‘Some would say I handled it terribly’: Guy and Jules Sebastian on their biggest battle

When Guy Sebastian found himself sobbing in a toilet cubicle of a NSW courtroom – where he was giving evidence against his former manager and friend, Titus Day – he began to pray.

“Then I felt guilty,” says the musician as his wife, Jules, gently places her hand on his arm. “It was like, ‘Ah, I’ll just say a prayer when the shit hits the fan.’ I haven’t prayed for so long [and now I’m] just asking for help when things are rubbish.”

The couple, who have been married for almost 18 years, are speaking exclusively to Sunday Life about the emotional toll of their protracted (and ongoing) battle with Day. This is more than just a business disagreement: Guy and Jules once viewed Titus, his wife and their children as part of their family.

Guy and Jules Sebastian at their Sydney home. She says, “Watching Guy go through this [legal battle] was the hardest thing.”Jennifer Soo

“Our kids grew up together; they were best friends,” Guy says. “You think about the times we sat across the table from each other, and the times our kids ran through the park under sprinklers. [Day’s wife] Courtney and Jules were constantly hanging out and Titus and I were travelling the world.”

By 2022, when Guy was testifying for the prosecution in Day’s first embezzlement trial, the strain became unbearable. “I would just literally vomit,” says the singer-songwriter, who has sold more than seven million records and amassed 1.3 billion streams globally since winning the first season of Australian Idol in 2003. “I had all these moments when I’d just burst into tears.”

These are the facts of the dispute: around a decade ago, Guy began to suspect that Day was not paying him all the money he was owed. After multiple attempts to resolve the conflict failed, Guy presented his evidence to police, resulting in Day being arrested and charged. In 2022, a jury found Day guilty of embezzling almost $625,000 from his star client, and he was sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison.

After serving seven months, Day was freed on appeal, prompting a second criminal trial in 2025. While Day was found not guilty of four counts of embezzlement, the jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on the remaining 31 counts. Prosecutors decided against a third criminal trial; now, Guy has initiated civil action against Day. (This masthead does not suggest the allegations against Day – who has consistently denied any wrongdoing – are true, only that they have been made.)

“Lie in the mud, feel the feelings, cry the tears, have the anxiety, get it all out – but don’t forget to bring a ladder.”

Guy, 44, and Jules, 45, are sitting at the kitchen table of their three-storey home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Among its many impressive features are a recording studio, swimming pool, tennis court and sauna. The foyer includes a white spiral staircase reminiscent of New York’s Guggenheim Museum, and the black Yamaha piano Guy bought himself as a present after winning Australian Idol. Despite its vast size, the house feels inviting and lived-in: a proper family home for the couple, their two sons – Hudson, 13, and Archie, 11 – and their black spoodle, Ronnie.

Guy and Jules are not here to re-litigate their case against Day. Instead, they’re focusing on the struggles they’ve faced as a family and the hard-earned wisdom they’ve accumulated along the way. Last year, Guy released his acclaimed 10th studio album, 100 Times Around the Sun; in April, he will embark on his biggest Australian tour yet, while also appearing as a mentor in the second season of ABC’s heartwarming music competition series, The Piano. Naturally, these commitments require him to hit the promotional trail – but this is the only interview in which he will discuss the immense personal cost of the past several years.

“Watching Guy go through this was the hardest thing,” says Jules, dabbing at her eyes with a serviette. “There’s no way to know how it’s going to end, and every day there’s something new to wake up to. It was a really wobbly road, and some would say I handled it terribly.”

But Guy is having none of it. Jules, he insists, has always been his rock. (She is also a woman of many talents: a fashion stylist, a purveyor of food and cocktail recipes, and the host of a popular podcast, Tea with Jules.) Having met as teenagers in an Adelaide church choir, they share the kind of non-verbal shorthand most committed, long-term couples enjoy. When trying to explain the many ways in which Jules supported him, Guy wells up.

Instinctively, Jules knew when to offer a pep talk or a hug. “But mainly, I needed her to make sure the kids were sweet; that they didn’t feel like there was something dramatic or earth-shattering going on at home,” he says, a task not helped by intense media scrutiny, including TV crews and photographers lurking outside their home. “And she did that so well. She just killed it.”

While Guy prides himself on being a hands-on dad, there’s a good reason most of the parenting duties fell to Jules during Day’s first criminal trial: he was in the middle of a major national tour. Often, he’d endure aggressive questioning from defence lawyers during the day – before rushing to an arena at night, where he’d perform to thousands of fans.

Amid their ongoing legal battle, Guy will kick off his biggest national tour in April.Jennifer Soo

“I’d watch him doing that and I was like, ‘This person is superhuman,’” Jules says. “The other day, the boys were like, ‘Dad, can you take us to the beach?’ It was windy and cold, and I could see that he was so tired, but he did it anyway. He always has this tiny reserve of something extra to give to his people.”

This includes his fans. Despite being “beyond exhaustion” during his 2022 tour, Guy got on stage every night and gave it his all. “I’ll struggle to say this without being emotional,” he says as his voice falters, “but I don’t think people in the audience realised just how much they pulled me out of the mud during that time.”

In 2024, just a few weeks before Christmas, Jules’ father died. Meanwhile, Guy’s dad went through several months of chemotherapy. “You go through stuff like that and you realise that [a legal dispute] is a hard thing,” Guy says, “but it’s not the hardest thing, which is losing people you love.”

This provided some much-needed perspective last year when Guy had a spinal operation, followed by emergency spinal surgery a week later, to fix the debilitating numbness and pain that left him unable to play his piano or guitar. After leaving the hospital on crutches, he switched to a mobility aid he describes as “a stub … I looked like a pirate”. He’d never felt more unattractive in his life – until the constipating painkillers he was prescribed caused him to spend 40 excruciating minutes on the toilet, to no avail. In desperation, he called out to Jules for help.

“At that point, I thought, ‘My marriage is over,’” he says. As Jules’ eyes widen in surprise, Guy begins crying – except these are tears of laughter, and he can’t resist cracking a joke. “I know you girls give birth to children but I imagine [the pain I suffered] was close. And at that point I thought, ‘If she loves me after this, we’re good.’ And here she is – and we are good.”

When Guy launches his 100 Times Around the Sun tour on April 16, in which he will perform to an estimated 120,000 fans, he will do so with a quiet confidence that was absent at the start of his career. “I’ve wasted so much energy trying to please everyone,” he says. “You end up spreading yourself thin and not really being impactful in anyone’s life.”

As proven by his latest album – with its mix of upbeat, radio-friendly pop and deeply introspective ballads – Guy is at the peak of his creative powers: his voice is stronger than ever, and his songwriting reflects a new level of emotional maturity.

He’s also excited by his role on The Piano, in which amateur pianists are invited to perform in various public locations, unaware they are being judged by Guy and classical pianist Andrea Lam for a chance to play at Sydney’s City Recital Hall.

“It’s very different to The Voice or The X Factor, which is focused on winning a record contract,” he says, having appeared on both programs as a coach and judge. “It’s about, ‘What does the piano mean to this person and why are they connected to it so deeply?’”

As we wrap up our conversation, Guy and Jules stress that even in their darkest periods, they found moments of joy, from family holidays in Japan and Malaysia to Guy teaching Hudson and his mate how to take a tinnie out to go fishing by themselves.

When I enquire about the most helpful advice they received, Jules answers without hesitation. “Lie in the mud, feel the feelings, cry the tears, have the anxiety, get it all out – but don’t forget to bring a ladder,” she says, noting that “falling into holes” is an inevitable part of being human. “It’s OK to have those feelings but you can get yourself out … bring the ladder, then climb out and get back into the sunshine.”

Guy Sebastian’s 100 Times Around the Sun tour starts April 16. The Piano premieres on ABC TV on March 15.

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