"It reminds me that I can do anything on my own. I was born alone, one day I will die alone.
"In between that I will mother alone. Someone may or may not stand next to me, but I mother alone.
"No love will ever come close to making you feel as strong as independence does.
"And if any new mums out there are feeling insecure while reading this please take my advice: You need nobody. Just yourself. Expect nothing of people. Be strong for your baby."
It’s tough to parent a large blended family – Sunny, 17, Zeyke, 14, Billie-Violet, 10, Arlo, 7, twins Rumi and Snow, 4, and one-year-old Raja.
It comes after she recently hit out at Denim online serve for "caveman" failure to pull his weight with childcare and daily chores around their home in Margaret River, WA.
Speaking to New Idea, she says sometimes they argue, “Because we both want to give our kids so much more than we can, and then turn on each other as a result. It’s so tricky it’s almost impossible, and that’s one area where the two of us really have challenges.”
But it’s the haters and cyberbullies who really make 35-year-old Constance mad, driving her to the brink of suicide after she announced her split from ex-husband Bill Mahon – father of Billie-Violet, Arlo, Rumi and Snow – in April 2017.
“At the end of the day, my children need me and that’s what kept me going, but I was looking at swallowing a bottle of pills and just getting out of here,” she admits, with the trademark honesty that makes her equally loved and loathed.
“I felt there was no other way out, no other way I could escape from the people who were out to get me.”
Busy relaunching her online fashion range and writing an ‘inspiring’ book – her fourth, after the success of Like a Queen – about the upside of divorce, Constance is still trying to juggle the ever-changing demands of work and family, with Denim by her side.
“I love what I do, I love being able to share my life’s journey, but I have to find a way to earn money all the time and support all those children! Because we have so many it can be extra hard,” she says.
“It’s just continuous – ‘I need this, do that’ – and of course you’re going to struggle, especially when your energy runs low."
"I don’t think there’s a system,” she laughs. “I think that’s where we, as mothers, go wrong. What works one day won’t work the next. You’ve got to be open to change, and that’s a really good lesson.
“We want everything to be perfect and set in stone, but that’s not how life is.”
Except, she reckons, for her 18-month marriage to carpenter Denim.
“We are a really strong team, me and him. It doesn’t feel like there’s a problem big enough ever to split us up – although he’s in a better mood when he’s building things, doing what he was born to do, instead of being thrown into my world of bitches online ...
“We will survive anything at all, I know that. Isn’t that right, Denim?” It’s impossible to hear his reply. There are too many children yelling in the background.
If you or someone you know needs support, help is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.
