Meeting Darren Hayes – a little brooch gifting, a lot of fangirling

Tonight I was in the audience of The Project, especially to see Darren Hayes on the desk.

(For those who might not have known me for long, I’m a Darren Hayes super fan – he was the singer of Savage Garden and now has a solo career. He’s touring soon. I’ve been a fan since I was 14, and now I’m 41.)

In a recent Instagram live, Darren said that he’s into brooches, and he has commented on some of mine in photos. So I set out to collect a few brooches for him – some of which relate to his music, his dog and also one of the brooches of mine that he admired. I gave the gift to The Project staff to pass on.

When I met him briefly with his other fans tonight, he thanked me for the gift and pointed to his jacket. He was wearing the dog brooch – I said it’s Hux in a Tux. We had a selfie, I told him I loved him, thanked him for always making me feel special, he squeezed my hand, and it was amazing.

I attached a brooch explainer to the card I gave him – some of what I wrote:

Bobbi Frances dog brooch – he looks like your Huxley.

Curious Carousel ‘Beehive in Bloom’ honeycomb brooch – because you liked my honeycomb brooch.

Erstwilder ‘One in one thousand’ crane brooch – reminded me of This Delicate Thing We Made.

Erstwilder ‘Siren’s Call’ mermaid pin – my fave song from Secret Codes and Battleships is The Siren’s Call.

Haus of Dizzy ‘Fuck the patriarchy’ pin – a theme in your press for Homosexual. (Haus of Dizzy is an Aboriginal maker.)

Pins by Suri pride flower pin – because love is love.

🌈

I know that seeing him live in the studio the brief meeting tonight will have me on cloud nine for a while now. So so happy 💕

Thank you Darren for coming home, for making new music and for the upcoming tour. And thank you for making time for your fans.

Here is Darren on The Project

Images: 1. A selfie of Darren Hayes and Carly Findlay – both wearing interesting brooches and dapper jackets, and masks. 2. A gift box with a lot of brooches in it.