegration of her four-year relationship with comedian Andy Lee in December 2010, and sharing news of her new relationship with AFL player Shaun Hampson just one month later “affected my reputation”.

WATCH: Megan Gale discusses body image on Australia’s Next Top Model. (Post continues…)

“I was very aware of the fact that a lot would be made of not just how quickly I happened to move on, but the age difference,” Gale, who is 12 years her partner’s senior, shared.

“I knew, I knew people would eat that up and make that a negative.”

The attention her relationship received because of its age gap was inherently sexist, Gale argued, pointing out nobody seemed to care Brad Pitt was 13 years older than Angelina Jolie when they got together.

“I hated it, I hated it,” she said.

“A lot of people thought differently of me, they wrote differently about me.

“Nobody had every really commented on [Pitt and Jolie’s] ages… there was never any ‘But hang on, he’s 13 years older’.”

Some six years later, Gale says 29-year-old Hampson is “the best” dad to their son, River, who turns three this week.

The pair are expecting their second child in “springtime” this year.

“I’m glad we kind of proved everybody wrong,” the soon to be mum-of-two said with a smile.

LISTEN: What it’s like to see your heartbreak splashed across the news.