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Rebecca Gibney put her struggle plainly: “I have stopped fully living in the present and I need to reconnect with my hubby, my dogs and myself,” she told her 250,000 Instagram followers as April dawned.
They were candid words from the star whose straight-talking approach to life and ageing on social media has resonated with millions.
But, in truth, the past couple of years have been gruelling for the former Packed to the Rafters star turned Millionaire Hot Seat host.
“I’m a glass half-full person and I do feel incredibly grateful for everything that I’ve got,” Rebecca told The Australian Women’s Weekly in a March interview.
“The downside of that is I’m not very good at saying no. I can sometimes work myself into the ground.”
It was some “major struggles” she experienced after an appearance on Dancing with the Stars in 2025 that finally led to Rebecca receiving an ADHD diagnosis at the age of 61.
And yet while the diagnosis “answered a lot of questions” for the star, sharing the news with fans has come with its own challenges.
“Alas there has also been a little backlash so I just wanted to say to the people that responded with ‘ get over it’ , ‘it’s not cancer’ , stop jumping on the bandwagon’ and ‘nobody cares’ – just a wee word of advice. If you don’t know the full story of someone’s life – please don’t make assumptions or fire off petty comments,” Rebecca told her followers as she announced she was taking a hiatus from social media.
“I have lived most of my life misdiagnosed with severe anxiety (45 years of it), I was raised in a home with extreme domestic violence and I have suffered depression so to tell someone to ‘get over it ‘ is really not helpful. I share my story so that it may encourage others who might be struggling to know they are not alone,” she added.
Indeed, an insider now tells Woman’s Day that Rebecca is going through a “kind of metamorphosis” now she’s aware she has ADHD.
“The diagnosis was a blessing in disguise as it helped make a sense of so much – it was like a weight being lifted,” the source said, adding that it had also helped Rebecca’s husband Richard Bell “understand a lot more about her quirks”.
It’s understood that it was Richard who encouraged Rebecca to take a break from social media when she realised she had been “spending way too much time” staring at her phone, where the source said she “let the trolls get to her”.
“Rebecca prides herself on being a survivor – and she’s done a lot of self-work rebuilding from the horrors of her past, but Richard can’t bear to see her confidence falter over a troll online,” the insider explained.
“Rebecca worked so hard to let only trusted loved ones into her world, so why not do it online?”
The source said that Rebecca would “be back” in due course but that for now she was “getting away from negative scenes and focusing on family”.
“She and Richard have been on long dog walks and now talking about a new veggie bed in the garden,” the insider added.
“They thrive in the outdoors and turning off the screens has revived them after a tough year. They’ve started laughing together again.”
