They Love 'Everything About It' (Exclus...

Harry Connick Jr

Published Time: 18.07.2024 - 15:31:09 Modified Time: 18.07.2024 - 15:31:09

Harry Connick Jr.'s daughters are honorary Aussies!

The actor and multiple Grammy winner opens up about work and family in this week's issue of PEOPLE amid the release of his new romantic comedy Find Me Falling, and notes that his three kids — Georgia, 28, Kate, 26, and Charlotte, 22 — have all relocated to Australia, following his 2023 stint Down Under as a judge on Australian Idol.

"They're in school and working and they're having a good time down there," says Connick who, at the time of the interview, had recently returned to the U.S. from visiting the girls with their mom, his wife of 30 years Jill Goodacre Connick.

And while Georgia, Kate and Charlotte — who are working in the worlds of photography, acting and modeling — are "back and forth," they were initially drawn to calling Australia a home base for the time being because of "the novelty of it," according to their dad.

"Georgia and Kate had been there a couple of times when they were little with me on tour, so they always wanted to go back," he says. "And then when Charlotte got down there, she loved it too."

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As for their reasonings for deciding to stay, "It's a combination of things," Connick tells PEOPLE.

"First and foremost, the people are just incredibly kind and welcoming," explains the New Orleans native. "It's a beautiful country. The food down there is among the best in the world. It's clean air. Just the quality of life is gr -

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eat. The pace is relaxed."

The Annie Live! actor says his kids "loved everything about" the country, to the point where they told their parents that "maybe we should try it."

"So they just pursued it and continued to work," he says. "They just absolutely love it."

Connick's daughters are certainly well-traveled, with Georgia and Kate even having accompanied their dad to Cyprus two years ago as he shot Find Me Falling.

And his favorite day during his downtime between filming involved not only Georgia and Kate, but some local hospitality — and great food.

"We were driving across the country to go from one location to the next, and there was a woman who was hired as a local assistant to help me during the shoot. And she asked if we wanted to stop by her parents' house, because they had a small farm out in the country," he recalls. "She said that they would have lunch for us, and it was just an incredibly generous invitation."

"We got there, and these people had this local feast prepared. You could've fed 50 people," Connick marvels. "They had so much food and it was just about 10 of us, and it was just incredible. And they explained to us the local dishes that they made."

"It was just something that I felt very lucky to be able to be a part of, because it wasn't a typical thing you'd get to do. So it was just an amazing day," he adds.

Find Me Falling is on Netflix July 19.

For more from Harry Connick Jr., pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.