Richard Wilkins gushes about fatherhood: 'I just love it when we're all together'
Richard Wilkins is a proud dad to five children.
The devoted father simply adores his kids and loves nothing more than spending time all together.
To celebrate Father's Day, the Nine Network Entertainment guru has opened up exclusively to 9Honey Parenting about the "great joy" of having a large brood.
Watch the video above.
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Richard Wilkins together with his five kids at his eldest daughter Becky's wedding Instagram
"Seeing everybody happy and together is my great joy," he reveals. "Oh, I just love it when we're all together. I love them interacting with each other."
His eldest son, Adam, now 49, was conceived when Wilkins was just 18-years-old and living in a small town in New Zealand.
"I was 18 when Adam was born and my girlfriend was 16," Wilkins reflects. "So we decided to get married in her parents' living room with my band as witnesses. She went into labour and a couple of days later we were told our son had Down's syndrome."
"Adam I described at the time as my rock, which he was. Suddenly life got pretty real."
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Richard with his two youngest children, Christian and Estella. Supplied
Wilkins also describes the special relationship he shares with his other children - Rebecca, 39, Nick, 37, Christian, 27, and Estella, 18.
"There are a few different mums involved," he shares. "But we never used the word half, we never used the word step, they all have their own relationships with each other."
"I love Christmas dinners. We've got a nice big dining table upstairs, we sit outdoors there, everybody's participating, everybody's running around, there's music playing dogs barking and kids and more grandkids are coming along."
Unfortunately, partly due to COVID-19, the family has not been together as much as he would like.
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Richard Wilkins with four of his five children Instagram
"The only time we've actually all been together was at Becky's wedding where she and James got married six years ago in Queenstown in New Zealand. But that's on our list".
The 68-year-old also reflects on the "little nuggets of advice" he has passed on to his kids that he learned from his own mum.
"She used to say things like 'Rich, if you always tell the truth, you never have to remember anything'.
"Just be a good decent person... and the good stuff comes back to you."