Magda Szubanski recalls mum’s ‘brutal’ death in emotional chat with Denton

We’re used to Magda Szubanski making us laugh, but on Tuesday night the Aussie comedian reduced many people to tears with her emotional story about her mother’s death.

Szubanski sat down with Andrew Denton for a warts-and-all chat on his show Interview, in which she opened up on her weight battles and her final days with her beloved mum, Margaret.

The Kath and Kim actress fought back tears as she recalled the past year – one of her most difficult yet – that saw her mourning her mother and celebrating the same-sex marriage vote.

Margaret passed away before the vote was passed, but Szubanski said she knows her mother would have wanted to see the milestone victory after watching her daughter deal with prejudice throughout her life.

“Seven days, mum took to die. It was brutal, and we don’t talk about that a lot and it’s f*cking traumatic watching someone die and I think we should reintroduce black armbands because you’re not normal after someone you love has died,” she told Denton.

“I wished she’d been here to see the vote. She couldn’t understand it. She often would say to me ‘I don’t understand how people would turn on their own’.”

The comedian also opened up about her public battle with her weight, and recalled her anguish at seeing paparazzi photos of herself in a swimsuit splashed over the front of Woman’s Day in 2011.

“Nobody gives you the protocol on how to deal with a bunch of paparazzi, who descend on you like flies on s**t, and they’re so well organised,” she said.

“When those pictures were taken on the beach I wanted to cry. Even though I’m not an especially vain woman, I don’t think many women feel comfortable being photographed at the beach in clingy wet bathers.

“Then thought f**k them, I’m just going to go down there with all the models and just be fat on Bondi Beach and they can get f**ked.

“It actually became really liberating because when you do go out there and be fat on Bondi Beach nothing terrible happens … except you have a terrific swim with your friends.”

She added that despite gaining back the 40kg she lost during her highly publicised campaign with Jenny Craig, she’s happier in her own skin now she’s a little bigger again.

“I don’t feel like a fat person,” she said. “It’s like carrying a suit of armour. It does become your second skin, something that you are very used to.

“When I lost all the weight on Jenny Craig it was quite a weird feeling.

“I don’t want to be a whinger but I would look at myself … I didn’t recognise myself and that’s a very strange feeling. To not have this body felt odd.”

Did you watch Magda on Interview last night? Can you relate to what she went through with her mother?