We’ve caught Rebecca Gibney in a brief and rare moment of downtime between projects. Her sunlit room is quiet. Beyond her window stretches the unspoiled green of New Zealand’s Marlborough region. She has just finished filming Dancing with the Stars and is taking a breath before returning to Sydney to appear on stage for the first time in 23 years. Unable to stop completely, she is using the fleeting moment of stillness to read scripts sent by writers and producers.
“It’s amazing, particularly at my age,” says Rebecca, who turned 60 in December. She had imagined that, as she grew older, there would be periods of time when she wasn’t working.
“But that’s not the case, which is great. I don’t do very well not doing anything.”
She has a few projects on the horizon that she can’t yet talk about, but is excited by the range and variety on offer. “Opportunities have come along that I would never have thought about, or that I’m surprised people are asking me to do,” she tells The Weekly.
Rebecca recently read a script about a woman who takes up boxing.
“When I got it, I turned to [Dancing with the Stars co-star, pro-boxer] Harry [Garside] and said, ‘Could you give me some lessons?’ He said, absolutely. That’s a possibility down the track. That frightens me a bit – getting punched in the face – but I might as well give it a go!
“I’m a great believer that when a door opens, you run through it until you choose to shut it. If a door is open for you, then there’s a reason for that.”
This abundance of opportunities is a situation Rebecca has cultivated. Over the course of her long and varied career, she has learnt not to accept the limitations the world presents her with. She believes in listening to her gut, and it has rarely steered her wrong. When she was in her late forties, she found herself hungry for a tough, interesting role. She created Lola and the series Wanted, which was nominated for an international Emmy. Last year, she became the fourth woman to be inducted into the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame.
“When they first told me, I think I went into shock,” she says. “I kept thinking, it can’t be me. There are way more people that are more worthy than me.”
The honour of a lifetime
Rebecca has spoken candidly over the years about her anxiety and impostor syndrome, her chronic childhood shyness, and the troubled childhood that was perhaps at the root of it all. Therapy, loving relationships, meditation, and conquering her demons. When she was told she was being inducted into the Hall of Fame, the powerful negative emotions rushed back “tenfold”, she says.
“My agent sort of talked me into it and said, ‘You don’t have to accept it.’ Of course I’m going to accept it! It’s just kind of … it’s getting to be okay with it in myself.”
In the end, it was her son, Zac, who helped Rebecca to see herself through the eyes of the people who love her, from her close circle to the industry, and the many Australians and New Zealanders she has touched over the years.
“I was sitting at the table, before the award was being announced, and Zac was there and my husband was there. I was having a moment of panic, actually thinking, ‘Gosh I don’t know if I can do this. What am I going to say?’
“My son, bless him, held my hand, and he said, ‘Mum, you’ve got to turn that fear into excitement, because it’s exactly the same emotion. Remind yourself why you’re here.’ I looked at him and went, ‘When did you get so wise?’
“He said, ‘You can do this, Mum.’ I guess it was his belief that I could do it that made me ready to accept it.”
Zac, 21, was one of the presenters who introduced the award. He went up on stage and Rebecca sat holding the hand of her husband, production designer Richard Bell, watching clips from Halifax f.p., The Flying Doctors, Come in Spinner and Packed to the Rafters. The showreel was rendered blurry by the tears in her eyes.
“I saw it all come together, and a little tiny part of me just felt incredibly proud. I went, ‘Wow, I’ve worked really hard for this and what an incredible honour to be honoured this way’.”
Turning down Hollywood
The Hall of Fame recognition was the fulfilment of a decision Rebecca made many years ago. In the ’90s, her star was on the rise. She’d won fans and gained confidence in The Flying Doctors and Come in Spinner, and so, like so many actors do, she travelled to Los Angeles to explore what a career in the US might look like. She quickly discovered it wasn’t for her.
“I was only in Hollywood for about three weeks. I had a few meetings, but I was kind of gobsmacked by the amount of inauthenticity there,” she says. “People used to say, ‘Have a nice day, ’ and I thought, ‘You don’t mean that.’ It was just a saying.
“I didn’t feel like I fit the mould… I had a really good career in Australia, and I’m like, ‘Why am I leaving this beautiful career that I’ve just started to chase something, to try and tell stories in other people’s voices?’ It just seemed ludicrous, so I came straight home and instantly went into All Together Now, which was wonderful.
She continues: “I love telling Australian stories and New Zealand stories.”
Happiest at home
“I do think Australians and Kiwis want to watch their stories told in their voices. There’s so many great Australian shows that are so brilliant and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
She is committed to ensuring Australians and New Zealanders see ourselves reflected on screen. At the moment, she’s basking in the glow of the warm reception her series Happiness has received from NZ viewers.
“My character’s name is Gaye Summers. That kind of tells you everything that you need to know,” Rebecca laughs. The comedy-drama is set in an amateur theatre company. It gave Rebecca the chance to sing and dance. Turning 60 unlocked a new, brash kind of courage.
“I turned 60 and went, ‘I’m going to start saying yes to things that really scare me’,” she says.
The opportunity to be brave presented itself last year when the producers of Dancing with the Stars asked if Rebecca would join the cast.
Dancing with the Stars
“This little voice went, ‘Yes, give it a go’. I stupidly went, ‘It’s a great way to get fit’,” she laughs. “I forgot the voices that went, ‘This is going to hurt’.”
Plenty of Rebecca’s friends had been put through their paces in the dance competition. “Everyone said, ‘You’ll love it, but you are going to hurt’.”
After signing on, she headed to the UK to celebrate her 60th birthday. She laughs, recounting how blissfully unaware she was of what was coming. “I ate and drank at every restaurant you could think of, so I wasn’t really practising at all. I wasn’t getting fit.”
When she came home to New Zealand, she was struck down with the flu. “By the time I arrived in Sydney on January 6 to start training, I was just not in a good way. But I thought, that’s okay, we’ll ease into it.”
There was no easing into it. Rebecca was partnered with Ian Waite, the professional dancer who last claimed the trophy with Lisa McCune.
Testing her limits
“I said to him, ‘Look, I’m much older than Lisa and nowhere near as fit, so just be gentle with me’.” Rebecca pauses for more rueful laughter.
“He was so wonderful, but by the end of the second day, I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is really going to be hard, ’ and it didn’t get any easier. It didn’t get easier at all.
“I’ve got fairly natural musical ability, but when it comes to ballroom dancing, forget it! That goes out the window. It’s irrelevant. It’s more important for you to be fit.”
She was surprised by how serious she, and the whole cast, quickly became about dancing. “We wanted to be brilliant. I think it surprised all of us,” she says. There were nerves and meltdowns, tears, injuries and the terror of facing the judges.
Rebecca would film the dance steps so she could practise them in her apartment at night. The Weekly asks if Richard helped her practise and is rewarded with another peal of laughter. “No! He’s not a dancer at all. He’d come over and cook for me and we’d go out to dinner and stuff.” But, she repeats, he’s definitely not into dancing.
Ian helped Rebecca achieve things she didn’t think were possible. In February, she posted a photo of herself on Instagram with the caption, “Who would have thought I would ever get close to doing the splits again at my age?”
It definitely got easier as she got fitter. “Particularly with something like the waltz,” she explains. “When I eventually got it, and he was moving me around the floor, all of a sudden it feels like Strictly Ballroom. It’s such a joyous thing. There’s nothing like dancing – particularly dancing with someone who knows what they’re doing.”
The rewards didn’t come easily, however. “I wasn’t getting it as quickly as I thought I could,” she says. “By week three, I was starting to get really frustrated with myself because I wasn’t where I wanted to be, physically. I was beating myself up a lot. I was crying; I actually found it really emotional. There were all these other aspects to it that I wasn’t expecting that completely threw me.”
Rebecca finds her rhythm
Her first dance tested her. Rebecca stepped on stage, nerves simmering in her stomach. There were so many dance steps to remember. The judges were watching intently. The music began to play, and Rebecca felt certain that she wasn’t executing the steps as seamlessly as she had in rehearsal.
“I walked off stage and I cried again because I thought, I’m letting my partner down,” she says. “I’m letting myself down. Then, of course, in your head, you’re going: ‘It’s a dance show! For God’s sake, get a grip. It’s a reality show!’
“I think it had brought up all these other things for me. Self-doubt and impostor syndrome, and being the kid who’s not as good as I thought I could be. All that stuff. It’s tough.”
Rebecca and her co-stars became each other’s support network, particularly the women who all shared a dressing room. Among them were comedian Felicity Ward, Olympic swimmer Susie O’Neill and podcaster Brittany Hockley.
“It was like camp,” Rebecca says. “We all had moments when one of us would be upset or nervous or crying, and we’d all hug each other. It really helped to have that friendship, that bond.
“I’d still do it all over again,” she adds, “in spite of everything hurting. When you did have wins and when you did perform well, and the camaraderie, it’s fantastic.
“Because I’m a perfectionist, there are still parts of me that look back and go: ‘Oh, I could have done that so much better’. But then you’ve got to cut yourself some slack. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I gave it my best shot. I actually gave it my all.
“This is where Zac’s advice kept ringing in my ear, when he said to turn the fear into excitement. I tried. I tried, but I haven’t mastered it yet.”
She laughs and says she doesn’t know where Zac gets his boundless confidence because both she and Richard are naturally introverted. “I’m okay on a film set. I’m not great with public speaking.”
However, she shares that she’s “getting better at it.”
Treading the boards
To that end, the next hurdle Rebecca faces is at the Sydney Theatre Company, playing Marty in Circle Mirror Transformation by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker. She’ll have friends on hand. Cameron Daddo, “who’s a really good mate”, and Jessie Lawrence are in the play as well. “So, I know I’ve got an incredibly supportive cast around me.”
Camaraderie is crucial in this bruising industry. Rebecca shares the story of a friend who deals with anxiety and self-doubt. “When she gets that voice in her head that says, ‘You can’t do it’, she turns it into a character called Mildred.” Mildred is dumpy and has frizzy hair, Rebecca explains with a giggle. When Mildred is getting a bit mouthy, the friend told her, “I put her in a taxi and I tell her to bugger off.” More laughter.
Beyond the play, Rebecca is looking to the future, excited about the possibilities. She’d love to create more roles and is currently contributing to the development of a character that has been created for her.
“It’s wonderful to be still doing that at 60, and I plan on doing it at 70 and 80,” says. “There are still perceptions of what maybe I can and can’t do. So, I want to knock down some doors and show I can still do certain things. There’s this thing that, ‘Oh, women should age gracefully.’ Shut up about what women should do! We can do whatever we want to do.
Will Rebecca Gibney ever retire?
Rebecca Gibney declares, “If I want to age disgracefully, if I want to cut off all my hair and dye it purple, I can. It doesn’t matter how old I am. I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want. I want to encourage other women to keep using their voices.
“I can’t see myself quitting acting,” Rebecca shares. She continues: “I love being on a film set. I love being on a TV set. It’s like a family. It’s where I’ve grown up.”
At 60, Rebecca is enjoying using her voice to tell the stories of women she wants the world to see. Strong women. Complicated women. Women who will make their audience smile.
“My goal for the next 30 years is to bring a bit more joy,” she says.
Dancing With The Stars airs on Sundays at 7pm on Seven.
The article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an issue.
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