Sara Leonardi-McGrath is made of tough stuff. She’s had to be. Since falling in love with former cricketer Glenn McGrath and becoming stepmother to his two children, whose mother Jane died from breast cancer in 2008, she’s faced cruel taunts and intense media scrutiny – on top of being uprooted from her career, friends and family to relocate to the other side of the world.

“It certainly wasn’t easy at first,” says Sara, 30, of the gold-digger accusations and general tut-tutting that their union came too soon after Jane’s death. “Neither Glenn nor I ever anticipated the reaction we received.”Anyone who thought Sara would crumble under the intense pressure obviously has never met the woman.

She speaks three languages, has a business degree and was studying interior design in Cape Town when she met Glenn. Smart, focused, worldly, fit and madly in love with her new husband and his children, Sara is exactly where she wants to be – heart, mind, spirit and body.

Talking to Woman’s Day, it’s clear she is taking her stepmother role seriously. Having been brought up as an only child by two parents she adores, Sara is determined to give James, 10, and Holly, 12, a similar loving start to life. However, she does not see herself replacing Jane. To her, that thought is almost obscene – which is why she was so hurt by a magazine article last year where she was misquoted as saying she is the only mother James and Holly have. “I didn’t say that and I would never say that,” Sara stresses.

Read of our exclusive interview with Sara in this week's Woman's Day on sale February 6, 2012.