Has Rove lowered his guard to the media over the past 10 years? If anything he may have heightened it, The Age reports.

ROVE McManus places his white Converse sneakers on the coffee table and nestles into a leather couch in his enormous Abbotsford office. The room is festooned with pop-culture paraphernalia: action-hero figurines, celebrity photos and a collector’s edition Bart Simpson plate. Despite its size, the office feels cosy and jovial.

Yet McManus is guarded. It’s not that he’s unfriendly – far from it – but there’s an undercurrent of suspicion. It’s almost as if he’s waiting for the inevitable invasion of privacy – not surprising given the media scrutiny he endured during the illness and death of his wife, Belinda Emmett, in 2006.

I don’t intend to grill him about his personal life. But even when I ask about the media storm surrounding his wedding to actor Tasma Walton in June, he gives a sarcastic laugh, as if to say, “Nice try”. Then he crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows.

But just how does it feel to be hounded by the gossip magazines?

“It’s like a mosquito. It’s annoying. It doesn’t actually do you any harm. But every now and again, it can get very irritating.”