As the famous old song says, “The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas” – and you won’t get any arguments from actress Sarah Monahan, who is living a very content life on a Texas ranch!
WATCH BELOW: Sarah Monahan speaks out 15 years after abuse
It’s a dream come true for Sarah, who tells New Idea when we call for an overdue catch-up: “I remember when I was a kid I said in an interview, ‘When I grow up, I want to live on a ranch in Texas or Montana.’”
Speaking with the same serenity mirrored in her face, Sarah, 45, tells us she loves nothing more than sitting outside and stargazing.
“At night we sit outside and the only things you hear are coyotes and owls. In the day, you hear the neighbour’s cows giving birth, which can be a bit traumatic and very loud. This week is magic, all the wildflowers have bloomed. It’s just gorgeous.”
Prior to moving to Texas, Sarah and her husband, Matt, resided aboard a boat moored in Florida. Eventually, they swapped the blue ocean for the red earth of the Lone Star State, “setting up camp, rather than home” on a large 40-hectare ranch.
Indeed, Sarah and Matt’s lodgings consist of an old Winnebago and a gleaming silver 1972 Airstream caravan. While they have electricity, water is fetched from a well.
“Let’s just say we can’t take 20-minute showers,” Sarah laughs. “We’ve been slowly building an outdoor kitchen, which is finally almost finished.
“It’s very nice and quiet and peaceful. It takes 20 minutes to drive to the nearest road from the camp and then it’s another half an hour to get to a town. There’s about 20 different tiny towns in the general vicinity.”
Sarah won’t reveal the exact location of her slice of paradise, as she fears her former Hey Dad..! co-star, Robert Hughes, might track her down.
In 2010, Sarah bravely blew the whistle on Hughes, who played her on-screen father, that saw the paedophile charged and sent to prison for 10 years and nine months for molesting four girls.
“He may be getting out soon – I don’t want him knowing where I live,” she tells.
What Sarah will say is that the ranch reminds her of Broken Hill in NSW. “There’s so much red dirt!”
Admitting that she misses Australia “a lot”, Sarah and Matt are currently planting eucalyptus trees and snow gums around their campsite.
“If I can get work and I could afford to live in Sydney, I certainly would come home,” says Sarah, who spends her days dabbling on the stock market. “There is no city like Sydney, and nothing beats Sydney seafood.”
Although a permanent move home isn’t on the cards right now, Sarah will be coming to visit in May for two reasons.
Firstly, she’s catching up with her brother, who she hasn’t seen since the outbreak of COVID. Then, she’s going to attend Hughes’ parole hearing, as the 73-year-old will soon become eligible.
“We have never done it … The other girls and I are going to do it because we think they’re going to let him out this time,” Sarah says with dismay. “I want him to see that I’m actually not scared of him. I’m not nervous about doing it. I think I used to be, but I’m not these days.
“If he does get out, they will deport him to the UK. He rescinded his Australian citizenship. He’s old now and I’m sure he’s experienced worse things in prison than any of us did at this point.
“But I don’t think jail would have achieved anything for someone like that. He’s still very much claiming that we all set him up. He hasn’t done any of the offender training or anything like that.”
Sarah’s happy smile returns as the conversation turns to her beloved dog, Teddy, a cockapoo – a cocker spaniel cross poodle.
“He is technically my service dog because I’m deaf in one ear,” she tells. “I can’t hear what direction sounds come from, and if I’m in a crowd and there are three people talking at the same time, it drives me insane. It’s like anxiety.
“Teddy goes everywhere with me. He’s crazy smart. He is constantly watching out for me. I can say, ‘Go and get Daddy,’ and he’ll run to alert Matt with a tap, then race back to be with me.”
Clearly in love with her fur baby, does Sarah ever contemplate having children? “Oh God, no,” she laughs. “I had my husband fixed six years ago!”
She gazes around her ranch and smiles. “It’s like that scene in The Castle,” she says. “Life is good. ‘Ah, the serenity.’”
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