For most of us, neighbourly interactions amount to nothing more than the odd “morning!” as we roll out the bins. If we’re lucky, maybe we’re close enough to pop over to borrow a cup of sugar or maybe even share a cheeky Friday wine.
But for Perth girl turned The Real Housewives Of Sydney star Martine Chippendale, her friendship with Victoria Montano amounted to much, much more: a starring role on one of the country’s most talked about television programs.
“My neighbour Victoria was on the (previous season) and she asked me if I was interested,” says Chippendale, who is chatting to STM from her luxurious harbourside home.
It’s the same Darling Point property that featured in the first episode of the new season, in which Chippendale is seen standing out on her balcony beneath a stylish pink parasol, chatting by phone to friend Montano, who is a stone’s throw away, looking back at her from the balcony of her own luxury abode.
It’s quite the introduction, and not a set up: they really do live that close to one another. And they really can see one another from their homes.
“I was always walking my pug, and she was always out running and we literally met on our street and (found out) we live three or so houses down from each other in a cul de sac,” Chippendale says.
Montano made her debut on Real Housewives back in 2017. When the series got the green light for a third season, producers asked existing cast members if they knew anyone who may be a good fit.
“I don’t know how other reality shows work, but I do think they probably have a more open casting,” Chippendale says.
“Housewives is not like that. I don’t believe it is advertised anywhere, and you can’t just apply; you have to be essentially referred by someone.”
For Chippendale, that person was Montano. What followed was a rigorous audition process.
“You do group casting with other potentials in the studio and then they throw a bunch of questions at you and see how you handle them,” she explains.
“So you actually go through several stages, and I guess they come up with who they think will work, and they offer it to you.
“Actually, it’s more like they tell you, like: ‘Congrats! You are now a Housewife.’ And you just go, OK!”
Chippendale now finds herself teetering on the cusp of that certain type of notoriety that comes with being a “housewife”; another impossibly rich and glamorous cast member on one of the most iconic TV franchises in the world.
Appearing in STM has a full-circle feeling about it; she appeared on the cover as a model back in the early days of the magazine.
When she saw STM on her interview list, she “went into my memory box . . . I pulled it out and it was in 2005”. Now she’s back in these pages but this time as a star on a hit TV series, “and I love that,” she laughs.
Though Chippendale appears the epitome of elegant glamazon on the show — her two-hour nightly skincare routine becomes the stuff of legend — after chatting to the 41-year-old mother of two, it’s clear there’s much more to her.
Raised in the southern suburbs of Perth, she studied psychology at UWA. A suggestion that those skills might be handy on the Housewives set draws a chuckle.
“Well, look, I am not a registered psychologist, so I am not qualified to actually diagnose anyone,” she clarifies diplomatically, before explaining she was working in human resources when she relocated to Sydney 12 years ago.
Aged 30 and with a successful career, she was after a change in pace. She packed three suitcases and flew east, with no job and no idea where she might land. Fast forward and you could say the answer is, on her feet.
Chippendale met her now-husband, retired investment banker John Wilson, a man 19 years her senior, two years after her move— the couple now share two small children.
“As you will see in the show, I like to say if it’s good enough for Amal Clooney, it’s good enough for me, because me and Amal have that same age gap (with our partners),” she jokes.
Chippendale met her husband on the street after both were leaving work lunches.
“He walked past me, looked back, then he circled back and gave me his card,” she says.
“He said, ‘I would like to take you to lunch’ and eventually when we had this lunch, it went for three hours.
“And there you go.”
It’s something of a fairytale; a point the show eludes to with Chippendale’s tagline during that famous opening credits sequence.
Hers reads: “My life is a fairytale, but this princess does NOT need saving.” Did she have a say in this?
“We get input and they suggest some, but really, you can say anything and you can come up with it together with production,” she says. “I am very happy with mine!”
Chippendale has taken a step back from her career in HR to raise the couple’s children. It was a big leap of faith to sign up for a show like Housewives, which involves exposing herself — and her family — to all that comes with it.
Though it is stressful at times — this season has some explosive confrontations and right from episode one the sparks are flying — Chippendale has no regrets and her family’s support is unwavering.
“(My husband) knew I would handle myself elegantly, and that I could handle myself in any situation, and that I would make my family proud,” she says.
“He has also seen the episodes and he’s thrilled. I think everyone is excited.
“It’s been amazing, actually — since it’s been announced (that she was cast), I have heard from so many people in Western Australia that I haven’t seen since uni, or since working, and they are all excited. Some of my old bosses, who probably don’t watch anything except SBS, have said they have signed up to (streamer) Binge, so the support has been amazing.”
As for her Perth past, Chippendale says this it has equipped her beautifully.
“Claremont is just a mini eastern suburbs — a little Double Bay,” she says, comparing her old Perth stomping ground with the ritzy Sydney hot spots she now calls home.
“It’s almost like Perth was the mini (version) of my life now; we would go out in Claremont on a Thursday night, then the weekend would be Subiaco, and Sunday would be Cottesloe, and all those areas are like the eastern suburbs of Sydney in their mini form.”
Now her days in the well-heeled Golden Triangle have left her well-armed to take whatever those Sydney Housewives have to throw at her. And if that first episode is anything to go by, that could be a lot.
“I expected (filming) to be challenging, but it was definitely a little bit harder than I thought,” she admits.
“People ask me was it fun, and I don’t know if I would use the word ‘fun’, but I do think it was the experience of a lifetime.
“It’s a bit like childbirth: when it’s happening to you, you’re going, ‘What am I doing? Why am I doing this?’
“But when it’s finished, you’re like, oh, that wasn’t that bad!”