NEED TO KNOW
- Gogglebox Australia stars Isabelle Richards and Kerry Silbery have opened up about losing Emmie Silbery.
- Their beloved mother, Emmie, died in July.
- Emmie left Gogglebox in 2023 after being diagnosed with dementia.
- Kerry and Isabelle have opened up about dealing with grief after her passing, and plans for their first Christmas without her.
The tree has been decorated, most of the presents wrapped, and the lunch menu is sorted for Isabelle Richards and Kerry Milligan’s Christmas Day festivities.
But, as the former Gogglebox Australia stars tell New Idea, this holiday season is also very bittersweet, as it’s their first Christmas without beloved family matriarch Emmie.
Australia fell in love with Emmie when she, Kerry and Isabelle joined Gogglebox in 2016. Emmie left the show in 2023 after being diagnosed with dementia.
The much-loved 96-year-old passed away this July.
Almost six months on, the grief is understandably still close to the surface for Kerry, 72, and Isabelle, 41.
But mother and daughter are determined to enjoy the holidays too, because Emmie “absolutely loved Christmas”, says Kerry.
“She was the life and soul of the party – and she always led the family carol singing on Christmas Day,” Kerry adds of her mum.
This year, Isabelle, her two children, her husband Alex, and Kerry will spend Christmas with Alex’s family.
“We’ll be going to my in-law’s holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula,” Isabelle explains.
“It’s on acreage and there will be kids running around, lots of chaos and everyone will be given some Christmas pyjamas to wear,” she adds with a laugh.
“But, like many, many families around Australia, someone very special will be missing from the table on Christmas Day, so it won’t be the easiest day either.”
Coping with grief
Since losing Emmie, Kerry and Isabelle have tried to focus on the good times they all shared as a family. Kerry, who is an ambassador for the Public Education Foundation, admits her grief can hit at the most unexpected times.
“Mum lived with me for her last seven years, so losing her has left a huge rift at home,” she explains.
“I thought I was coping pretty well, but then in October, I was chairing an online Zoom meeting. Five minutes past the hour, and with 24 people in the meeting’s waiting room, the technology just would not work and so I lost it and burst into tears. Afterwards, I crawled into bed and sobbed for two hours.”
As a result, Kerry decided to have some grief counselling through an organisation called Violet, which supports the carers of people who are at the end of their lives.
“I can highly recommend it,” says Kerry, who is now also a Violet ambassador. “I’ve learnt so much about the grief process.”
She also lights a candle for Emmie every night.
Writer and producer Isabelle agrees that missing Emmie can hit when she least expects it.
“Life goes on, but then I’ll see an old woman with a walker who looks like Emmie and do a double- take when I realise it’s not her,” she admits. “It’s like a pain in your heart that sits there – but that’s love too I guess.”
Emmie’s absence at Christmas will “definitely highlight the changed family dynamic”, Isabelle adds.
The comfort of Gogglebox
One unique source of comfort for both Kerry and Isabelle is having many Gogglebox episodes featuring Emmie available to revisit.
“My son especially loves to watch the old episodes,” says Isabelle.
“We sit down on a Sunday night with a roast dinner and watch the show together as a family.
“It’s such an amazing gift ‒ and it’s so funny to re-watch those old episodes and remember all Emmie’s classic one-liners!”
The Gogglebox cast has always been like “a family” says Kerry. Which is why she requested that fellow Goggleboxer, and celebrant, Matt Dalton, host Emmie’s memorial service.
“It was a no-brainer to ask him because he loved Emmie too,” says Kerry. “He was just brilliant. So funny and moving. I felt very strongly that the celebrant had to be somebody who knew Mum and Matt was perfect.
“We’ve been so well supported by our Gogglebox friends. They helped make a very hard day manageable.”
Fans were devastated when Kerry, Isabelle and Ruby were not invited to return to the show for its 22nd season in 2025.
And Kerry and Isabelle were equally as disappointed not to be part of the show. However, they haven’t ruled out returning, should they be invited back one day.
“If the door to Gogglebox or anything else opened, and we could be our authentic selves, we’d definitely be interested,” says Isabelle.
“There’s still a great need for women’s voices on TV– especially older women,” adds Kerry. “Mum was once the oldest woman on Aussie TV, and if we were to return, then I would be.”
Kerry was a fan of all the accomplished women on The Golden Bachelor, too.
“I’d love to do that show. Not so I could get the bachelor’s rose, but so I could hang out with all the amazing women,” she says with a laugh.
