TV personality Rove McManus is honouring his late wife, actress Belinda Emmett, on the 20th anniversary of her passing.
The beloved Home And Away star died in 2006 aged 32, following a battle with cancer.
To mark the anniversary, McManus shared a throwback clip on Instagram of Emmett appearing as a guest on his talk show Rove Live, which ran for 10 years until 2009.
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In the footage, Emmett fondly recalls their first date, joking about McManus’s unusually high pants.
“I was just going, ‘Oh no, I really like this guy. I reckon we can work with it. We can work around it. It’s okay. He’s got potential. You’ve got to just work around it’,” she says, laughing.
The lighthearted exchange offered a glimpse into the pair’s playful relationship and the chemistry that made them one of Australia’s most beloved couples.
Alongside the video, McManus paid tribute to Emmett with a heartfelt caption: “20 years ago today a light went out. Remembering Belinda Emmett 12/4/1974 – 11/11/2006.”
Belinda Emmett’s cancer battle
McManus and Emmett were first introduced through his now-wife, actress Tasma Walton, and began dating soon afterwards.
After five years together, they became engaged in 2004 before marrying in an intimate Sydney ceremony in January 2005.
However, their time together was tragically cut short when Emmett died in November 2006, aged just 32, following a battle with metastatic breast cancer.
Emmett was first diagnosed with breast cancer in early 1998, aged 24, after discovering a lump.
She underwent surgery and treatment, eventually entering remission and returning to work. But in 2001, while filming the Australian comedy The Nugget, she learned the cancer had returned and spread to her bones.
Despite initially being given a prognosis of around 12 months, Emmett defied expectations, enduring years of treatment and chemotherapy while maintaining her famously positive outlook.
During this time, she also continued to pursue her passion for music, recording material that would later form her posthumous album, So I Am.
McManus continues to honour late wife
Throughout her illness, McManus remained steadfastly by her side. He also frequently acknowledged Emmett during his Logie Award acceptance speeches, describing her as his “partner in crime and life” and his “greatest reward”.
In the years since her death, McManus has continued to honour Emmett’s memory publicly, particularly on significant anniversaries. He has also maintained a close and warm relationship with her parents, who remain connected to him and his family.
Following Emmett’s death, McManus eventually found love again with Walton, his longtime friend and the woman who had originally introduced the couple.
They married in 2009 and welcomed a daughter, Ruby, in 2013.
Although McManus and Walton largely keep their family life out of the spotlight, Walton offered a rare glimpse into their relationship in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, describing her husband as “kind, intelligent and generous”.
