Carrie Bickmore has split from her partner of 11 years, Chris Walker.
The 42-year-old TV star made the announcement in an emotional Instagram post on Wednesday morning, saying the couple are now focused on raising their three children – Ollie, 15, Evie, 7, and Adelaide, 4, together .
The shock news comes just a month after Carrie hosted her last episode of The Project.
“It is with great sadness that Chris and I have decided to separate,” she wrote.
Carrie Bickmore has split from her partner of 11 years, Chris Walker
“While this is a difficult time, we are focused on raising, loving and supporting our three children, Ollie, Evie and Addie, with everything we have.
“You are doing great, we will not comment further.”
The news comes just weeks after Carrie vacationed in Byron Bay with her three children.
The TV star romped over the sea and sand in the high-waisted one-piece suit as she spent the day at the beach with her kids.
In November, Carrie also opened up about her personal struggles after leaving the Channel 10 show in a touching farewell letter to The Project’s hair and makeup team.
In a handwritten note to her glam squad, the 42-year-old thanked them for helping her get through some of the toughest times of her professional life.
The former Project host announced the news in an emotional Instagram post on Wednesday
Carrie enjoyed a holiday with her three children in Byron Bay earlier this month
“To my hair and makeup family. Shit, I’m already crying,” the letter began.
“You held my hand through some of the toughest days of my career. You hear everything, see everything and share everything with me and I cannot explain how much I will miss you all.’
“There is an unspoken connection between us all and please never forget how special you all are,” added the mother-of-three.
“I know this isn’t goodbye, just goodbye for now. Love to you all, Carrie.”
It comes after Carrie opened up about her private struggles after leaving the Channel 10 show in a touching farewell letter to The Project’s hair and makeup team
Carrie’s letter was posted to Instagram by makeup artist Julie Bekiri, who also shared a video of the TV presenter laughing in the styling chair while The Project’s glam team worked on her magic.
Another picture showed Carrie on set with the hair and make-up team on her last night at The Project.
“What can I say about you @bickmorecarrie because words cannot describe the past 10 years since we first met,” Julie captioned her post.
“I can say we’ve been through so many things together and our talks, laughs and tears in the makeup room have been priceless.
Another picture showed Carrie with the hair and makeup team on her last night at The Project
“Thank you for all your support and friendship and thank you for allowing me to be myself and express my creativity with you.
“You always kept me on my toes and kept telling me to stop touching your hair even after I perfected it.”
The project said goodbye to Carrie on November 30 when she stepped down from the Channel 10 panel show after an impressive 13 years.
At the end of the show, she thanked her friends, colleagues and viewers.
The project said goodbye to Carrie on November 30 when she stepped down from the Channel 10 panel show after an impressive 13 years
“Is it too late to change my mind?” she said, fighting back tears.
She also thanked Chris, who was in the audience with her children.
“To Chris [Walker, partner]. Thank you for everything. Your guidance and advice over the years, your amazing production skills…” she added.
“This show has given us so much. We wouldn’t have our beautiful little prophets if it wasn’t for The Project.”
She said to her children: “You are my world. I love you guys.’
“Is it too late to change my mind?” she said, fighting back tears
She also thanked Chris, who was in the audience with her children. “To Chris [Walker, partner]. Thank you for everything. Your guidance and advice over the years, your amazing production skills…” she added
“For my parents and my friends and family. It certainly takes a village to help a mother of three get a job like this on TV and I couldn’t have done it without all of you. So thank you for picking up the shards,” she continued.
Her departure also marked the end of her 17 years with Channel 10.
Carrie’s 10-minute speech came after two touching tributes from fellow panelists Peter Helliar and Waleed Aly.
“You exude generosity and warmth and that is reflected back to us by the amazing audience. Everything starts with you. I can’t wait to see what you do next,’ said Peter.
Carrie and Chris’ love story captured the hearts of Australians after they met on the set of The Project in 2012 – where Carrie worked as a presenter, two years after her husband Greg Lange lost his battle with brain cancer
Carrie and Chris’ love story captured the hearts of Australians after they met on the set of The Project in 2012 – where Carrie worked as a presenter, two years after her husband Greg Lange lost his battle with brain cancer.
Despite his terminal condition, they married in 2005 when Carrie was just 25 and had a son, Oliver. She said having her son is the greatest thing they’ve ever done together.
After Greg died at the age of 35, she continued his legacy by starting her own charity, Carrie’s Beanies for Brain Cancer, which she announced in 2015 during her Gold Logie acceptance speech.
Carrie and Chris fell in love while working together – he became stepdad to Oliver before they had two daughters – Evie in 2015 and Adelaide in 2018.
Carrie and Chris fell in love while working together – he became stepdad to Oliver before they had two daughters – Evie in 2015 and Adelaide in 2018
Did Chris Walker’s naked Skype call scandal give Carrie Bickmore the ‘ick’?
Carrie turned red in the face in May last year when Chris was caught on a company Skype call with his pants down.
Chris, the executive producer of comedy show The Weekly, stripped naked in front of shocked ABC employees after he thought he walked out of a video conference call on May 17.
He mistakenly thought he had left the conference when he undressed in front of up to nine people, with the incident lasting between 40 seconds and two minutes.
Chris had dialed in during a sabbatical in the UK with Carrie and their three young children, with the naked faux pas occurring during a meeting after rehearsals and before The Weekly began taping Charlie Pickering.
Carrie was likely mortified by the incident, as Chris’ slip-up led to an avalanche of embarrassing headlines.
In a statement at the time, ABC said it was “aware of an unintended incident.”
“The ABC is in regular contact with relevant team members and is in the process of developing strategies to ensure an incident of this nature does not recur,” the statement said.
After the incident, an employee accused senior ABC executives of initially dismissing the slip-up as “hilarious” and dismissing employees’ concerns.
The ABC has since offered advice to employees who witnessed the incident, The Herald Sun reported.
The presenter previously told TV Week that her partner has also suffered a loss in his life.
“He understands losses like many people and has suffered his own loss in life and I think he just has a great amount of compassion and he will always be incredibly supportive of me and our family,” she said.
To spend more time as a family, Carrie and Chris brought their three children to the UK for a school year in April.
In a lengthy Instagram post, she explained that they realized they had to take a break during lockdown in Melbourne last year.
To spend more time as a family, Carrie and Chris brought their three children to the UK for a school year in April
“We feel like this is our last chance to do something like this together before Ollie hits the peak of his school days and doesn’t want to hang out with us anymore, so… let’s go to the UK for a school year,” she wrote.
Chris previously told the Herald Sun he misses Carrie because of the couple’s busy schedules.
“Carrie works so much too (on The Project). I miss her and the children a lot, especially at the beginning of the week.’
Chris made headlines in May last year when it was revealed he had unknowingly undressed at the end of a production meeting he attended remotely while on holiday in Europe
Chris made headlines in May last year when it was revealed he had unknowingly undressed at the end of a production meeting he attended remotely while on holiday in Europe.
He mistakenly thought he had left the conference when he undressed in front of up to nine people, with the incident lasting between 40 seconds and two minutes.
Chris had dialed in during a sabbatical in the UK with Carrie and their three young children, with the naked faux pas occurring during a meeting after rehearsals and before The Weekly began taping Charlie Pickering.
Carrie was likely mortified by the incident, as Chris’ slip-up led to an avalanche of embarrassing headlines.
Chris, the executive producer of comedy show The Weekly, stripped naked in front of shocked ABC employees after he thought he walked out of a video conference call on May 17