“He is always going to be my son”: Richard Wilkins opens up about the decision that shaped his life — and the enduring bond with son Adam
The son who changed everything
For much of his career, Richard Wilkins has been known as one of Australia’s most familiar entertainment figures. But long before the red carpets, celebrity interviews and television appearances, he was a teenager facing a life-changing responsibility.
Richard was just 18 when his first son, Adam, was born in New Zealand. Adam’s mother was 16, and Adam was born with Down syndrome. Richard has described becoming a father at such a young age — and learning that his son had Down syndrome — as a profound shock.
What followed was a decision Richard has spoken about with remarkable honesty over the years: when Adam was around a year old, he was placed in residential care.
At the time, Richard was trying to establish his own life and career. He wanted to travel, make music and build a future for himself, while also coming to terms with a level of responsibility he felt unequipped to handle.
A decision Richard has never hidden from
Looking back, Richard has acknowledged that he was not the father he wished he had been at that stage of his life.
“I wasn’t the greatest Dad back in the day. I didn’t really know how to handle it,” he previously admitted.
The decision to place Adam in care was not, however, a decision to walk away from his son.
Richard said people had suggested adoption, but he could not accept that option.
“He is always going to be my son,” he said, explaining that he wanted to maintain a relationship with Adam even though other people would take on much of his day-to-day care.
That distinction became an important part of Richard’s story as he grew older and gained a different perspective on fatherhood.
“My rock”
Perhaps the most moving part of Richard’s reflections is how dramatically his feelings about Adam evolved.
Rather than seeing his son only through the challenges surrounding his early years, Richard has repeatedly described Adam as a profound source of strength.
He has called him “my rock” and said having a person with Down syndrome in his family has been “an absolute joy.”
Those words carry particular weight because Richard has also been candid about the guilt he has experienced over the decision to place Adam in care.
In earlier interviews, he acknowledged that he still felt guilty about not being there for his son every day. At the same time, he stressed that Adam was happy and healthy and had benefited from having good people around him.
It is a complicated story — one that contains regret, love, responsibility and, ultimately, acceptance.
A bond that endured the years
Adam has remained part of Richard’s life despite living in New Zealand.
Richard has spoken about continuing to see him and maintaining their relationship, while also supporting causes connected to people with Down syndrome.
The story also sits within a much larger family. Richard is the father of five children, including Adam, Rebecca, Nick, Christian and Estella.
Yet Adam holds a particularly significant place in Richard’s life because his arrival came at such a formative moment.
He became a father before he had established his career, before he became the television personality Australians would come to know and before he had the perspective that comes with decades of life experience.
The perspective that only time could bring
There is something especially poignant about Richard’s description of Adam as his “rock”.
At 18, he was confronted with a future he had never planned for. Decades later, he could look back on that same relationship and recognise just how profoundly his son had shaped him.
Richard’s story is not one of pretending every decision was easy or every chapter was perfect. Instead, it is about acknowledging the difficult choices, living with them and recognising the love that remained through it all.
For a man who has spent decades interviewing famous people and standing in front of cameras, one of his most meaningful stories has always been the one closest to home.
Adam may have entered Richard’s life unexpectedly — but, in Richard’s own words, his son ultimately became his “rock”