The Curry-Kenny clan, one of Australia’s most famous families, spent 40 years in the spotlight before having to break the news their beloved firstborn had died.
Ever since Lisa Curry and Grant Kenny began to dominate Australia’s sporting scene in the late 1970s, the golden couple found themselves under a spotlight they knew they were never going to shake.
Throughout the past 40 years, the couple embraced their time in the limelight, turning their fame and the lifestyle millions of Aussies aspired to into a multimillion-dollar empire.
But on Monday night, the former couple were forced to step into the spotlight again, sharing news no parent ever wants to deliver.
In a joint statement on Monday, Ms Curry and Mr Kenny revealed their beloved oldest daughter Jaimi had died in hospital that morning.
Jaimi, 33, had “lost her battle with a long-term illness and passed away peacefully in hospital this morning in the company of loving family”.
RELATED: Family and friends pay tribute to Jaimi
Jaimi Kenny (right) with her mum and two siblings Jett and Morgan.Source:Supplied
News.com.au understands the 33-year-old had been receiving treatment for an eating disorder for years at Sunshine Coast private clinic End ED.
In a heartbreaking Instagram post the next morning, Ms Curry said she could “barely breathe” after losing Jaimi.
“Our hearts are broken and the pain is unbearable but we cherish every wonderful moment we got to share with our treasured and so loved first child,” Ms Curry said on Instagram.
In the years before Jaimi was born, in June 1987, Ms Curry and Mr Kenny were regarded as one of Australia’s most famous couples.
Their beachside lifestyle, constant drive to succeed and athletic prowess elevated the couple to a level of fame not really seen in Australia today.
Their fame was so intense the couple even had to hire police to control the crowds at their 1986 wedding.
Grant Kenny and Lisa Curry at their wedding in April 1986. Picture: News LimitedSource:News Corp Australia
A year later Jaimi was born, with media already dubbing her Australia’s next athletic star and a “water baby”.
“She can do what ever she wants and is welcome to participate in any sport at all,” Mr Kenny said just hours after Jaimi’s birth.
“And if she doesn’t want to take part in any sport, then that’s fine with us.”
While Ms Curry was only 24 when she gave birth to Jaimi, she was quickly back in the pool, making what some regard as the most remarkable comeback in Australian swimming history.
At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, Ms Curry won four gold medals and one silver and hit personal bests in all her races.
Jaimi, then two years old and sitting in her mum’s arms, made headlines at the games when she declared: “Mummy, you’re a freak.”
Lisa Curry with Jaimi after winning gold in the 100m butterfly in Auckland. Picture: Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
It was after the Auckland Games that Ms Curry became known as Australia’s “supermum”, starring in dozens of commercials and occasionally sharing the spotlight with blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jaimi.
Four years later, the Curry-Kenny clan grew by one more when Lisa gave birth to a daughter Morgan, who danced for the Moulin Rouge in Paris at the age of 20.
And four years after that, the couple rounded out their family with a son named Jett, who has gone on to become an Ironman, model and TV personality.
The family went from success to success, applying their enviable work ethic to business and building their brand.
When their 23-year marriage ended in 2009, their company the Curry-Kenny group was valued at almost $80 million and included a popular clothing brand, numerous lifestyle products and a successful aviation group.
Curry Kenny Aviation was later sold for a reported $70 million.
At its peak, in 1999, the Curry-Kenny development company was responsible for a series of multimillion-dollar projects from Noosa to Alexandra Headland.
“People see us being successful but they don’t realise it’s through hard work, not luck,” Ms Curry said in 1999.
“We had no formal training in pretty much anything we did, and we realised pretty early in life that we weren’t going to be earning money from endorsements for very long,’’ Mr Kenny said a year later.
“The decision to be involved in business was a conscious one, but the evolution from that to what we’re doing now was just based on opportunities.”
And their drive for success spread to their kids.
By the age of 14, Jaimi was competing in national swimming competitions, telling media she wanted to “compete for Australia one day”.
Jaimi, then 14, with her mum at Sydney Aquatic Centre in April 2002. Picture: Mark EvansSource:News Corp Australia
Three months later, she earned fourth place at nationals in the 100m breaststroke after only a year of serious training.
“I found a video one day of Mum racing — I watched it over and over again,’’ Jaimi said after the race.
“They were all different races from when she was about 20 to 30. I knew after watching the video I wanted to swim seriously too.
“It’s good having Mum (to support me) because she knows what she is talking about. She knows how it feels to train and to race.
“I don’t worry about our family name. I’m just like any other swimmer only I haven’t done as much work as some others just yet.”
Jett was also successful athletically, competing in Ironman competitions, just like his dad, by his early 20s.
“Growing up in the younger ages of surf lifesaving, it was definitely an advantage having my genetics and I’d say it still is,” Jett told The Courier-Mail in 2018.
“There’s no denying that … (but) I definitely understand that hard work needs to be put in.”https://www.instagram.com/p/B6nASA3BQs7/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12&wp=1280&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au&rp=%2Fsport%2Fsports-life%2Fjaimi-kenny-dead-inside-the-guarded-lives-of-the-currykenny-family%2Fnews-story%2Fd3d801d6ddb541316596eb5605cb59aa#%7B%22ci%22%3A2%2C%22os%22%3A5333.374999998341%7D
Mr Kenny, according to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame is regarded as the best surf lifesaver of all time after he famously won the junior and senior Ironman titles in 1980 at the age of 16.
Four years later, Grant won the bronze in kayaking at the 1984 Olympics.
And Morgan, the couple’s middle child, earned a spot in the prestigious Moulin Rouge chorus in Paris only three years after she started dance lessons.https://www.instagram.com/p/CCnzB3ChmFJ/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12&wp=1280&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au&rp=%2Fsport%2Fsports-life%2Fjaimi-kenny-dead-inside-the-guarded-lives-of-the-currykenny-family%2Fnews-story%2Fd3d801d6ddb541316596eb5605cb59aa#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A5302.239999999074%7D
But the pressure of fame and the effect the spotlight could have on Ms Curry’s kids always seemed to be at the forefront of her mind.
“You do get more security conscious, especially when you have children,” Ms Curry said when Jaimi was still a toddler in the late 1980s.
“Jaimi is pretty recognisable with her blue eyes and blonde hair, and we have had a couple of incidents we would prefer not to have had.
“It’s just not necessary to have her (Jaimi) involved in the publicity.”
And as recently as May this year, Ms Curry spoke about her kids growing up in public life again.
“Growing up in a public life, obviously has its ups and downs, the kids get drawn into that,” Ms Curry told the Sunshine Coast Daily.
“We have discussed the ups and downs of public life, but we are very private as well … we are guarded in what we say and do.”
The three kids only occasionally spoke about feeling the pressure of fame.
Jett told The Courier-Mail he first felt the sting of public scrutiny when he was 11 at a state surf carnival that had to be cancelled due to bad weather.
“The next day there was a photo on the back pages of the paper of me with mum and dad walking out of the beach and I was crying – I was crying because I wanted to keep going, not for any other reason,” Jett said.
“When you’re that age, you’re wondering, ‘Why am I in the paper?’ I don’t think I could understand why it was me and why they (the photographers) would do that.”
The Curry-Kenny family at Morgan’s wedding.Source:Supplied
Jaimi had also been getting help for “troubles”, including anxiety, since the age of 14.
Ms Curry retired from swimming in 1992 and competed surf boat rowing and world championship outrigger canoeing before doctors diagnosed her with a potentially deadly heart condition in 2008 and ordered her to slow down.
She was also fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) – a pacemaker and defibrillator in one that detects abnormal heart rhythms and delivers a shock to restore normal heartbeat — and arrived home from hospital, flanked by Mr Kenny and Jaimi.
Lisa Curry arriving home from hospital with Grant and Jaimi.Source:News Limited
Ms Curry and Mr Kenny officially divorced in 2017, to allow Lisa to marry her partner Mark Tabone.
Jett walked his mum down the aisle when they married in May 2018 in a small and intimate ceremony at their Sunshine Coast property.
Mr Tabone, best known for being an Elvis impersonator, also does Lisa’s hair after spending two decades as a hairdresser.
Mr Kenny also moved on following their separation.
Dubbed the “worst kept secret in showbiz”, Mr Kenny had a brief relationship with radio star Fifi Box before she gave birth to a girl named Trixie in April 2013.
Box confirmed Trixie’s paternity in April 2016 when she posted photos of Mr Kenny in a jumping castle with the three-year-old to celebrate her birthday.
“Dad sees (Trixie) quite a fair bit – whenever he is travelling he’ll usually go in from Europe, into Melbourne to see her,” Jett said in 2018.
“He’s there a fair bit and has a lot to do with her. I don’t get to Melbourne all that often but when I’m down, I’ll catch up and see her every now and again.”
And their blended family always seems to have worked.
Jaimi was often photographed babysitting Box’s daughter and her half-sister over the years, lovingly taking care of the youngster.https://www.instagram.com/p/BQZ9rfqFKpB/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12&wp=1280&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au&rp=%2Fsport%2Fsports-life%2Fjaimi-kenny-dead-inside-the-guarded-lives-of-the-currykenny-family%2Fnews-story%2Fd3d801d6ddb541316596eb5605cb59aa#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A5198.339999999007%7D
Hundreds of friends and family continue to pay tribute to Jaimi following her death on Monday.
In a deeply personal tribute, brother Jett said “I may not have been the best brother to you all the time, I know you thought you weren’t being the big sister I needed all the time, but I do know we loved one another unconditionally all the time”.
And Morgan admitted “it still doesn’t feel real that you are not here”.
“I am grateful for you. There is no one like you. I love you so much and will forever miss you. Rest now beautiful sister. You will never be forgotten,” she added.
If you or anyone you know need help or support for an eating disorder or concerns about body image, please call Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 334 673 (ED HOPE)
