Tammy Hembrow built a $50 million empire - but her success came at a price

Exclusive: Tammy Hembrow has amassed an impressive fortune upwards of $50million, but the gloss of influencer fame in the spotlight comes with a hidden toll she tries to keep off-camera.

“There’s been times when I want to break down,” Hembrow, 32, admits to nine.com.au about the highs and lows of life in the public eye.

“Or I want to say things I shouldn’t [in response to negative articles], or… yep, I’m breaking down.”

From a public divorce and relationship rumours to scrutiny over everything from her hair extensions to the financial health of her businesses, Hembrow has weathered it all under the sometimes unforgiving glare of the public eye.

Navigating the fallout has become a balancing act; sometimes she chooses to respond publicly, but other times she retreats into silence.

“I’m OK with having speculation about my life. That’s fine, speculate as much as you want,” she says.

“Sometimes, there’s a hint of truth. But sometimes it’s completely false… so it’s funny to also watch from the side and let them make their guesses about it.”

Behind the scenes, Hembrow credits her sisters Amy and Emilee Hembrow, who she co-founded her supplement brand with, for getting her by. She calls them her “rock”.

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“My sisters are like, ‘You’re stronger than this’. They always give me their little confidence pep talk. But it’s definitely hard sometimes.”

Nowadays, the Gold Coast-based influencer boasts 16 million Instagram followers, runs her Tammy Fit app and fitness program and has even written a book. She ran a fitness brand, The Saski Collection, but made the decision to close it in 2025 after eight years.

Hembrow was actually one of the very first influencers, who started posting about her life back in 2014 at the age of 19, just as influencing was becoming a ‘thing’.

“It’s so crazy to me. Now, it’s a thing for everyone to do. Back then, that was just me sharing my life,” she says.

Hembrow has done all this while being a devoted mother to three; Wolf, Saskia and Posy. Looking back now, she describes her journey as “surreal”.

“I see some people posting and doing this, that or the other and I’m like, ‘Wow, I really was one of the first to do it’,” she says with a chuckle.

“It’s so interesting to think about and reflect back on.”

Hembrow says now her children are old enough to know what she does for a living, they sometimes all get recognised while out and about in public.

“They don’t mind it at all. They think it’s funny. They’re like half embarrassed, half [you’re a ] cool mum,” she says about her kids.

On that note, she shares her best advice when it comes to business.

“Do not listen to anyone else around you. It does not matter. What matters is what you think and what you say,” she says for any budding influencers and entrepreneurs.

She’s now appearing on Nine’s new Shark! show, where some of Australia’s biggest names swim with sharks.

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“I’m at a point in my life where I’m just wanting to have really big experiences and live life in the moment - this is what life is kind of about for me right now,” she says.

“I still have a normal fear of these things… but I feel like maybe as well, I’ve been through so many things, not much can scare me now.”

“And if it does scare me, if I can overcome it - it’s a good thing.”

As for the future, Hembrow says she has her eyes on more TV work.

“Even just hosting and things like that would be fun,” she says.

Above all, when asked what she wants fans and followers to know about her, she says that despite her profile, fame, and influencer status, that she’s a “real human”.

“We’re all so multifaceted, there’s so many different sides to any human,” she says.

“We have our happy side, sad side, we’re going through something, we’re going through a good thing.

“There’s so many different sides and I feel like it’s something that people forget; not everything’s happy, not everything’s sad, not everything’s how it seems, like it’s a very complex thing.

“Humans are complex and I feel like people forget that.”