‘I felt happy on Oxford Street’: real housewife Gamble Breaux

Real housewife Gamble Breaux has been championing the LGBTI community since she was a teenager. Matthew Wade caught up with her to chat about being different, her new country music, and the ever-present drama on the show.

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In a handful of early scenes during the latest Real Housewives of Melbourne season, outspoken housewife Gamble Breaux appears to have an axe to grind with her new co-star Venus.

Seemingly apropos of nothing, she mocks her ‘ladyship’, accuses her of harbouring unflattering images of the housewives on her phone, and texts a photo of a woman being pecked to death by a crow, captioning it: “this is going to be Venus”.

However, Breaux says the audience aren’t always let in on what happens behind the scenes, something she accepts comes with the territory.

“Before the season started I’d heard that [former housewife] Pettifleur had been spreading rumours about me to Venus, so that’s why I came in so hard on the show – but the audience didn’t see that,” she says.

“The problem is that if someone’s really irritating off screen, and I won’t say names – Gina – the audience doesn’t understand why we’re so frustrated with each other.

“The producers try to keep us away from each other as much as possible, they don’t want us to ‘burn content’.”

A similar misunderstanding occurred mid-season, when Breaux held a seance with Jackie and Venus to find out if there was a ghost plaguing her house.

The scene was constructed like an outtake from The Conjuring, and likely left many viewers baffled.

“I actually had a ringtail possum in my house, but I thought it was really badly haunted,” she says.

“It was really creepy, but obviously there was no conjuring.”

Despite the emotional high and lows the audience are privy to on screen, Breaux says the season was fun to film, and that the housewives all care for each other to some extent.

“I had a fantastic time and it was really fun,” she says.

“The only thing I found hard was the whinging – Sally and Janet don’t winge, but there’s a bit more drama with some of the others.

“I was also upset over Gina saying I married my husband for money, because she’s in all of our wedding photos, and she was our celebrant.

“I’m actually going to redo my vows in a private wedding ceremony so I can have nice photos for that moment.”

Much like her fellow housewives, Breaux has been a long-time supporter of the LGBTI community, made evident through her close relationship with her gay stepson Luke.

However, Breaux says she’s been a part of the community since she was a teenager.

“When I was 16 I started going out clubbing on Oxford Street, and I felt happy there,” she says.

“It was a tough time in the eighties – people were dying of AIDS, gay men were getting bashed, but there was also all this joy and love in the nightlife.

“I was always a bit different, I never really blended in really well at straight clubs or pubs.”

Like many international housewives before her, Breaux is currently gearing to release her own music, with the first country-tinged song and music video slated for release this month.

It will likely premiere on the show, as she sings it to her partner Rick for their anniversary.

“It’s coming out on Valentine’s Day, but you’ll get a taste of it on the show,” she says.

“I’ve worked a few songs, and it was so much fun – I’d always wanted to sing but was never confident about my pitch.

“But I have bionic hearing now, so I’m really excited.

“It’s hard not to cry when singing the first single to my husband. It’s pretty much the way we end this season – aside from the reunion, which was a bloodbath.”

For more Real Housewives of Melbourne coverage, see our interview with Janet Roach about marriage equality and the postal survey.