She is one of Australia’s most successful journalists and television presenters, with a career spanning four decades.
But Liz Hayes has lifted the lid on her lesser-known identity as the daughter of a dairy farmer and a housewife from regional New South Wales.
Speaking to Stellar magazine over the weekend, the 67-year-old said she was born Elizabeth Ryan and grew up Beth.
“I mourn Beth Ryan because I really like Beth Ryan.” Liz Hayes is the person I have become. “I was born Elizabeth Ryan,” the 60 Minutes veteran said.
Liz took her first husband’s name Bryan Hayes and kept it as her professional name ever since.
Liz Hayes, 67, née Elizabeth Ryan, has lifted the lid on her lesser-known identity as the daughter of a dairy farmer and a housewife from regional New South Wales
“When I hear someone say, ‘Hello Beth,’ I know they’re in my soul.” When I realized I was now Liz Hayes, it was a very strange moment. “It’s weird,” she admitted.
Liz reflected on what it was like to call herself Beth Ryan while writing her upcoming autobiography, I’m Liz Hayes: A Memoir.
“As I write this book and write ‘Beth Ryan,’ I hear my father, my brothers.” I’m not Liz Hayes. To this day, I am Beth. “It wasn’t until I read the book that I realized how important it was for me to let that go,” she said.
Liz reflected on what it was like to call herself Beth Ryan while writing her upcoming autobiography, I’m Liz Hayes: A Memoir. (Pictured on the Today Show in 1989)
Hayes met and married her first husband, building contractor Brian Hayes, in her hometown of Taree, but the two later separated.
The journalist was then married to the Australian advertising entrepreneur John Singleton between 1991 and 1992.
Liz secretly married Sydney doctor Stephen Coogan in 1994 and they separated in 1997.
“I mourn Beth Ryan because I really like Beth Ryan.” Liz Hayes is the person I have become. “I was born Elizabeth Ryan,” the 60 Minutes veteran said
She has been married to Ben Crane, a former sound engineer for 60 Minutes, since the early 2000s.
In a 2014 interview, Hayes, who has no children, said speculation that she had put her career ahead of motherhood was “unkind.”
“There are a lot of assumptions about people who don’t have children and those assumptions are invariably wrong,” Hayes told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Some women are said unkind things because they don’t have children. ‘Why do we insult other women, our sisters, about such issues that are deeply personal and terribly difficult for some?’
“When I hear someone say, ‘Hello Beth,’ I know they’re in my soul.” When I realized I was now Liz Hayes, it was a very strange moment. “It’s weird,” she admitted
Gold Coast, New South Wales