Kylie couple tell all
When Ben McHardy and Scott Goodhill took to the stage for a wedding proposal at Kylie Minogue’s Perth concert, making a political statement was the last thing on their minds.
The Broome-based couple was oblivious to the impending WA Labor Party conference that weekend. They knew little of the growing concern from Christian lobby groups who fear Prime Minster Julia Gillard may backflip on her previous stance on marriage under growing political pressure and powerful opinion polls.
In the 24 hours since their impromptu appearance on Kylie’s stage the couple was besieged by interview requests from newspapers and radio stations.
The couple’s on-stage declaration of love had, for a moment, suddenly transformed the debate on marriage equality from a religious and philosophical argument to a simple human experience.
Speaking to the Star Observer, McHardy gave us his take on the political debate around marriage equality,
“We all just want to feel like equal, normal people and when you have politicians debating your relationship on TV, it’s just bizarre. I think politicians should just concentrate on running the country, as opposed to concentrating on who’s marrying who. It’s completely out of touch. Fancy being Australian and being better off living in another country, that’s crazy,” he said.
“This Australia, the best country in the world, yet but we’d be better off living in Sweden or Canada. We never really wanted to [make a political statement]. For us, it was just about Scott and me. We’re all the same, there’s nothing different about us.”
McHardy said the couple’s nine-year relationship began when they met one night in Kalgoorlie at an ATM. They hit it off immediately, but lost each other’s contact details.
Not long after, they reconnected through social networking site Gaydar.
Now they’re based in Broome, which McHardy described as “like a little Sydney” with a recognisable gay community. For their ninth anniversary, the couple travelled to Perth for the Kylie show. McHardy is a massive fan — he even has Kylie tattoos.
While some people asked if the proposal was a set-up, McHardy assured us it all happened on the night. They scored a conversation with one of Kylie’s backing singers before the show which may have helped their chances of getting Kylie’s attention.
Reflecting on the experience of proposing in front of 13,000 people McHardy confessed it’s a bit of a blur.
“I look back now and I don’t remember a lot. It’s good there are YouTube clips so I can see what happened.
“First of all, on Kylie’s multi-million-dollar stage! I can’t believe she let me up on that stage. When she’s given the microphone, I’ve just gone ‘ughh’. I was raw up there, everything was perfect.”
Before leaving Perth for the next leg of her tour Kylie told the Star Observer she wished Scott and Ben much joy, love and happiness and all the very best for their future.
