Natalie Bassingthwaighte was 'terrified' when she came out in 2023. Here's what she's learned since then.

Back in 2023, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and her partner Pip Loth went Insta official.

Loth (whose pronouns are they/them) posted an appreciation post for Bassingthwaighte to their Instagram account, which Bassingthwaighte then re-shared with her over 200,000 followers.

"Appreciation post for the most incredible woman who is not only giving me strength, support, love and immense joy, but is teaching me to understand and accept that I am deserving of these things and have them within myself too," Loth wrote alongside a selfie of the pair.

"She's teaching me to breathe deeply, to trust and to be my truest self. I am so incredibly lucky and overwhelmingly grateful for you @natbassingthwaighte."

Then, in 2024, the pair showed they were still going strong, making their red carpet debut at the Sydney premiere of Take My Hand, a new Australian drama.

Nat Bass alongside Pip Loth at the event. Image: Getty

Watch: 3 dating mistakes women make after divorce. Post continues below.

Now, over a year later, Bassingthwaighte has opened up about the process of sharing her sexuality with the world and the self-acceptance she had to undergo.

"What I've learnt over this time is that I think I had internalised homophobia myself, so I was terrified about what people would say and think and feel," she told Stellar in March 2025.

"That's just ingrained in growing up in a certain time when you weren't allowed to be. It doesn't mean I don't get scared sometimes, but that debilitating fear has gone. And it's beautiful. I feel heard, I feel safe, I feel connected."

And of her relationship with Loth, which is still going strong, Bassingthwaighte said: "They've made me a better one and they get me more than I understand myself. It's been the wildest time in my life and it's beautiful."

Still, the relationship hasn't been without its challenges — particularly after her highly publicised coming out.

"That whole time was incredibly tough," Bassingthwaighte recalled. "We got through it. We're actually so fine now."

Now, Bassingthwaighte is starring in a one-woman play called Shirley Valentine, where she plays the title character — a woman who is struggling with navigating her midlife and reckoning who she is. And the role couldn't have come at a more fitting time for her.

"I don't know if there's a woman alive that doesn't resonate with Shirley in one way or another," Bassingthwaighte said.

"There have been a lot of shifts, especially in my lifetime. But there's always a way to go, to stand up, be proud, have a voice and be heard".

And looking ahead to her upcoming 50th birthday, which she'll celebrate this September, Bassingthwaighte is "excited".

"It's surreal that I'm 50. When I was 18, 30 was so old — and now I'm nearly 50. But it's such a joy," she said. "I've never felt so comfortable in my own skin and in my own space. I'm probably happier than I've ever been, which is wild."

It's a heartwarming sentiment, and one that Bassingthwaighte has been working toward for a while. After splitting from her husband of 12 years, Bassingthwaighte first shared small details of her and Loth's relationship.

"I'm in a beautiful relationship with a woman who makes my heart smile and makes me really happy," she told Stellar's podcast, Something To Talk About in November 2023.

In January 2024, the singer made her first TV appearance since sharing the happy news.

Ahead of Bassingthwaighte making her Mardi Gras debut, she admitted to feeling a range of emotions after hard-launching her new relationship.

"It's very confronting — coming out at any age — but for me, it's a very different situation, being an older woman," Bassingthwaighte told Nat Barr and Matt Doran on Sunrise.

"It is scary, you know — so I very much realise how my friends felt, and a lot of the community feel [about coming out]. They feel ostracised — there is a lot of fear surrounding it, that you will be judged and you can't authentically be yourself," she said. "I am still nervous about it today but when I truly sit in that truth I feel like I'm honestly my best self. But that doesn't take away that it's been scary [coming out] and debilitating at times."

Nat Bass appearing on Sunrise. Image: Seven.

Bassingthwaighte has gone through plenty of changes since 2020, when she and husband Cameron McGlinchey packed up their lives in Melbourne and traded in the city for the coastal life in Byron Bay.

In August 2023, the pair announced that they had "ended their marriage" after splitting in late 2022, but noted that they were continuing to "co-parent their kids".

The pair first met her ex-husband while working in Aussie rock band Rogue Traders, which formed in Melbourne in 2002 (Bassingthwaighte entered in 2004). With Bassingthwaighte as lead singer and McGlinchey on the drums, they created hit singles including 'Voodoo Child' and 'One of My Kind'.

However, the couple left Rogue Traders, each within one month of each other, in 2008.

The pair then married in 2011 and welcomed two children, daughter Harper and son Hendrix.

After news of their split went public, Bassingthwaighte shared that it had been "challenging" and "overwhelming".

"[I got a] phone call; I'd been waiting for it to happen, but [was] trying to protect our inner sanctum for so long, trying to navigate grief and really sit in it and feel it all," the performer shared on the podcast.

"It hurts, trying to navigate what the next bits look like, especially as a couple who have two children, who work together. So having public interest, I won't lie, was terrifying from the get-go. Since it first happened, I was waiting for someone to say something. And it just felt like I wasn't ready."

After realising her true feelings for new partner Loth, Bassingthwaighte said she was "terrified" to share news of her new relationship with the world — and turned to her ex-husband for guidance.

He was nothing but supportive.

"I rang Cam and I was hysterical. And he said, 'It's okay. This is your truth and you now have to sit in it and stand in it and own it.' So to have that support from him has been nothing short of beautiful, and I'm very grateful for it," she said.

"Now I can speak from my own mouth, on my own truth, and that feels rewarding. I'm okay. Everything is okay, and everyone is okay. We're in a good space. It feels liberating."

This article was originally published on November 28, 2023 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Instagram/natbassingthwaighte.

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