‘Wild’: How Magda Szubanski changed David Campbell’s life with six words

There’s no doubting the power of Magda Szubanski. From raising giggles as the inimitable Sharon Strzelecki in Kath & Kim to inspiring change as a campaigner for same sex marriage, and breaking hearts as she endured her own gruelling battle with aggressive blood cancer, the beloved star has very much taken Australians with her on the ride of life.

And for Aussie entertainer David Campbell, Magda holds a very special place in his heart – because without her, his own “wild” love story would never have happened.

Now, in a new interview, David and his wife Lisa have revealed how Magda “conspired” to bring them together, and how a six-word statement from the comedian led Lisa to up-end her world for good.

David and Magda were working together on a musical called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in Melbourne in 2006 when the stars aligned to alter the course of David’s life.

David – the eldest son of music legend Jimmy Barnes – told The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories podcast that he had become a bit “isolated” and a “bit jaded” before he met the woman who would become his wife.  

“I had gone through a real stage of not really liking myself,” he told the show. “My energy was really bad, and yet Lisa came along and changed everything. It felt like the light had come into my life , which was missing. And it was something that was really profound. ”

And yet it was a shift that almost didn’t happen. 

Lisa Hewitt, an actress, had just landed in Melbourne to perform in a stage production of An Inspector Calls, when she spotted a poster of Magda on her journey from the airport.

Being “obsessed” with the star’s Kath & Kim character at the time, she vowed to go and see the stage show she was in – and moving in the same theatre circles, she and her fellow cast got to meet the woman herself.

That’s when Magda invited her own co-star David to come and say hello.

“I popped past on my way home and said ‘hi’, and sat down for a quick minute for a drink and then left,” David recalls on Love Stories.

He didn’t think much more of the interaction, but in hindsight he and Lisa agree that’s when Magda started “conspiring” to get them together.

It was a tradition in musical theatre at the time to host what the cast called “thirsty Thursdays” – where one cast member would have others in their dressing room for drinks.

The next time such an event occurred in David’s room, Lisa walked in.

“I remember us talking and you were wearing a white singlet and a denim blue dress, and I remember us laughing and how funny she was and she was making me laugh,” David reflected on Love Stories. 

“And this is silly but she was getting all my references which was really exciting to me because I can be quite obscure with my references. And I was really taken aback and very smitten.”

A couple of days later, Lisa went to see the play he and Magda co-starred in. She sat in the front row, and – with Magda’s help – David and Lisa spent the next couple of weeks “together all the time”.

Lisa admitted Magda was “pushing” the pair together. 

“We’d go out for dinner and she’d make sure we were sat next to each other,” she told Love Stories. “This is what she wanted to happen.”

With Magda playing David and Lisa’s “personal cupid”, the pair looked set to be a perfect match. However, after knowing David for just three weeks, Lisa had to return home to the UK, putting a huge spanner in the works.

It led Lisa to reach out to Magda with a sad confession.

“I emailed her and just said ‘you know, that was pleasant but it’s unrealistic because I could not live further away from this man,” Lisa recalled. “That was nice while it lasted but this isn’t going to be’.

“And she emailed me back and said, ‘I will not take this ‘I’ll accept the crumbs of love’ bulls**t from you,” Lisa reminisced, before revealing the six candid words that changed everything.

“This is a moment of rarity,” Magda told her. “You have to fight for this.”

And she did.

Despite not having friends or family in Australia, six weeks later Lisa made the huge move to Sydney to be with David, and a “you’re only young once” attitude.

Today, the couple has been married 17 years and are proud parents to three children, a boy Leo, and twins Billy and Betty.

“It seems wild when we talk about it now,” David reflected, crediting the success of their fledgling relationship to therapy the pair went through together which led to them learning how to communicate effectively.

“Not for a single second do I regret it,” Lisa added of the pair’s beautiful bond. “Even now… I still feel that this is a whirlwind romance…”

As for Magda, she remains extremely close to the family and is godmother to David and Lisa’s daughter Betty.

“I couldn’t wish for a better example,” David said of the heartfelt move.