Kate Langbroek and her family have finally returned home to Melbourne, after two years living in the idyllic Bologna, in Italy.
And while the 55-year-old has ‘no regrets’ about the move abroad, she said that the once-in-a-lifetime experience did not come without it’s challenges – particularly for her four children.
She told the Herald Sun on Friday that her first emotional hurdle was during a holiday to France in 2019, when she and her husband Peter Lewis told their kids that they were extending their Italian stay for another year.
La dolce vita! Kate Langbroek has ‘no regrets’ about her family’s time two years living in Bologna, Italy, despite experience some challenges – particularly for her four children
The comedian recalled that they were out at a restaurant when they broke the news to their children – sons Lewis, 17, Artie, 13, Jan, 11, and daughter Sunday, 15.
She said: ‘Lewis had tears in his eyes, Sunday started crying and the two young boys were fine with it all, but then the French waiters must have thought “what’s wrong with these people?”
The hardest hit by the news was her eldest son Lewis, 17, who she revealed did not speak to her for three days.
Emotional moment: The comedian recalled her children – sons Lewis, 17, Artie, 13, Jan, 11, and daughter Sunday, 15 – cried when she and her husband, Peter Lewis, revealed they would be extending their stay for another year
‘Lewis had tears in his eye’: The hardest hit by the news was her son Lewis, 17 (pictured), who she said did not speak to her for three days. She said her eldest son, who battled leukaemia as a child, found the move abroad hard because he had a secret girlfriend back home
She explained that her eldest son, who battled leukaemia as a child, found the move abroad hard because he had a secret girlfriend back home.
Kate said they split up two months before the family returned Down Under last year.
She added the despite him being upset about extending their stay overseas, he eventually ‘loved it at the end’ and even once got a ride with his friend in his mother’s red Ferrari.
The radio presenter also talked about living under Italy’s brutal restrictions and having almost no freedom to move during height of the pandemic.
Hard times: The radio presenter also talked about living under Italy’s brutal restrictions and having almost no freedom to move during height of the pandemic. She said: ‘I gather the second lockdown in Melbourne was brutal but… we couldn’t go 500m’
‘You needed a permit to go to the supermarket. I gather the second lockdown in Melbourne was brutal but we were over there going, “but you can go 5km”. We couldn’t go 500m,’ she said.
Kate noted that she has began writing a memoir about her family’s time in Italy, adopting the lifestyle, as well as life in lockdown.
Despite all the struggles of living in a foreign country, getting used to different customs, the culture, as well as the language barrier, Kate does not look back at the experience in disappointment.
‘Not once did I regret any of it’: Despite all the struggles of living in a foreign country, getting used to different customs and culture, as well as the language barrier, Kate does not look back at the experience in disappointment
Quarantine: Kate, her husband and their four children returned home to Melbourne in December where they stayed in hotel quarantine for two weeks before their release on Christmas Eve
‘Not once did I regret any of it,’ the brunette beauty added.
Kate, her husband and their four children returned home to Melbourne in December where they stayed in hotel quarantine for two weeks before their release on Christmas Eve.
The comedian has returned to radio as a co-host on the 3PM Pick-Up, replacing Rebecca Judd.
Back on air: The comedian has returned to radio as a co-host on the 3PM Pick-Up, replacing Rebecca Judd