For the past eight years, Kevin Maloney has found fame on Travel Guides, alongside his wife Janetta Stones. The pair is known for their love of the finer things in life, including five-star accommodation, ritzy restaurants, and expensive wine!
But in addition to his TV fame, New Idea can reveal that Kevin, 66, has a secret past – as a very successful author!
In 2017, his book The Last Australian Childhood was published by New Holland Publishers. The book chronicled Kevin’s recollections about his free-range and “untethered” childhood. He grew up in suburban Melbourne in the 1960s and attended local Catholic schools.
“My book is an example of what life was like then,” Kevin has previously explained.
“My mother would send me out to play in the morning and tell me not to come home again until it got dark.”
He added: “It’s a collection of stories about family life, the food we ate, the clothes we wore, and the values we had then,” he says.
“Anyone can draw their own opinion on whether or not those values exist today.”
Kevin adds that his very personal book is written in the voice of a child, so it’s a “very easy read.” Sadly, Kevin lost his father when he was just 11, and his mother died when he was 17.
The book sold very well in Australia, with critics praising his heartfelt stories.
“Kevin’s memories are just so accurate, and this memoir was an absolute delight,” gushed one fan online.
Kevin has also enjoyed a long and successful career as a book ghost writer and travel journalist, and as a food critic. But now that he and Janetta, 72, who’ve been married for almost 40 years, are semi-retired, Kevin has all but put down his pen to spend almost six months each year travelling the world to film Travel Guides.
“We wouldn’t give it up for anything,” Kevin says.
But, if Kevin did feel like writing another book, a Travel Guides diary – that spills the beans on the secrets of the show – would almost certainly be a “guaranteed best-seller,” a TV insider tells New Idea.
“Kevin and Janetta have been on the show since the very beginning, and they’ve seen it all. Fans would love to read about what really goes on behind the scenes!”
