For decades, Lisa Wilkinson has been a constant in Australian media – asking the questions, shaping the conversation, and, at times, carrying the weight of the stories she tells. But on this week’s episode of You’re Gonna Want To Hear This, Wilkinson turns her attention to something far more personal: the story she felt compelled to tell.
“I never, ever wanted to be in a role where I thought I’d stopped learning,” she says. It’s a line that neatly captures a career defined by constant evolution – from magazines to television, and now, to historical non-fiction with her new book on the Titanic’s only Australian survivor, Evelyn Marsden.
Listen To You’re Gonna Want To Hear This
A Career Built on Risk
Despite her success, Wilkinson is quick to dismantle the myth of an effortless rise. “None of it was guaranteed. None of it just happened,” she says. Behind the scenes, there were risks – including backing a then-unknown Nicole Kidman for a Dolly cover, despite pushback from management.
“They said, ‘She’s not smiling.’ … ‘She’s got red hair.’ … ‘She’s got freckles.’ … I just said, ‘Trust me.’” The issue sold out. Wilkinson has never taken that success for granted. “I don’t think I ever have taken it for granted,” she reflects.
Like many women, Wilkinson’s career has never existed in isolation from motherhood. After a decade at Cleo, she made the decision to step away while pregnant with her second child. “I really felt like I had done everything I could possibly have hoped for in that role,” she says. And like many mothers, self-doubt was never far away. “I was okay at parenting… like most women think, ‘I’m a really bad mother.’”
The Story That Found Her
It was curiosity – not a grand plan – that led Wilkinson to Evelyn Marsden. “I didn’t even know Evelyn existed,” she admits. What began as a simple search quickly became something far more consuming.
“I’ve done this book in close consultation with Evelyn’s great niece… she gave me such beautiful original, never before seen letters,” Wilkinson says. “There’s a lot of people who gave accounts… and many of them have differing versions of the truth,” she explains.
An Emotional Ending
Perhaps the most powerful moment comes not in the writing, but after it. Wilkinson describes visiting Marsden’s grave at Waverley Cemetery – something she had promised herself she wouldn’t do until she felt “worthy” of telling her story. “I made a promise to myself that I would not go… until I could go there feeling always worthy,” she says. “I just wanted to be with her… it was everything I hoped it would be.”
“Keep Going – It’s Getting Better”
If there’s a thread running through Wilkinson’s career – and this conversation – it’s persistence. Asked what message she would share with women and girls, her answer is around.”
The Bottom Line
This episode of You’re Gonna Want To Hear This reveals a different side to Lisa Wilkinson – not just the interviewer, but the storyteller, the risk-taker, and the woman still asking questions of herself. Simple: “Keep going, because it’s getting better.”
“We’ve been fighting the good fight for a long time now… and sometimes we think we’re still rowing against the tide. And we are. But there’s been a lot we’ve had to turn
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