Star breaks silence on shock MAFS romance
In an exclusive interview with Stellar, the Living Black host, who was married to fellow journalist Stan Grant for 16 years before their divorce in 2000, said the unlikely pair had a lot more in common than what people would think.
'I was taken by surprise myself,' she said, of her relationship with Sultan.
'Even though we're very different – I'm a serious, Walkley Award-winning journalist, and he's from Married At First Sight, so we couldn't be more worlds apart – we just have a lot of things in common.
'We love travelling, we love going to the movies, we love theatre. There's a lot of things that we have in common that probably people on the outside don't really appreciate.'
The pair first met at an event in 2021. Sultan, who was on the 2018 season of the popular dating reality television series, confirmed their romance on Instagram in January of this year.
'The saying is timing is everything? Well, the universe has delivered a beautiful, smart and an intelligent woman and I'm excited,' Sultan wrote.
In the comments, the 56-year-old noted how beautiful Grant was and that he was 'punching'.
Grant told Stellar she watches Married At First Sight every year with her daughter Lowanna and son John (who she co-parents with her ex-husband, along with their youngest son Dylan).
'So of course I was well aware of who Nasser was when he approached me,' the 60-year-old said.
'Then we just keep on running into each other at different movie screenings and events and would have a chat.
'He kept on asking me out, but I was always so busy with work and travel. Finally, I said 'yes.''
Listen to Rebecca Judd on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below:
As NAIDOC Week begins, Grant also spoke to Stellar about how a torrent of malicious attacks and online abuse directed at Stan in the lead up to his 2023 resignation from the ABC took a wider personal toll.
'The filthy, racist remarks online that he faced on Twitter and in social media really did
affect the family,' she said.
'One of the boys, he got threats as well. It was a pretty awful time. I hope no one ever has to go through that sort of thing ever again.
'Stan and all of us as First Nations journalists are only there telling the truth. We're truth seekers.'
Listen to Rebecca Judd on a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below:
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