Ellidy Pullin on her first year as a solo mother

Model and influencer Ellidy Pullin knows all too well that personal tragedy won’t protect you, as a mother, from the judgment of others.

“One woman said, ‘That is the loudest baby I’ve ever heard’,” says Pullin about her eight-month-old daughter Minnie, with a chuckle. This was the other day, when the pair were on a long flight to Greece and Minnie screamed hard for a while.

“Do you know what she also proceeded to say? ‘That baby over there’” – Pullin motions with one hand to mimic the woman pointing to a baby in another row – “‘Is an angel.’”

Pullin is reclining on a white sofa while speaking over a video call from Greece as she recalls the incident, which she now laughs off. It’s what she usually does, she says. “Honestly, I’m pretty calm most of the time,” says the model. She was rocketed into the public sphere nearly two years ago when her partner, three-time Olympian snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, died in a spearfishing accident in Queensland.

At other times though, when people are making a fuss over something small, she can’t help but feel a storm raging inside. “I’m a little bit like, [thinking] ‘Do you want me to tell you what we’ve been through? F–ck, you’ve got no idea. This isn’t a problem. If you want a problem, I’ll give you a problem.’”

Because at 29, Pullin, who co-hosts the popular podcast Darling, Shine! with best friend and influencer Chloe Fisher, hasn’t just lost her partner. One month after Chumpy died, Pullin’s father Peter was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer. He died in January.

“A lot of people look at her [Minnie], and are a bit like, sad face,” says Pullin, making a grimace. “Don’t do that to my kid. I don’t want to bring her up on sadness and grief. She didn’t lose Chump. We lost Chump. She never had him to lose him… She doesn’t feel the hole in her hearts that we do,” she says, referring to her family and Chumpy’s family and friends. “Obviously, she’s growing up with one parent, but I don’t want us to project our grief onto her. I don’t want her brought up on our shit.”

“She’s a miracle,” adds Pullin, of Minnie – full name Minnie Alex Pullin – who was conceived through IVF with sperm retrieved from Chumpy shortly after he died.