29 years ago, Nicky Buckley’s ‘bump’ sent Australia into meltdown - this is how she feels about it now

Nicky Buckley never set out to be at the centre of a great Australian debate, but that’s exactly what happened – all because she turned up to work.

In 1997, Buckley’s decision to continue working as co-host of Sale of the Century during her first pregnancy caused a firestorm of debate, especially as she continued to wear gowns that showcased her growing bump.

Now 60, Buckley was impressed by her calm demeanour throughout the intense scrutiny.

“I must have had pretty good hormones going on because everything was like water off a duck’s back to me,” she told nine.com.au.

“If that kind of scrutiny was happening to me now in menopause, I don’t know that I could deal with it as well,” she added with a laugh.

Despite all the outside noise at the time, Buckley said she never second guessed her decision to keep working.

“I thought, ‘No, I have a mortgage and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to work.’ Towards the end, people started making outfits for me because they realised they were getting great exposure,” she said.

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“It just didn’t bother me that much. They actually broke the Channel Nine fax machine with the volume of faxes coming through; it completely jammed it. A Current Affair ran a story on it and radio stations ran polls on it. It was crazy, but I was just going to work.”

Unsurprisingly, Buckley considers that experience on Sale of the Century as one of the most defining of her varied career, as well as getting out of her comfort zone as host of Talk to the Animals and evolving as an MC.

After another on-screen pregnancy and despite high ratings, Buckley was let go from Sale in 1999.

“I was a bit like, ‘Oh, really?’ But at the same time, I was so grateful for how long I’d been there. I was the longest-standing co-host on that show by far,” Buckley recalled.

“In my mind, I’m very practical and I just go, “You know what? It’s meant to be. Time’s up, and onto whatever’s next,’” she recalled.

As such, it’s not something she looks back on much – but she’s very pleased that times have changed.

“I did say to my girlfriend, speaking of a job I did probably two weeks ago in Geelong, a big opening where I MC’d along with Aaron Finch, the ex-cricketer and cricket commentator,” she said.

“He’s not 40 yet, and I’m 60. I laughed to my girlfriend and said, ‘This is hysterical. I’m 20 years older than him and we’re MCing together.’ It’s a turn of events, which I love.”

While she’s learning to “enjoy quiet times”, Buckley said she couldn’t help but love being busy – whether that meant MCing, content creation on social media, walking runways at Melbourne Fashion Festival or jumping in the car for a weeks-long golfing road trip.

“I’ve always worked hard to reinvent myself when one door closes. I try to work with the times and keep up with changes just to be busy, not so much to be relevant,” she said.

That even led to a surprising new passion.

“I remember coming home from Melbourne in the car one day, and I had more time on my hands. I thought, ‘Oh god, I feel like I’m wasting my life, what can I do?’” she explained.

“I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll learn the drums.’ Then I thought, ‘Oh, don’t be silly, you’re too old for that.’ Then, ‘No, I’m not!’

“So I started doing that and it was just fun, fun, fun. Now we’ve got a little band going, which is great … I’m always open to challenges, and sometimes you don’t even know that there’s something out there that you want to do until the opportunity presents itself.”

Therefore, Buckley wasn’t sure exactly what challenge was next – just that there would surely be something.

“I’m open to the universe like that. Maybe 12 months down the track you’ll go, “Aha!” she said. “She didn’t know that one was coming!”