Trisha Goddard has opened up about the heartache and deceit in her first marriage (Image: Getty)
Renowned chat show host Trisha Goddard has opened up about the heartache and deceit in her first marriage to Australian politician Robert Nestdale, which ended in a distressing revelation upon his death.
In 1985, Goddard was working as a flight attendant when she met Nestdale. He was a leader in Australia’s Young Liberals and was vocal about his discomfort after being downgraded on a flight, a situation that facilitated their meeting.
The connection was instant, and it wasn’t long before Goddard found herself entangled in a whirlwind romance, culminating in a swift proposal.
Reflecting on these moments in her 2008 autobiography Trisha: As I Am, the now 64-year-old admitted: “I accepted, but even as he was slipping the engagement ring on my finger I knew I wasn’t in love, and I wasn’t so sure he was either.”
Their marriage quickly deteriorated, with Nestdale showing a darker side after their wedding.
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Trisha’s first marriage to Australian politician Robert Nestdale (Image: Getty)
The mother-of-two revealed: “Robert either couldn’t do it, or would ‘lose interest’. Within three months, we were in separate beds.”
The relationship reached a breaking point when she learned of his attempt to have a male friend sleep with her, marking a severe betrayal. This led her to seek independent counseling despite Nestdale’s efforts to control her interactions, even in therapy. Her counsellor ominously advised her: “Get out of that marriage now… Leave right away. I’m not at liberty to tell you why, but, believe me, I know.”
Three years after leaving Robert, having just given birth to first daughter, Billie, her ex-husband died.
After the funeral an old friend, John Dowd, visited Trisha and sent chills down her spine when he revealed how Robert had let out a “strange, vindictive” laugh when he saw a picture of Trisha and Billie in the paper.
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Trisha feared she and her daughter had contracted AIDS (Image: Getty)
She wrote: ‘I think Robert died of AIDS,’ John said.
“I went cold, numb with fear. ‘Do you think he had it when I was with him?’ I asked. John said: ‘I’ve arranged a blood test for you tomorrow.’
“I felt sick to my heart. I called Robert’s doctor, who confirmed that he had died of AIDS. Worst of all, when I was sleeping with him, he would have been at his most infectious.”
According to Trisha, the doctor had ordered Robert to tell her, but he’d lied and pretended she’d been tested and was clear.
“I was Robert’s wife and yet didn’t know he had AIDS,” she told The Sun
Thankfully, tests confirmed she and her daughter were not infected. “When I found out I had tested negative, I broke down and wept,” she shared.
Trisha is also a breast cancer survivor (Image: Getty)
In her autobiography, the mental health advocate reflected on their marriage: “Everyone thought Robert was honourable, but he told terrible lies all the way to his deathbed.”
She also recognised her own motives for marrying him were not entirely pure, “The truth is, I married him because he could take me to places that were otherwise out of my reach.”
The aftermath of her first marriage was fraught with further challenges. Goddard remarried and faced breast cancer, which eventually strained her 20-year marriage to psychotherapist Peter Gianfrancesco.
She candidly discussed the impact of her illness on her marriage, saying: “I recovered from breast cancer. I have to say, it probably, in the end, proved a bit of a death knell for my relationship.”