Friends say the former golden couple’s marriage has been on the rocks a long time.

Kieren Perkins took off his wedding ring and walked out of his marriage three months ago, after years of trying to make the increasingly fractured relationship work for the sake of his children. Friends say drama has dogged the former golden couple for much of their 15-year marriage, with Kieren’s heavy work commitments and Symantha’s health problems finally taking their toll.

“Although they presented a happy face to the public, Kieren and Sam have had plenty to deal with in their relationship,” confirms one source close to the pair. “It always seemed another crisis was just around the corner, usually to do with Sam’s health. Kieren was used to soldiering on, but with problems always mounting at home, it was like living in a pressure cooker. The fairytale has been frayed around the edges for a while.”

Kieren, 38, moved out of their Brisbane home almost three months ago, but the split barely caused a ripple in the news pages, dominated as they were by the headline-grabbing antics of fellow Olympian Grant Hackett and his estranged wife, Candice Alley.

“It’s an awful thing, but you’ve got to take yourself out of it and recognise that our three children are all that matters and make them as comfortable as possible, and make sure we get through this as quickly as we can,” Kieren tells Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper. “Sam and I, right from the start, were always very committed to making sure that the kids came first.”

Read more about Kieren and Symantha’s sad split in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday June 11, 2012.

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Beyond brand Bingle, Lara insists she’s a misunderstood model simply finding her voice.

Most women would feel uncomfortable with people drawing comparisons between her and Kim Kardashian. But then, Lara Bingle isn’t most women. The 24-year-old, who shot to fame at just 17 in the now infamous “Where the bloody hell are you?” Australian tourism ads, is following in Kim’s footsteps, launching a reality TV career. And while Lara points out that, personality-wise, Kim is “very different to me”, she admits the lifestyle similarities are uncanny.

“I love clothes and creating things,” says Lara, adding, “She does have endorsements the same as me [and] a reality show.” And the parallels don’t end there. Just like Kim, Lara’s had her fair share of high-profile romances and embarrassing moments – from those nude photos to her recent court case for driving without a licence. “I’ve just made some bad [decisions], or had some bad advice,” she says sheepishly. “S**t follows me and it’s annoying sometimes, but I feel like it’s a good place now.”

It’s this disarming honesty and surprising self-awareness that may see Lara win herself some new fans. “The perception out there is nothing that I can change,” she says. “Doing this show… just being able to be me, and create my own [image] and control it on my own, and how I envision it to be [is a good thing].” And it’s not just Lara who is going under the microscope for the sake of entertainment. In true Kardashian style, she’s rolling out the whole Bingle bunch.

“It was a hard thing to ask as well, because I need them to do the show just as much as I need to do the show,” she says of her family’s involvement. “They are the worst critics. My mum and brother really put me in my place!” Lara admits she used the much-hyped Kardashian clan as an example before cameras started rolling on her own show.”

Read more about Lara’s life as Kim Kardashian in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday June 11, 2012.

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Chrissie Swan reveals how she was left devastated by the online bullies who ridiculed her and her family over her three-year-old son’s weight.

When Chrissie Swan posed for a photo shoot with her two young sons she had no idea it would spawn such fervent debate over her son’s weight and eating habits. With nine-month-old Kit on her knee, her elder son Leo peeking cheekily over her shoulder, it’s a candid moment between a mother and her sons.

But far from evoking the usual “oohs” and “aahs”, the photos garnered an ugly wave of opinion. “Wish it hadn’t turned out so yuck,” Chrissie tweeted after the images were released. She was, of course, not referring to the shoot itself, but the furore that followed. “When I saw how fat that kid was I was shocked and repelled. Truly runs close to child abuse,” sniped one critic. “The two fat kids are destined to an early grave by the looks of it. I wonder what their diet is?” said another.

But not everyone was on the attack. Many jumped to Chrissie’s defence, calling “bully” on the cruel comments. “I have watched in horror over the past few days as people have written the most insulting and cruel things about Chrissie and her beautiful sons Leo and Kit,” wrote Mamamia.com.au’s Rebecca Sparrow.

“If you are really feeling as good about yourselves as Chrissie obviously does about her own self, then you wouldn’t feel any need to be so judgmental about her or her family,” wrote another supporter. The scandal gained momentum when Chrissie bravely recounted in her Sunday Life column the moment she realised that Leo, 3, was overweight. “Last month he had a check-up with the maternal health nurse, and that was when the news of his extra seven kilos was broken,” Chrissie wrote.

Read more about Chrissie and what other experts say about her son in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday June 11, 2012.

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Brad and Ange are clashing over troubled Pax.

For years, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been the poster parents for modern families. Until now. Friends have revealed that Pax, the second-eldest at age eight, has behavioural issues, which may stem from his early years in a Ho Chi Minh City orphanage.

Brad and Ange are now reportedly clashing over how to handle him. “Pax is somewhat of a challenging child,” an insider tells Woman’s Day. And the one bearing the brunt of the problem is his studious brother, Maddox.

“Pax has been taking out his frustrations on him, culminating in ripping up a science project Madd had put together on the solar system,” says our source. “Pax and Maddox’s fights at times escalate into physical ones, which Ange won’t tolerate,” says a close friend of the couple. “But she doesn’t like discipline, so she just separates them.”

This sort of reaction has Brad tearing his hair out. “Brad’s upset with Angie – he accuses her of appearing to treat Maddox as her favourite, leaving Pax feeling excluded,” claims a source. “Angie frequently takes Maddox on solo mother-son bonding sessions, but leaves Brad to deal with Pax. Pax gets sad because he’s left to play with Zahara and Shiloh… But the truth is he’s not often chosen for excursions due to his behaviour.”

Read more about Brad and Ange’s clash in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday June 11, 2012.

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While some celebrities, including Eva Mendes, openly express their love for food, Jada Pinkett Smith isn’t one of them.

The 40-year-old, who is married to Will Smith, revealed the secret to her slim waistline in Essence magazine.

“I don’t eat for pleasure,” she said. “[I] had the only West Indian grandmother that could not cook,” she said.

“She was an awful cook, and she taught me that you don’t eat for taste, you eat for nourishment.

“And I have kept that over the years, so I can eat anything that’s healthy.”

Although she occasionally treats herself to chips and pizza, Jada’s diet is very health conscience.

“I eat for my schedule so I have to eat high-protein, lots of greens and healthy carbs so that I don’t fall flat on my face,” she said.

And it seems her busy schedule is about to get busier with the mum of three, including Willow, 11, and Jaden, 13 and her step son Trey Smith, 20, about to star in a movie with her husband.

“He can’t wait. He was like, ‘You and me, next.’ I was like, ‘Let’s do it’.”

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