Actor and former Nova 100 radio host Samuel Johnson has paid a heartfelt tribute to the Hit Network’s Carrie Bickmore, after she was named Victorian Australian of the Year.
They were both working at Nova when Samuel’s girlfriend Lainie died in tragic circumstances.
Samuel posted to Facebook:
“I would come on air after Hughesy and Kate, and Carrie Bickmore was a superb newsreader at the top of all my working hours.”
“After Lainie died, Carrie would walk to my studio to read the news – I’d have the blinds down, the lights off, everything on ‘auto’ and I would just lay under my desk most every shift. Carrie was gentle, kind and caring always, but especially during that tender time. I didn’t last at my job much longer. My heart was black, I couldn’t handle being so positive on the radio and I walked. It’s the only contract I’ve never fulfilled.”
A few years later, Samuel spent 364 days atop a unicycle.
By then, Carrie was hosting Channel Ten’s The Project.
“While I was unicycling through WA Carrie wanted to come and ride alongside me. The Project rejected her plan outright – they simply didn’t have the budget. They had just travelled to Sydney for Tom Cruise and that was it. No more ‘Outside Broadcasts’ that year. Carrie just shrugged her shoulders. ‘Well I’m going. You don’t have to come.’ Carrie visited me anyway, and, sure enough, The Project followed her.”
“While we were on the road together, she told me about losing her man to brain cancer. She wanted to put a rainbow around something truly horrible and set up her own foundation, but she was worried. Grief seems private. Would she get chewed up? Should she ‘go public’?”
“I urged her to keep going for it. It would be an opportunity missed to do nothing. It was a no brainer, for mine. She simply must. I told her it had only changed my life for the better, and it would transform her life as well.”
“Carrie Bickmore flew back to Melbourne, filed our story, and her feature about Love Your Sister on The Project raised us a whopping $350,000 of our first million dollar target. And that was just the beginning – when we ran out of money on the road I SOS’d Carrie and she personally secured us a $10k sponsorship and all the pizza I could eat, allowing me, literally, to continue riding my unicycle around the country.”
“With Carrie’s support, we were able to build a substantial national following, surpass our lofty target and become the Love Your Sister you know today.”
Of Carrie winning the award, Samuel says he cannot think of a more worthy recipient.
He hopes she goes on to be named Australian of the Year.
“Carrie has reached stratospheric heights with her own charity, but for me personally, Carrie believed in me, took Love Your Sister to the country, and most importantly, held my hand when I was convinced my soul was irrevocably broken.”
“Thank you for always being there for me Carrie. Congratulations for being what a human should be. Go all the way, you good thing.”
Image: Facebook