Neale Whitaker on fighting fear, finding confidence and what he wants to be remembered for

(July 7, 2019) If the word ‘dashing’ could morph itself into human form-it would come the shape of Neale Whitaker.

When you invite the former editor of Vogue Living and Belle Magazine, into your freshly built house, it comes with a mixture of sheer terror and equal amounts of curiosity for what his opinion might be. When he entered the kitchen I went into a minor meltdown about if we had put the dishwasher and the bin in the correct position in the kitchen! As we all know from Neale's legendary position as judge on The Block-these sorts of things can rob you of some costly points. Once I realised I wasn’t in fact on an episode of reality TV, but having one of the loveliest humans to grace the planet for a tea and a chat, I was put instantly at ease by Neal’s charm and charisma. 

His knack for interiors and style is unmatched but his deep level of thinking and firm grip on reality makes for beautiful conversation. We go deep on life matters and Neal reveals his truest heart. We talk about fighting fear, building and loosing confidence, the moment he realised he was gay and what he wants to remembered for. This chat got me good. 

I was blown away by Neal's wisdom, calm nature and his genuine want to impact others for the better.  He even offers some incredible relationship advice! I have been focusing on the subjects of  self worth, self confidence and what success means to people in this series of Tea with Jules. Everyone's answers have been very helpful to hear and Neal's thoughts are no exception. I will take what he said and apply them in my own life. 

I sincerely hope you love this chat as much as I did – both Neale and I didn’t want it to end – but he had to catch a flight – so I couldn’t let him miss that!

It's a tear jerker - you've been warned!

Welcome to Tea with Jules hosted by Jules Sebastian. Here we spill the tea and learn life lessons from honest conversations with experts, celebrities and friends.