Tahlea Blunt Photography
When we last saw Deb Webber on our screens, she was helping families search for answers on the dark and suspenseful series Sensing Murder. Today, life for the psychic medium has taken on a very different rhythm.
Deb, 62, is now a grandmother and says she’s embraced the role wholeheartedly, even though she admits she was reluctant to begin with.
“When my daughter Jazz got married in 2016, everyone at the wedding was saying they couldn’t wait for her and her husband Tim to have babies. But I stood up and said in my speech they weren’t allowed yet because I wasn’t ready,” she laughs.
The moment she embraced grandmotherhood
“Then one day, I said to Jazz, ‘Okay, you can have children.’ Within a few days, she was pregnant. Amazing what can happen when you put it out into the universe.”
Unsurprisingly, her grandsons, who she calls Pickles, four, and Elfie, two, plus the 14-year-old step-granddaughter she calls Tootsie, don’t have a traditional moniker for their not-so-traditional grandmother.
“They call me Nudda – ‘You’ll have nudda this and nudda that – you’re not getting anything,’” she says, roaring with laughter.
“I initially taught Tootsie to call me Nutter, but it turned into Nudda. It’s a bit of fun.”
Deb took a playful approach to naming her grandchildren too. She christened Pickles after speaking with his soul before he was born.
Naming her grandsons Pickles and Eflie
“I kept saying, ‘You’re going to be a bit of a dill, aren’t you?’” she recalls.
“Spiky at times, sour, sweet – he’s all of that.”
However, Elfie was a little more complicated.
“I pleaded for his nickname and the universe tried to give me Pixie,” she laughs.
“No way! On the day of his birth, I heard him say, ‘I’m an elf.’ And it stuck.”
Deb says that for a person who didn’t want to be a grandmother, she’s really taken to it. She installed cubby huts on her Sunshine Coast property, set up a backyard gym, and regularly attended baby gym and swimming lessons with her grandchildren—until recently.
“It’s a grandmother’s duty!” she says.
Life on Sunshine Coast and dreams abroad
“They moved seven hours away for work, so now I’m up and down the coast, staying for a week or two at a time. I would move but I love my home in the Sunshine Coast. The dream would be to get tenants so I can come and go. I want to house-sit in Italy for a month and do readings from there.”
She describes her daughter Jazz, 32, as compassionate, perceptive and similarly gifted to her – but in more subtle ways.
“She’s great at making bets on what will happen on reality TV shows,” she says.
Why Deb’s son chose a child-free life
Deb’s son Ethan, 31, is an environmental scientist who works for the government. He and his partner of nine years, who’s also an environmental scientist, have decided not to have children to do their bit for overpopulation and the planet’s sustainability.
“I find that beautiful,” says Deb.
“He’s super-smart. Ethan and I don’t talk about what I do because he’s a scientist, but I know he loves me.”
Deb continues her psychic work with the same intensity that made her a household name, but admits her work can be emotionally heavy. She watches at least one movie a day, revealing it’s the only way she can disconnect from the heaviness and the souls that constantly bid for her attention.
“Some people read to zone out, but I’m dyslexic, so I watch movies,” she shares.
Early life, dyslexia and asperger’s
“I was also diagnosed with Asperger’s when I was a child. I was non-verbal until I was about eight.”
Deb faced death early on, spending time at her mum’s nursing home before her mother passed away when she was 12.
“Death to us was natural,” she reflects.
“I don’t like death, but I’m aware people are allowed to die. And we will all die, so you have to love everyone the best you can while you’re here.”
Finding joy through creativity and family
Despite the serious nature of her work, Deb remains vivacious and bubbly. She enjoys painting and creating artworks for her grandchildren’s bedrooms, and says she’s slowly finding a new balance with work. As well as her readings, she now has a subscription-based community, workshops and spiritual retreats in India and Bali.
She’d love to do more filming, but doesn’t believe the producers will do any further seasons of Sensing Murder.
“On days when I feel exhausted and overwhelmed, I think it might be nice to just get a job at Bunnings,” she admits.
“But I do love spirits and helping people. “I feel like everything I’ve done in my life was in training for this. I believe you get what you need when you’re young to do whatever it is you’re meant to do. I love people getting excited to meet me – I feel the same way about them.”
