Adam Eckersley always knew Brooke McClymont was "the one". It took her longer to catch on.

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About the episode:

Brooke McClymont rode her bike past Adam Eckersley 's house every morning on the way to school in Grafton. Most mornings he'd yell out that he was going to marry her one day. She'd yell back "in your dreams, mullet head."

Ten years later they ran into each other at the pub at Christmas. Adam was living in his van at Merewether Beach. Brooke had a record deal. They sat up all night over cabanossi and brie and eventually worked out that they were more than friends. Then they signed a six-month lease in case it didn't work. That was 18 years ago.

In this episode of The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories, the country music couple talk to Tiffany Dunk about making a marriage work in an industry that pulls people apart: the three-week rule for time on the road, the morning shift Adam took for years so Brooke could sleep, and the six weeks he spent alone with two kids in lockdown while Brooke was on I'm a Celebrity.

They also go to the hard places. The COVID year when they were about to lose the farm, and the idea that saved it. The month Adam stopped getting out of the ute to play with his daughter at the bus stop, and what that told him. And the night he asked Brooke to book him in to talk to someone, because he knew he'd turn up if she did.

Their third album Souls on Show is out now, and one track, 'In and Out of Love', is the closest thing they have to a marriage manifesto: stay together while you fall in and out of it. Two decades on, Adam still says Brooke has the best female voice in Australia, and she still says he's the best songwriter she's ever written with.

Buy Souls on Show or book tickets to their show here

Email hangatthewang@gmail.com with your date and accommodation preference to book Hang at the Wang

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes Australia.

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice

Moments you’ll hear:

• The teenage bike ride past Adam's house, the marriage proposal shouted from the front yard, and the two words Brooke yelled back
• Why Adam says his eldest son, not Brooke, was the first time he ever felt love, and why he still barely says the word
• Cabanossi, brie and an all-night talk: the least romantic "we're official" conversation you'll ever hear
• Living in a van at Merewether Beach, and the night-time toilet runs that finally convinced Brooke to get a lease
• A wedding on the Tamworth farm with Tom Gleeson on the mic, a mud-brown dress and a groom covered in scabies
• The three-week rule that stopped touring from quietly ending their marriage
• Six weeks alone with two kids in lockdown while Brooke was in the jungle, and the letter Adam sent in: "I'm a Parent, Get Me Out of Here"
• Nearly losing the farm during COVID, and the 40-fans-at-a-time idea that saved it
• The bus stop moment that made Adam realise he needed help, and why he asked Brooke to make the booking
• Date night is a fire in the bottom shed, and 20 years from now it's a veggie patch with Brooke on a throne

Thank you for listening ❤️

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Credits

Host: Tiffany Dunk

Edited by Phoebe Zukowski-Wallace

Production by Leah Porges

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website

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