The Merry Wives of Derryn: the women who loved the brash TV journalist

In the colourful life of Australian journalist Derryn Hinch, the so-called “human headline” was known for fiery opinions, his long career in newspaper and radio, a foray into politics and his crusade against sex offenders. He was also mercilessly satirised by lawyer-turned-comedian Steve Vizard, as “Derryn Hunch”.

But one notable quality about the way he lived his life is that Hinch, who died this week, aged 82, was always surrounded by intelligent, complex and beautiful women. Actor Jacki Weaver, to whom he was married between 1983 and 1998, gave my colleague, Garry Maddox, this brief message after Hinch’s passing: “Very sad. We shall not see his like again.”

That brief reflection is the tip of an iceberg, an unspoken essay about both the man, and his complexity, and the way he moved through the world. Like many journalists of his era, he was something of a crusader. He had high morals, and he was unafraid of fighting for justice. He moved through a room with magnetic charm. And, clearly, he had an eye for a beautiful woman.

Hinch’s first marriage was to journalist Lana Wells in 1965. It lasted just five years; the couple divorced in 1970. His second marriage, to Eve Carpenter in 1972, lasted eight years; they split in 1980. Hinch was later married to Chanel Hayton between 2006 and 2012, and following his divorce, was in a two-year relationship with former NSW police sergeant Natasha Chadwick, until 2015.

But in the longer arc of his life, there are two women who dominated his private world, and in very public headlines: Weaver, with whom even separation and later divorce never quite seemed to dim the candle of affection, and actor and animal rights advocate Lynda Stoner, with whom he had a four-year relationship (1979-1982), and a Hollywood romcom-style sequel when it was rekindled in 2016.

Those two relationships were played out in the full glare of the media spotlight, largely because the two women enjoyed careers which were, at various times, far more prominent than his. Weaver is one of Australia’s finest actors, Oscar-nominated and with a Hollywood pedigree. And Stoner, at the height of her fame, was one of Australia’s biggest TV stars, a headliner in hit series such as The Young Doctors and Cop Shop.

In an interview in 1991, Weaver said this of Hinch: “Derryn is terribly tender-hearted. He never bears a grudge. He can’t understand other people who do. He’ll say something dreadful about someone or do something dreadful to someone on air, and then a year later, he’ll go up and speak to them and can’t understand why they don’t want to know him.”

Weaver described it as “a kind of newspaper thing; he’s been in newspaper offices since he was 14, where every newspaper is brand new and fresh and there’s nothing older than yesterday’s news, and that’s how Derryn thinks. One of the nicest things about each other, and it’s something that would drive a lot of people insane, is that we both wake up in the morning all chirpy and happy”.

Their marriage was so joyful, they did it twice, renewing their vows, before ultimately divorcing. But what made their relationship so fascinating to the wider culture in Australia, was the affection and tenderness that remained in its wake. Their post-divorce friendship was on display for all to see.

Writing in her memoir, Much Love, Jac, Weaver wrote this of their first encounter: “Countless magazine and newspaper articles over 24 years have bleated: how can she love him? Why? Many women have loved Hinch, and many women still love him and they understand. The corny but unavoidable truth is that I fell for him totally on our first date – a Melbourne Football Club function, of all things, surrounded by Aussie rules officials at a fundraising dinner.”

Talking about his relationship with Weaver to Good Weekend columnist Benjamin Law in 2024, Hinch said: “I’m a bit of a mush bucket and I like being in love, I like committing to somebody.” And asked by Law what he brought to his relationships, Hinch said: “I hope a sense of humour. And people seem to enjoy my kisses.”

Years later, when Hinch and Weaver re-met for a television interview, in a charming off-the-cuff moment, Hinch asked her: “Why did we break up again?” In an unsurprising display of her charm and wit, Weaver replied without hesitation: “Because I ran off with another man, and I’m sorry, but he was lovely.”

Hinch’s relationship with Stoner was quite different, but no less passionate. Their story was one of a love abandoned and rekindled. The couple had dated for several years in the early 1980s, prior to his marriage to Weaver, and the relationship was covered extensively by the media, from The Daily Telegraph to TV Week. Ultimately, however, they called off their engagement.

Then, in 2016, they reconnected in Canberra and rekindled the romance. “I am proud of [Lynda],” Hinch told journalist Fiona Byrne. “We are so comfortable with each other because we have known each other for so long, and you know the strengths and the weaknesses.”

And like a strange sort of Shakespearean company – The Merry Wives of Derryn, so to speak – the thing that seemed to please Hinch the most is that everybody got along. “Luckily, Lynda has a sense of humour and so has Jacki because they are great friends and love each other,” Hinch told Byrne.

As ever, the tender-hearted man, as Weaver recalled, who could never bear to bear a grudge.

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