ABC star Leigh Sales shares rare insight into co-parenting her young children with ex-husband Phil Willis: ‘We’re family, we’re team’
Leigh Sales has shared a rare glimpse into how her very private family life works.
The former ABC host told this week’s Stellar Magazine that she and ex-husband Phil Willis still see each other as “family.”
In 2016, after two children and 20 years of marriage, the couple announced their separation.
Leigh Sales has shared a rare glimpse into how her very private family life works. The former ABC host told this week’s Stellar Magazine that she and ex-husband Phil Willis still see each other as “family.” Imaged in Stellar
“Full respect to Phil, it’s not that easy being married to a journalist or being a journalist’s ex-husband because you’re always changing in your life,” the 45-year-old told the publication.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to call Phil and say, ‘I have to go to the office. I know it’s my night out with the kids [but] I have a special show to host. How soon can you be here?”
“He just has to give up his whole life and say, ‘Okay, I can be there in 40 minutes.’ That was great for me, but also for our kids because they see mom and dad respect each other, and our vibes is that even though Mom and Dad don’t live together, we’re still a family,” she continued.
The couple announced their split in 2016 after two children and 20 years of marriage. “Full respect to Phil, it’s not that easy being married to a journalist or being a journalist’s ex-husband because life is always changing.” said the 45-year-old. Phil is pictured
“The message is always, we are a family, we are a team. So we try very hard to model this behavior. Of course, if it were perfect, we wouldn’t divorce. So we try to keep arguments and disagreements secret and not burden our children with them.
The former 7.30 presenter revealed how her life changed after the breakup in a lengthy Harper’s Bazaar column in 2018.
“The view of my life was not the same as it was from where I started. Things didn’t seem as safe as they used to be. My sense of security had been lost,” she wrote.
Leigh split from Phil during the 2016 Christmas season, 18 months after she experienced what she describes as “the worst year” of her life.
“The message is always, we are a family, we are a team. So we try very hard to model this behavior. Of course, if it were perfect, we wouldn’t divorce. So we try to keep arguments and disagreements private and not affect our kids with it,” Leigh said
The split follows a difficult time for the couple, which began in 2014 when Leigh suffered a ruptured uterus while giving birth to their youngest son, James.
“I turned to writing to process what happened to me, and that has become my third book, Any Ordinary Day,” she explained.
Leigh claims she researched how the human brain processes trauma for her new book and learned a lot about herself as a person in the process.
Leigh split from Phil during the 2016 Christmas season, 18 months after she experienced what she describes as “the worst year” of her life.
“People can endure the extraordinary and find joy again. The things you think you could never survive, you probably would do,” she wrote.
News of Leigh’s split from her husband came after Phil posted a number of possible leads on Twitter in late 2016.
More than once Phil alluded to a miserable 2016.
The couple have two sons – Oscar Willis (10) and James Christopher Willis (8).
Read more: In this week’s issue of Stellar Magazine with Leigh Sales on the cover