gemma ward

Gemma Ward’s “Life After Heath” Involves Little To Do With “Life After Heath”

10:36AM Clem Bastow | God love the News Ltd lackies; give them a beautiful and talented female and they’ll do their best to make sure any coverage of her endeavours hinges on the men in her life. That’s the way they are approaching Gemma Ward – not only has Ward more or less retired from modelling as an icon of the business, with millions of dollars in the bank and a ‘book’ most catwalkers would kill for, she has effortlessly made the jump to acting, in The Black Balloon, and is garnering rave reviews for her performance. So, naturally, they turn the whole story into a doleful piece on how Gemma is coping in the wake of Heath Ledger’s death. Slowly the supermodel-turned-actress has been finding her feet again by indulging in wilderness adventures and spending time with her family in her hometown of Perth, far removed from the global catwalks she has graced for the last four years. Ward … put film auditions, modelling assignments and returning to her New York base on hold to grieve privately in Australia. “Being in Australia, especially this past week where I was living in the jungle, road tripping and doing all these weird and wonderful things has been incredible. Going back to New York is going to be a shock,” Ward said in her first interview since Ledger’s death, caused by an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Is it just us, or does she actually sound quite a) hopeful for the future and b) like she enjoyed her downtime in Australia? Of course said downtime would have been tinged with sadness at Ledger’s passing (if in fact they were dating, or friends, or whatever), but gee, wouldn’t it be nice to focus on the fact that her career is going gangbusters and she’s a talented actress, rather than the fact a man in her life died? There is more to life than snaring a bloke, News Ltd. More »

Sad Hollywood Exodus Continues As Friends Fly In For Heath Ledger’s Funeral

10:14AM Clem Bastow | Throughout the last few weeks in the wake of Heath Ledger’s sad death, we’ve felt more than a little pang of sorrow for Australian supermodel Gemma Ward. Ward was rumoured to be dating Ledger for the past couple of months (and that was more or less confirmed when her sister Sophie spoke of Ledger hanging out with the fam in Perth at Christmas) and she must be in a very confused place, particularly because in the eyes of the press, she’s not really “allowed” to grieve for him properly since they were only just starting to date. She has apparently just flown home to Perth for Ledger’s funeral. The sombre-looking Ward touched down in Perth as investigators concluded Ledger’s abuse of powerful prescription drugs led to a fatal “accidental overdose”. Tests on Ledger’s blood detected six different drugs, including narcotic painkillers, anti-anxiety pills and sleep medication. Ledger’s ex, Michelle Williams, touched down in Perth with the actor’s two-year-old daughter Matilda on Wednesday. We must say, we’re very impressed at the way the press has respected the Ledger family’s request not to seek out the funeral or publish details of it. If any snappers or reporters set up camp near the service, we’d hasten to guess they’d be taking a very swift chute straight to the fifth layer of hell – or at least to the dole queue. More »

Heath Ledger Spent The Christmas Holiday With His Model Girlfriend, Gemma Ward

11:34AM Defamer Hollywood | Though recently spotted flirting with a roomful of celebrities in downtown New York, Heath Ledger was most recently linked to 21 year-old Australian model Gemma Ward. The blue-eyed blonde just wrapped her third feature film role (The Black Balloon, with Toni Colette) in Australia, but hasn’t been spotted out and about at an event since November, when she attended a gala in Madrid solo. First spotted together in Perth on December 20th, the new couple allegedly spent every day together through Christmas until Boxing Day, when Heath had to return to the London set of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Reports that those dates and shopping sprees had been upgraded to full-on coupledom surfaced in the UK as recently as January 18th, only 4 days ago. With Gemma MIA since New Year’s, which she spent with her family in Sydney, her current whereabouts are still a mystery. More »