The Voice Australia has switched up things this year with three new judges in those all-important swivel chairs alongside regular favourite Guy Sebastian.
He’ll be joined by American superstars Adam Lambert and LeAnn Rimes, but the fourth judge was an unexpected surprise: Aussie singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke.
Miller-Heidke rose to fame in the early 2000s, with her intriguing blend of classically trained vocals and alternative pop sensibility garnering her numerous ARIA awards and industry accolades.
She is the only Australian ever to have performed at the Coachella Festival, the Eurovision Song Contest (in 2019) and the New York Metropolitan Opera, proving just what a diverse talent she is.
But what of her personal life? How did Miller-Heidke meet her husband of nearly 17 years, Keir Nuttall?
Here’s all you need to know about a love story that all began with an unplugged band comp well before the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter found fame.
Is Kate Miller-Heidke married?
Yes, Kate Miller-Heidke has been married to Brisbane-based guitarist, singer and songwriter Keir Nuttall since 2007.
The pair met when Nuttall took part in an unplugged band competition at Toowong’s Regatta Hotel, beating out another group – whose lead singer just happened to be Kate Miller-Heidke. They were both attending the Queensland Conservatorium of Music at the time.
Who is Keir Nuttall?
He’s a founding member of the rock trio Transport, which formed in 2001. Since 2004, he has been part of Kate Miller Heidke’s backing band and she has recorded several songs written by him, including ‘Space They Cannot Touch’ and ‘Words’, from her debut album Little Eve (2007).
He also performs as a comedian under the alias Franky Walnut – his first solo album, The Franky Walnut Reflective Drink Coaster was even nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release in 2014.
What has Kate Miller-Heidke said about her husband?
In a Facebook post from June 2024, Miller-Heidke referred to her husband as her “artistic collaborator, husband, and the funniest person I know.”
In January 2024, she told The Sydney Morning Herald that Nuttall had proposed to her during a stay in Woodford in Queensland, where a folk festival is held each year.
”He proposed to me wearing a head torch in a caravan,” she revealed.
Does Kate Miller-Heidke have children?
Yes! Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall have one child together, a son named Ernie who was born in 2016.
Hilariously, in 2020 the acclaimed singer revealed that Ernie wasn’t a fan of her voice.
“He prefers if I don’t sing,” she told The Daily Telegraph in 2020.
“At all. He said to me, ‘I love you, but I don’t like you and I especially don’t like your face’.”
Much as she loves her son, it was her battle with post-natal depression that prompted her to pen Zero Gravity, the song she performed at Eurovision in 2019 (Miller-Heidke placed ninth).
“‘Zero Gravity’ is about emerging from depression into balance again. It tries to capture the sensation of colour returning to your life, of feeling strong, joyful and relieved,” she explained.
“Any parent knows the relentlessness of having an infant – the sleep deprivation, the mental fog, the physical weakness … After Ernie turned two, I woke up one day and felt somehow… better. The fog had lifted. Stronger. I had the energy to see friends. It was a feeling of transcendence. I felt like I had been given a golden ticket.”
