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"We were both with partners at the time..." Inside Grant and Chezzi Denyer's 10-year marriage.

This post deals with addiction, post-natal anxiety and miscarriage which might be triggering for some readers. 

On Sunday night's episode of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, contestant Grant Denyer shared with his fellow campmates the story of how he fell in love with his wife, Chezzi Denyer. 

The 43-year-old television host explained they were both with other people at the time.

"She worked on Sunrise. She was my producer. We didn't like each other. We hated each other... She was really pushy. And I was pretty arrogant, so we didn't like one another at all," he explained. 

"Then one day... It was so weird. One day we just brushed hands. And I just felt a tingle from my head to my toe. Just this massive feeling. 

"It was a little bit tricky. Unfortunately, we were both sort of with partners at the time. It was so confusing and there was people's hearts involved. And she was married," the Gold Logie winner said. 

"Sunrise is a family show, everyone talks about their family all the time. It made something that was already difficult very complex.  

"It leaked out of our office. Intentionally, I think. And things were being written then."

While Denyer kept his job as the breakfast show's weatherman, Chezzi lost her job. 

"Got to a point where they actually marched her out of the building," Denyer recounted. "I was like, 'Oh, this is all collapsing.' Yeah, she sacrificed a lot."

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While both Grant and Chezzi have shared this story previously, some campmates were unaware of how they'd met. 

A baby due in March 2021

In August 2020, Grant Denyer and his wife Chezzi announced that they were expecting their third child together.

The couple, who share daughters eight-year-old Sailor and four-year-old Scout, announced their newest family member is due in March 2021.

"So, we have some news. Our mum is pregnant! And mum's really sick. And she's been resting for days," the couple's two daughters explained in a video shared to Instagram.

"It's so exciting that she's got a baby," they added.

"We're so excited to play with it and look after it."

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Chezzi opened up about the struggles the couple went through to have another baby, sharing they suffered three miscarriages before finally falling pregnant.

"I speak to people all the time who have struggled to fall pregnant," she said on her and Grant's new podcast It's All True?

"It becomes a really big obsession, because you don't understand why it happens for some people and it doesn't happen to you."

"You look at how crazy I became. By that last miscarriage, I just was defeated. It was heartbreaking."

"I remember I was sort of, chatting about it and you were like... shall we just, give up?" Grant responded. 

"That's going to make me cry," replied Chezzi.

She added that she didn't want things to get too dark and heavy but "it was tough".

"Nobody really knew our private journey. Miscarriages are hard. It was hard. We shed a lot of tears and it was difficult."

Since announcing her third pregnancy, Chezzi has shared her experience with hyperemesis gravidarum – a pregnancy complication that can cause severe nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.

"Many have asked my advice on how I am handling [hyperemesis gravidarum] for a third time," the TV producer wrote. 

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"I guess I just wanted this third child of ours for such a long time... that the feeling of holding it in my arms one day and loving it outweighed the pain and anguish I knew the HG would cause me," she continued.

"But, it hasn’t been that simple."

Chezzi shared that in recent weeks, she has questioned "if I could hang on".

"It became so challenging mentally and physically I thought I might die," she wrote.

"That’s when I leant on my husband a great deal and to his credit he stepped up.

"He would hug me, hold my hair back, rub my back, pack the girls' lunches, drive them to school, rush home to help me shower, go looking for sour lollies at different shops, listen to me cry, hug me again and tell me it was going to be alright."






View this post on Instagram









A LOVELY PREGNANT GLOW... Is missing from my face. But, I’m more than ok with that. I have two very dark circles under my eyes BUT I was able to pack my girls lunches today without vomiting. Win! I have red marks above my lips where cold sores lived a few weeks ago, BUT I’ve been able to read my girls a book at night for the past few days. Win! My hair is limp and dry. My skin is saggy and yellow. But I’ve been able to spend the weekend actually doing things, and not confined to my bed with my bucket. At the moment I’m taking any little win as a win. You mightn’t think so, but I am VERY happy! I seem to have two bad days then two better days.. Over the past week I’ve received a lot of messages about hyperemesis gravidarum. It seems a lot of women experience it or have known someone who has had it.. Many asked my advice on how I am handling it for a third time.. Some asked me why I would want it for a third time considering how bad it is... I guess I just wanted this third child of ours for such a long time.. that the feeling of holding it in my arms one day and loving it outweighed the pain and anguish I knew the HG would cause me.. But, it hasn’t been that simple. A few weeks ago, things were so bad I honestly questioned if I could hang on. It became so challenging mentally and physically I thought I might die.. That’s when I leant on my husband a great deal and to his credit he stepped up. And so he should LOL considering all the times I’ve nursed him hahaha @grantdenyer He would hug me, hold my hair back, rub my back, pack the girls lunches, drive them to School, rush home to help me shower, go looking for sour lollies at different shops, listen to me cry, hug me again and tell me it was going to be alright.. You need support with HG. You can’t do it alone. If you have other children, you need help with them. And you yourself need support. If you’re suffering and you don’t have support please head to https://www.hyperemesisaustralia.org.au/ (I’ll put link in my bio) and follow @hyperemesisaustralia And ask for help! And let’s keep this important discussion going, because through talking comes awareness. #hyperemesis #14weekspregnant

A post shared by  chezzidenyer (@chezzidenyer) on

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Earlier in August, Chezzi said that she had been "literally bed ridden for over eight weeks" with the condition. 

"Can’t keep food or water down. Profusely vomiting. Severe nausea. Feeling faint and dizzy. Waking through the night to throw up," she shared on Instagram.

"It’s miserable. It’s draining. It’s all consuming. And not something ginger beer or some crackers can fix."

As Grant and Chezzi prepare for the arrival of their third child, we decided to take a look back at their relationship over the years.

Grant and Chezzi Denyer's marriage. 

Grant and Chezzi Denyer first met while Chezzi was working at Channel Seven in 2005, and confirmed their relationship in 2008 after months of mounting media speculation. 

The couple later married on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays in 2010, after relocating together to the regional city of Bathurst.

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But in 2008, two years before the couple married, Grant broke his back driving in a monster truck rally. 

A poor landing resulted in a vertebral compression fracture and although he escaped without any nerve damage, he was forced to spend six months in hospital.

"People don’t know the whole behind-the-scenes," Chezzi told Stellar in 2018.

"Grant had severe stomach problems that made him incredibly unwell. We didn’t know if he would survive. It’s not terribly sexy, but he had a condition called slow transit constipation... We really pushed the envelope. We kind of thought we were invincible."

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After winning the Gold Logie for his role on Family Feud in 2018, Grant opened up more about the dark time in his life.

"I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d be able to walk again so I spent six months lying flat, heavily medicated trying to let it heal... I didn’t really cope with that emotionally or mentally," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"It was a time where I didn’t really give a sh*t whether I lived or died. I felt like I had nothing to live for."

For many years afterwards, the TV presenter dealt with severe health problems, including a prescription drug addiction.

"There are all sorts of traps that come with medications and warnings and no one prepares you for that — it is a hard cycle to get out of. I was just a bit broken, sad, lost," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"I mentally wasn’t well, I was on pain medication for a long time, and I probably wasn’t aware of the effects of that."

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In Chezzi and Grant's new podcast, It's All True?, the couple opened up about the impact pain medication had on their relationship.

"We had so many drug psychosis episodes where Grant would kick me out of the house because I was an imposter dressed up as Chezzi," Chezzi shared.

"I'd be locked out of the house, a crying mess, and I couldn't call my family to tell them how bad it was."

Grant added that during his recovery from the accident, using pain medication was "the worst part, by far".

"As soon as you close your eyes you go into your worst nightmares," Grant shared.

"The things that you are afraid of the most are the first things that happen the moment you fall asleep and you start dreaming.

"It is traumatic as every time you sleep and then when you wake up you can't tell what is real and what isn't."

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Despite the struggles they faced in the months Grant was on pain mediation, Chezzi admitted "it totally connected us".

In 2011, the couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Sailor.

A combination of her daughter’s large head and her turning into an awkward and painful position resulted in a long, drawn-out labour, which ended in an emergency c-section.

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"Basically, when she was being pulled out, I saw myself on the bed from the roof. It sounds really bizarre, but I basically removed myself from my body to cope," Chezzi previously told Mamamia.

The traumatic birth coupled with the struggles of life with a newborn led Chezzi to develop post-natal anxiety.

Writing in a post for her blog, The Chezzi DiariesChezzi detailed the difficult first few months of motherhood.

"Over the next few months, my anxiety would increase until I would literally explode and yell at my husband, mostly. Sometimes I would be so tired or so full of emotion I would yell at my daughter. Sometimes I would shout things in my mind," she wrote.

"I would be so quick to anger. It was so unlike me. I felt out of control sometimes and then totally in control and enjoying life at other moments. It was a see-saw of emotion, and I knew it couldn’t last like that."

In 2015, the couple welcomed their second daughter, Scout.

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In June, Grant, 42, opened up about life with his two daughters.

"My greatest concern is not being able to observe every single waking moment with those growing little monsters," he told TV WEEK.

"Time is going so fast, and they're evolving so quickly in front of my eyes. I don't want to miss a thing – and as a parent, my greatest paranoia is, 'Am I focusing on work too much?'"

"In the hours we're together, we muck around, jump on the trampoline, play with the dolls' house or run outside with the dog. We ride quad bikes together; we go on little adventures. I'm deeply protective of ensuring that we have a balance, because it's not a game you want to get wrong. It's about making that time count."

In February 2020, the couple renewed their vows after 10 years together.

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The ceremony took place near their Bathurst home with a small group of friends and family, including their two daughters.

Feature Image: Instagram.

If this has raised any issues for you or if you would like to speak with someone, please contact the Sands Australia 24 hour support line on 1300 072 637. 

If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from depression, contact PANDA – Post and Antenatal Depression Association. You can find their website here or call their helpline – 1300 726 306.

If this post brought up any issues for you, you can contact Drug Aware, Australia's 24hr alcohol and drug support line. You can reach them on (08) 9442 5000 or 1800 198 024.

This post was originally published on September 3, 2020, and was updated on January 25, 2021.