For decades, Richard Wilkins has been a familiar face on Australian television, surrounded by celebrities, major events and the constant pace of the entertainment industry.

But away from the cameras, the Nine personality has always had another role that means far more to him: being a father to his five children.

And for Richard, there is one family moment he treasures above almost everything else — having all of his children together.

“Seeing everybody happy and together is my great joy. Oh, I just love it when we’re all together.”

It is a simple sentiment, but behind it is a family story spanning generations, different households and years of life changes.

A family that has grown in different directions

Richard is father to Adam, Rebecca, Nick, Christian and Estella, whose ages and life stages span several decades.

The family has never been defined by traditional labels. Richard has previously explained that although his children have different mothers, they have never been described as “half” or “step” siblings within the family.

“They all have their own relationships with each other,” he explained.

That approach has helped create a family dynamic Richard clearly treasures — one where the relationships between the children are allowed to develop in their own right.

And as the family has grown, those relationships have taken on an even greater significance.

Adam’s arrival changed Richard’s life

Richard’s journey into fatherhood began when he was just 18 years old and living in a small town in New Zealand.

His girlfriend was 16 when they had Adam, and the young couple married in her parents’ living room, with Richard’s band members serving as witnesses.

But only days after Adam was born, the young parents received news that would change the course of their lives: their son had Down syndrome.

Richard later described the moment with remarkable honesty.

“Adam I described at the time as my rock, which he was. Suddenly life got pretty real.”

The experience came at an age when Richard was still trying to understand adulthood himself. Yet Adam would remain an important part of his story for decades to come.

The family moments Richard treasures most

As the years passed, Richard’s family expanded — and so did the occasions that brought everyone together.

He has spoken particularly fondly about Christmas gatherings, imagining a house filled with conversation, music, children, grandchildren and even the family dogs.

“I love Christmas dinners.”

For Richard, it is not necessarily the occasion itself that matters. It is the sight of his children interacting with one another.

“There’s music playing, dogs barking and kids and more grandkids coming along,” he recalled.

Those ordinary, chaotic family moments have become some of his most precious memories.

But getting everyone together has never been easy

Despite having a large family, Richard has acknowledged that bringing everyone together in one place has become increasingly difficult as his children have grown older and built lives of their own.

The disruption caused by COVID-19 made that even harder.

At the time of his 9Honey interview, Richard said the family had only all been together on one occasion — at daughter Rebecca’s wedding to James in Queenstown, New Zealand.

For a father who says his greatest joy is simply seeing everyone together, that rarity made those moments all the more meaningful.

From father to grandfather

The family has continued to grow in another direction too, with Richard becoming a grandfather.

His daughter Rebecca has children, and his son Nick later welcomed a daughter with his wife Bree. Richard celebrated the news publicly, proudly describing his growing family and embracing his new role as “Granddaddy Pappa Bear”.

It means the family gatherings Richard once imagined around a table filled with his children are now becoming something even bigger — with another generation joining them.

And that may explain why his comments about family togetherness carry such weight.

The children who once gathered around him are now creating families of their own.

The advice that came from his own mother

Richard has also carried lessons from his own childhood into the way he approaches fatherhood.

One piece of advice from his mother has stayed with him for decades:

“If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember anything.”

His broader message to his children has been equally straightforward: be a good, decent person — and trust that the good you put into the world will eventually come back to you.

Perhaps that is what makes Richard’s reflections on fatherhood so touching.

After spending so much of his professional life surrounded by famous people and public attention, his proudest memories are remarkably ordinary: a crowded dinner table, his children laughing together, grandchildren running around and everyone simply being in the same place.

The moment he wants most

Richard Wilkins has spent decades in front of cameras, but his definition of success appears far removed from television.

It is not the celebrity interviews or major events that he describes as his greatest joy.

It is family.

And as his children continue to grow, marry, have children and build lives of their own, getting everyone back around the same table may become increasingly rare.

Which is perhaps why, for Richard, there is still nothing quite like the moment when all five children are together again.