We may know them as the familiar faces who have lit up our TV screens for years now, but when they’re at home Jessica Rowe and Peter Overton are just “mum and dad”.
The couple, who have been married for 20 years after a chance encounter at the Logies, share two beautiful daughters – Allegra, 17, and Giselle, 15 – and are all about family life.
It’s no surprise that they’re so devoted to their daughters given how trying the road to parenthood was for the couple.
After tying the knot back in 2004, Peter and Jess knew they wanted to start a family together, but struggled with fertility issues.
After falling in love, Peter and Jess knew they wanted to start a family together.
(Image: Instagram)“Aged 33, and newly married, I’d wrongly assumed that becoming pregnant would be easy,” the 51-year-old wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald in 2021.
“We had a huge mortgage with a perfect baby room set aside, but suddenly there was a glitch in our plan: after two years of trying, my body was letting me down.”
Concerned that time was against them, Peter and Jess saw a specialist who diagnosed Jess with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) which reduces the frequency with which a woman ovulates and produces eggs.
The condition can wreak havoc on a woman’s fertility and make falling pregnant “the old fashioned way” incredibly difficult.
“So I thought, yeah OK, we’ll do IVF and it will be an inconvenience, but at the end we will have a baby,” Jess wrote in her memoir Is This My Beautiful Life?.
That meant hormone injections, working with a fertility nurse, regular blood tests and more in the hopes of falling pregnant – but Peter and Jess were up to the challenge.
Unfortunately, conceiving a child through IVF turned out to be more emotional and tricky than the hopeful parents ever expected.
Jess found it especially gut-wrenching to undergo fertility treatment while seeing other women around her seemingly fall into pregnancy and motherhood with ease.
“I wanted to scream, ‘I’m on IVF and I don’t know if I can be a mum. I have just come from having a blood test to see if my body is responding to the hormones I’m pumping through my body,” she wrote.
“Don’t tell me how wonderful it is to be a mother! And don’t you dare complain about how tired you are.”
WATCH: The Weekly chats with Jessica Rowe, Peter Overton and their daughters. Story continues after video.
Fortunately, with Peter by her side, Jess was eventually able to fall pregnant with their first child – a little girl she first saw as “inky black smudge on the screen above me in the IVF clinic”.
Allegra Penelope Overton – whose name is Italian for “glad” – arrived on January 18, 2007 to the complete and utter delight of her parents.
In a statement at the time, they said: “We are overjoyed by the arrival of our little miracle. It was the happiest day of our lives and we feel blessed to be a family.”
But just six weeks after her daughter’s birth, Jess began experiencing worrying symptoms that would later be identified as post-natal depression.
“I felt very anxious, I had panic attacks – I’d never had panic attacks before – and I felt like there was a pane of glass between me and the rest of the world,” she recalled in a piece for The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Jess with her daughters when they were younger.
(Image: Instagram)Realising she needed help, Jess turned to her mum, then Peter, both of whom encouraged her to speak to a psychiatrist who was able to get Jess the support and medication she needed.
“I remember three weeks after starting my anti-depressants, I was standing in our front garden,” Jess recalled of her mental health journey.
“Allegra was having her lunchtime sleep when suddenly I could smell the gardenias in our front garden… I could feel a return of hope.”
She spent the next year working on her mental wellbeing and finally started to feel like herself again during a date night with Peter – the very night their second child was, miraculously, conceived naturally.
“I put on my black bodysuit with tight black Sass & Bide jeans and we tossed back glasses of pink Champagne, laughing and sharing tales of our changed lives,” Jess wrote in her book.
WATCH: Jess Rowe opens up about post-natal depression. Story continues after video.
“When I got home that night I peeled off my shimmery jeans and felt sexy for the first time…” and the rest, as they say, is history!
Giselle Charlotte Overton arrived ahead of schedule on April 9, 2009, after Jess went into labour while Peter was in the middle of filming 60 Minutes.
“Pete was out filming a 60 Minutes story and he got the call from Jess saying ‘right, we’re on’,” Channel Nine spokeswoman Heidi Virtue said at the time.
Though the road to parenthood wasn’t a simple one for the couple, Jess and Peter have been devoted to their daughters ever since and can’t praise them enough.
From sweet family snaps on social media, to Jess’ many tributes to her girls on special occasions like birthdays, it’s clear they love life as “mum and dad”.
In honour of their gorgeous family bond, we’ve rounded up some of the best photos of Peter and Jess with their daughters Allegra and Giselle.
Jess was spotted out and about with little Allegra shortly after giving birth to Giselle in 2009.
Little Giselle didn’t look sure when she met Minnie and Mickey Mouse in 2012, but Allegra was all smiles.
Family affair! Peter and Jess treated their daughters to an evening out on the opening night of Cinderella at State Theatre in 2016.
That same year Jess caught this candid moment while the girls were waiting for their Santa photo at the QVB in Sydney.
In 2017 the girls headed to the My Little Pony The Movie Sydney premiere in coordinated pastel outfits.
Things got messy during the 2017 school holidays when Allegra and Giselle cracked out the face paint.
Strike a pose – with the family cats of course! We can’t help but wonder if Peter was laughing behind the camera when this photo was taken.
We’re obsessed with this unicorn-themed family snap.
Family day out at Sydney Harbour!
Jess’ mum joined the girls for a colourful beach day in 2018, the 51-year-old captioning this snap: “Three generations of strong women @marmirowe (and little women), blessed to be able to have the freedom and choice to be who we want to be! 🌈🧜🏻♀️😻”
What a stunning spread for The Australian Women’s Weekly Christmas issue in 2018.
Jess and Peter treated the girls with a trip to Disneyland in 2019.
Another stunning family portrait for The Weekly.
Then they jetted to Uluru a few months later.
Proud of their girl! Jess shared this family snap on Allegra’s 13th birthday – can you spot Giselle in the back?
A tiny puppy named Daphne joined the family during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns.
Dad Peter wasn’t keen on all the selfies as the girls snapped away at the start of 2021…
… but he couldn’t have been more proud to take Giselle to the year six father-daughter dance a few months later.
And again for her year six graduation at the end of the year! We don’t think Jess’ grin could get any wider.
The family kicked 2022 off with a bang by celebrating Allegra’s 15th birthday!
Jess shared a rare peek into her and Peter’s early years as parents with this cute throwback photo on his 56th birthday, showing the proud dad mucking around in the Nine studio with daughter Giselle.
She also shared this snap of Peter posing with their eldest, Allegra, perched on the Nine news desk in years gone by. Too cute!
In April 2022, the Rowes celebrated Giselle’s milestone 13th birthday.
“Happy 13th birthday to my darling Giselle. You are my eco warrior, you think deeply about the world, you’re persistent, funny & teach my something new every day. Thank you for the gift of being your mum,” Jess wrote alongside this snap.
Sunnies and sunshine were on the agenda when Jess headed off for a holiday over the Easter break with her daughters.
She snuggled up to her eldest, Allegra, in this snap which she captioned: “Love you my darling girl.”
The trio then headed out for a day of horse riding along the beach.
Even a few grey clouds couldn’t spoil their fun!
Three generations! Jess celebrated Mother’s Day in 2022 with a special outing with both of her girls – who were looking awfully grown up – and her own mum.
The mother-daughter trio were all dressed up for the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick together.
Another day, another event! The girls were looking casual for the premiere of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Jess has been open about the importance of mental health in her family, something she supports with plenty of time outside like this walk with Giselle and their dog.
Jess stood out in a bright pop of colour while her girls donned black for yet another movie premiere.
Peter couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he showed his daughters the ropes on the set of Nine News in July 2022.
She’s not a regular mum, she’s a cool mum! Jess pulled her best rocker pose before accompanying Allegra and her friends to a concert.
Ah, the joys of having teenagers. As Jess embarked on a road trip with her daughters in September 2022, Allegra and Giselle snuck a very rude gesture into their family photo.
Three real-life Barbies attended the Barbie premiere together.
Jess shared this wholesome photo of the family on holidays in December 2023.
“My heart is full. A special family holiday many years in the making ❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
Jess & Peter’s eldest daughter turned 17 on 22 January 2024.
“Happy 17th my darling girl. We love you so, so much. 💗💗💗💗,” Jess wrote alongside this adorable image.
