She may have a successful career and a gorgeous family of her own, but when Natalie Bassingthwaighte needs advice, there’s only one person she turns to.
“My dad is one of those people that I can call on at any point and ask his advice on absolutely anything, from business things to personal things, and he really will just kind of lay it all out there,” the 45-year-old tells WHO of father Michael, 68.
But like many of us this year, Natalie and her dad won’t be able to see each other in person for Father’s Day, with lockdown restrictions forcing the star to think outside the box when it came to gift giving.
“My dad was born with a perforated eardrum and he’s had hearing issues throughout his life,” she tells.
“But the past 10 years I’ve noticed it’s been less than perfect. You can just tell that he would get frustrated and everyone would make comments like, ‘You need to get hearing aids.’ It must be a hard thing to hear – no pun intended!”
With their only way of communicating being through FaceTime and Zoom calls, the star has got her dad set up with a pair of Oticon More 1 hearing aids to make their calls a bit more seamless.
“I thought that was a pretty good gift,” Natalie laughs. “Now he can hear me and the conversation is a little smoother, shall I say!”
Although their family celebrations often involve a long lunch with good food, a few wines and plenty of laughs, Natalie says her dad being able to hear will make a huge difference to their call on the day.
“I feel like he wants to stay on the phone more, because he can actually hear,” she explains.
While her own hubby’s celebration will involve their children Harper, 10, and Hendrix, 7, setting up a treasure hunt with “little presents at each different stop”, there’s only one thing that Natalie truly wants more than anything.
“All I want now is a cuddle [from my dad],” she adds. “You know, you just want a big daddy, papa bear hug!”
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