It would have been easy to miss. A picture shared by Natalie Imbruglia to her Instagram. Just her and a group of unfamiliar faces (record label executives, pehaps) celebrating her upcoming album. But swipe left and there’s another tucked behind it. Natalie cradling her round belly, smiling.
“I’m very happy to announce that I have just signed a record deal with BMG!! What an AMAZING team,” she captioned the photos. “And as you can see from the pic… there is another announcement… (no, I haven’t swallowed a watermelon). I’m expecting my first child this [European] Autumn.”
The 44-year-old wrote that the pregnancy is something she’s wanted for “a very long time”.
“I’m blessed that this is possible with the help of IVF and a sperm donor.”
“I’m so excited about this next adventure,” she added. “A new album and I’m going to be a mum!”
The singer is based in the UK, where she’s been living throughout her storied music career.
Natalie Imbruglia: from Neighbours to the Grammys.
Natalie Imbruglia was just 16 when she first appeared on Neighbours in 1992. The NSW teen had left school to pursue an acting career and landed the role of Beth Brennan on the iconic soap opera. Her stint on the show spanned three seasons and 149 episodes, before she left the show and headed to London, in the footsteps of former cast members Kylie Minogue and Jason Donavan.
Natalie’s dreams of forging a UK television career proved to be a struggle. She couldn’t find work, money became tight. According to Esquire, she started charging British journalists and editors for interviews about her time on Neighbours.
But after meeting manager Anne Barret, Natalie was set on a path that would carve herself a record-breaking place in the music industry. Barret persuaded her to record demos of four songs; among them was a cover of an Ednaswap song called ‘Torn’.
The 1997 single went on to sell millions of copies worldwide, top the charts in several European countries and peak at second in Australia and the UK. In the US, it sat in the top spot on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for 11 consecutive weeks.
Natalie received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, but lost out to Celine Dion’s classic ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
But the sudden success plunged Natalie into a depression and triggered her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She told Esquire in 2015 that she'd always had a tendency to slip into "melancholy", but after the release of 'Torn' and the album, Left of The Middle, it became much deeper, darker. She ultimately withdrew from the world.
"I went very strange," she said. "I became agoraphobic and needed to hide myself away. Everyone was asking me how the album was going and I just didn’t want to know... I was successful, rich and terribly unhappy."
Natalie Imbruglia's relationships: David Schwimmer to Daniel Johns.
In 1999, Natalie found happiness in Silverchair front-man Daniel Johns. The pair reportedly first met backstage at one of his concerts, The Daily Telegraph reported, and then began dating after "sparks flew" at an ARIA awards after-party at Sydney's Gazebo Hotel.
When Daniel was crippled with arthritis in 2002, Natalie put her role in the Rowan Atkinson movie Johnny English on hold to return to Australia and care for him.
They married on New Year's Eve the following year at a resort near Port Douglas, on Queensland's tropical north coast, but continued to lead separate lives courtesy of their careers; Daniel was based in Australia for his record deal, and Natalie in London for hers. In hindsight, she recognises their relationship could never have survived.
"It was never going to be permanent. We were both in an industry where you travel all the time. We couldn’t be based in the same country and we didn’t even make it to the point where I was planning to move back home to Australia," she told Esquire.
"Look, I wouldn’t do that again. But when you are young and in love... the heart knows no geography. And I don’t regret it; not for one moment."
The pair announced their split in January 2008. In 2014, Natalie said she was no longer in contact with her ex-husband, and "never" speaks to him.
In the months and years after her divorce, Natalie was linked to some of the entertainment industry's best-known men. Singer Lenny Kravitz. Coldplay front-man Chris Martin.
In a 2015 interview with Red magazine, she denied persistent rumours that she'd dated Prince Harry, Robbie Williams and One Direction singer Harry Styles. But... she confirmed a 90s (pre-Daniel Johns) relationship with actor David Schwimmer — yes, as in Ross from legendary sitcom Friends.
“Yes, that was a happy relationship, she said.
Her friend, actor Kate Gorman, was more forthcoming to People back in 1998. “When I asked her why they split up, she simply said, ‘He wasn’t the one.’ That doesn’t surprise me about Nat. If it wasn’t right, then she wouldn’t continue with it.”
Natalie had always been open about the fact that she wanted to have children, regardless of whether or not she was in a relationship. In several media interviews around her 2015 album Male, she spoke about investigating her options for starting a family.
"It’s a bit tricky that a lot of my friends are on to their third child," she told Red. "That is tough because we all know it’s like a members’ club."
The singer added to Esquire, "I am still hopeful that I will meet someone. And yes, I may well look into other options [for starting a family] if I don’t... I would really love to be a mum. And it is something that is going to happen."
Top Comments
Wonderful news Natalie, congratulations! All the best with baby xx
Very likely she also had an egg donation (unless she froze her own earlier).
You cant assume that.
Who cares!
Actually, I can. The likelihood of a successful pregnancy using one's own eggs at that age are exceedingly low. If she harvested and produced embryos for storage when she was younger, her chances of success would be much higher. Conversely, she may have used a donor egg, if she did not do fertility preservation earlier.
Not really your business, is it? Natalie has shared what she's comfortable sharing (and there may be no more to it than that anyway) and she's entitled to keep further details to herself. She owes you nothing.