Lies My Mirror Told Me

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I just had this incredible epiphany. It was like, "hang on a minute: you mean, I get a microphone, the lights come on me, people listen to what I have to say and I get paid!" There was no going back.


Wendy Harmer has had an extraordinary life.

From being born with a severe facial deformity, to performing as a stand-up comedian, a national television host and then going on to be the highest paid woman in the cut-throat world of Sydney FM radio ... her tale of overcoming adversity is told with her trademark frankness and celebrated wit.


Starting life in rural Victoria, with a teacher father and teenage mother, Wendy describes her time in remote one-teacher, one-room country schools. A way of life which has all but disappeared. As her father moved around the state to take up new postings as headmaster, Wendy, as the "funny looking" kid often in the wrong colour school uniform, developed strategies to find new friends and fit in.


Her young mother found life particularly difficult and left the family home at the age of 26 when Wendy was ten, the oldest of four children, leaving her father to raise them on his own.


It wasn't until Wendy was well into her teens that she had the final reconstructive facial surgery that had long promised to transform her from a "witch" into a "princess", but fell agonisingly short.


Somehow, despite her initial setbacks and emotional turmoil, Wendy showed the strength of character to carve her own way in the world. Today her face and her name are recognised by millions of Australians.


Wendy began her working life as a journalist on the Geelong Advertiser and then worked for the Melbourne Sun, where, on assignment, she stumbled across the alternative comedy and cabaret scene in the early '80s and her life took an improbable turn.


From her first tentative steps on Melbourne's tiny stages in comedy revue, she struck out as a solo performer. As our first woman stand-up comedian, she would make her mark in London and at the Edinburgh Festival before coming home to entertain us for the past four decades on stage, in print, television and broadcasting.


Wendy's career includes many "firsts". Notably as the host of The Big Gig on ABC TV and as a headliner in FM radio. She is also known as a prolific magazine, newspaper columnist and best-selling author.


In Lies My Mirror Told Me Wendy reflects on her life... how she became fearless, funny and, finally, found true love, is one of the most unlikely success stories you will ever read.

Author Bio

Wendy Harmer is one of Australia's most versatile entertainers - broadcaster, author, journalist and stage performer.
As a stand-up comedian she performed her one-woman shows at the Melbourne, Edinburgh, Montreal and Glasgow Mayfest Comedy Festivals, in London's West End and the Sydney Theatre Company. Wendy enjoyed huge popularity leading Sydney radio station 2Day FM's top-rating Breakfast Show for 11 years was the co-host of ABC's 702 Sydney morning show from 2016 -2021. She has hosted, written and appeared in a variety of TV shows including ABC's The Big Gig.
A former political journalist, Wendy is the author of eight books for adults including her bestselling novels Farewell My Ovaries, Love and Punishment and Nagging for Beginners, a how-to guide for women. She has also written two teen novels, I Lost My Mobile at the Mall and I Made Lattes for a Love God.


Wendy's children's book series about Pearlie the Park Fairy have sold more than 700,000 copies in Australia and internationally since the first title Pearlie in the Park was published in 2003. A stage show of the books adapted by Wendy played at the Seymour Centre in Sydney and toured regional NSW in 2005 and then nationally in 2007. The animated television series based on Wendy's Pearlie books, co-produced by Sticky Pictures and Canadian broadcaster Nelvana, premiered on Network Ten in October 2009 and aired on Nickelodean Australia and in 11 other countries around the world. Wendy developed the series as Creative Producer and wrote multiple episodes.


Stuff, a four-part television documentary series which Wendy produced, wrote and presented, premiered on ABC TV in March 2008. In late 2008 Wendy and Angela Catterns recorded a 16 part podcasting series for ABC Radio Local called Is It Just Me which returned for a second season in 2009. Together they debated and discussed their observations and conclusions on everyday life. The podcasts are available for download from the ABC Radio Local website. Wendy teamed up again with Angela Catterns on ABC News Radio with a new show called It's New to Me, which recapped the week's events. Wendy is currently the morning host on ABC Radio National. She has been a columnist on many publications including the Good Weekend and The Sunday Telegraph.