“I did make a conscious decision to not be outed,” she tells CHERRIE. “My agents at the time suggested it would be a good idea not to say anything about it and also you don’t just consider yourself, you consider people around you, like your partner and their family and friends. I’ve never made a point of letting people know about my sexuality because I’ve never thought it was relevant, but it’s who I am and I’m not ashamed of it. However in saying that, I think in this particular day it’s a lot easier to be identified as a not-so-straight woman particularly with the The L Word series out where it’s glamorised if you like; it’s almost a bit of a fad like we’re in fashion.” 

Watson, 29, became an international model in her teens, travelling to Asia for several contracts. It was during this time that she realised she was attracted to women. “I had a boyfriend at the time and we’d been in a relationship for quite a while and suddenly I was surrounded by these beautiful international models that decided they wanted to have some fun while they were overseas,” she laughs. “My boyfriend knew I was having these doubts as I talked to him about it and it was the third time he’d had one of his girlfriends talk to him about this. He’s married now with a baby; he’s lovely and we’re good friends but I felt so bad!”

The Home & Away job was Watson’s first acting gig – and she nearly missed out by not going to the audition. “I said I wasn’t interested and wouldn’t get it anyway, but my agent persuaded me and I got the job,” she says. “So at that point, I thought ‘What am I going to do? I’ve never done this before, never acted in my life.’ My agent booked me into acting classes – I think I had about eight weeks before I started so I was absolutely petrified. I think I was really bad, to be honest, at the beginning. But like anything if you really put your mind to it and love what you do, you invest the time to grow and educate yourself and I did do that.”

And it’s not only in the area of acting that Watson has done this. After her stint on Home & Away finished in 2002, she completed a diploma in interior design – something she’d been passionate about for many years. “Design has always been in my blood, and I’ve always been very bossy so I told my parents what furniture they should buy,” she laughs. “I guess I’m very creative. After 9/11 the world had changed its energy and I needed something else to back me up.”

During the past five years, Watson has built up an impressive client list, starting out with residential refurbishments, furniture design and industrial design before being introduced to some boat importers. “Not being a specialist in that area, like with Home & Away I had to jump in and learn how to swim very quickly,” she says. “I learn a lot better under pressure. I realised it was an area I really liked to specialise in, especially the high-end luxury market. I’m also now getting into the commercial side of things such as bars and restaurants.”

With a successful business that she loves under her belt (Watson has her own design company KW Design), it seems that she’s happy to leave acting in her past – although she is prepared to make one exception. “If Ilene Chaiken called me and said, ‘You can have a full-time role on the The L Word’, I’d do that!”

But while the LA girls on that show are constantly clubbing, Watson rarely goes out on the lesbian scene, preferring a more “conservative” social life. “I’m more a wine and dine and entertain sort of girl,” she asserts. “I love jazz and opera and oil painting.”

So, now the question many of you have no doubt been waiting for – is she single or taken?

“Taken,” she smiles. “But let me put it this way, if Jennifer Beals walked into my life, I’d have to break up with my partner!”

After talking with Watson for nearly an hour in a Sydney café, I’m left with the impression of a friendly, confident and intelligent young woman who has turned opportunities that have landed in her lap to her advantage. When asked what advice she has for CHERRIE readers interested in pursuing a career in the creative industries, Watson has this to say: “Like any industry you have to sell yourself. Marketing is so imperative – getting out and networking, letting people know who you are and what you do. Have the confidence to believe in yourself and get out there and do it.”

For an interior design consultation, email Kylie Watson at KW Design This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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