Gladys Berejiklian takes a veiled swipe at the lover who nearly ruined her career – as the NSW premier gives some frank advice to women suffering heartache
Gladys Berejiklian has taken a swipe at her ex-lover Daryl Maguire and used the failed relationship to give advice to other women suffering heartbreak.
The NSW Premier was forced to unceremoniously sack the disgraced Wagga Wagga MP in 2018 after learning he was making dodgy deals.
But she continued a 'close personal relationship' with the 61-year-old until as recently as this September, when she was called to give evidence at an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry.
Ms Berejiklian opened up to Marie Claire about her notoriously private love life after it was thrust into the spotlight following the inquiry
The New South Wales Premier was forced to unceremoniously sack disgraced Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire in 2018 after learning he was making dodgy deals
Ms Berejiklian opened up to Marie Claire about her notoriously private love life after it was thrust into the spotlight during the inquiry.
'I haven't really let myself process everything yet. I've been in action mode,' she told the publication.
'When any of us go through a difficult time, you change or grow as a person. I care far less what people think about my decisions.'
Ms Berejiklian said 2020 has been a year of tremendous personal growth, but she was excited for the day she can 'just lie by the pool'.
Last month Ms Berejiklian told The Daily Telegraph having intimate details of her private life laid bare was a nightmare situation and left her feeling 'humiliated and embarrassed'.
'I'm still trying to process it. I feel like it's someone else living this… It's like I'm the main protagonist in a movie,' she said.
'It's like I'm the feature and the film is going to end and my life is going to go back to normal but it will never be normal again.'
Ms Berejiklian continued a 'close personal relationship with the 61-year-old until as recently as this September
The premier said she would continue to put her professional career above her personal life.
'I can formally say to people I've given up on love. I'm just going to say I have always put my job first, rightly or wrongly, and that will now continue indefinitely,' she said.
But that wasn't always the case.
At the height of their relationship, Ms Berejiklian hoped to one day go public with Mr Maguire, and even dreamed of marrying him.
Throughout the ICAC inquiry and several media appearances afterwards, Ms Berejiklian appeared stoic, but confessed she had shed tears in the privacy of her own home over the embarrassment of the entire experience.
She learned during the corruption hearing just how much Mr Maguire had relied on her name during discussions with business associates and her government's resources in his dodgy side deals.
'I'm never going to speak to him again. My life's changed forever,' she said.
Ms Berejiklian is a notoriously private woman who had never spoken publicly about her personal affairs or relationship status before details of this romance became public last month.
Not even her own family knew about her five-year affair with Mr Maguire.
Not even Ms Berejiklian's own family knew about her five-year affair with Mr Maguire
Ms Berejiklian's interview appears in the December issue of Marie Claire magazine. Pictured: actress Scarlet Johansson
The premier informed her two sisters that she was about to be publicly humiliated during the hearing, but couldn't go into detail with them for legal reasons.
But she asked them to watch over their parents in case things got 'messy'.
Ms Berejiklian still has not defined what exactly her relationship was with Mr Maguire, admitting to the publication that it was difficult to label.
'It wasn't a traditional type of relationship,' she said.
The duo had been friends for more than 20 years before becoming intimate around 2015.
While she never introduced him to her family, she admitted that she did love him and considered marrying him after decades of being 'married to the job'.