Natalie Barr
Natalie Barr at the Any Questions for Ben? Premiere In Sydney, Australia, January 2012
Born	Natalie Anne Barr (1968-03-19) 19 March 1968 (age 44) Bunbury, WA, Australia
Residence	Sydney
Education	Curtin University
Occupation	Journalist, news and TV presenter
Employer	Seven Network
Spouse	Andrew
Children	Lachlan and Hunter
Website
Official website

Natalie Anne Barr (born 19 March 1968) is an Australian journalist, news and television presenter.

Barr is currently news presenter on the Seven Network's Sunrise and presenter of Seven Early News.

Career[link]

Barr attended Bunbury Catholic College as head girl in her final year and then studied journalism at Curtin University. She worked in newspaper, radio and television journalism, including stints at the Wanneroo Times and Golden West Network, before moving to Los Angeles and working for KABC, KTLA and KCOP. While there she was awarded a Golden Mic for best newscast writing and was nominated for a Los Angeles area Emmy Award for her work on the O.J. Simpson car chase.

Barr joined Seven News in Sydney as a reporter in 1994 and also read the afternoon news updates.

Barr has been the news presenter on the Seven Network's Sunrise since 2002, after a stint as fill-in presenter over summer proved her popularity with the audience. She has previously presented other bulletins at Seven including Seven Morning News and Seven Late News, and Weekend Sunrise.

In July 2008, Barr began presenting Seven Early News alongside Mark Beretta at 5.30am, which leads into Sunrise where she is still the news presenter.^[1] Barr is also the regular fill in for Melissa Doyle on Sunrise Barr is also a fill in presenter for Matt White on Today Tonight East Coast edition.

Barr was a front-runner to co-host Sunday Night, a new current affairs show.^[2] Chris Bath was appointed as co-host with Mike Munro.

In January 2009, Barr presented live from Washington DC for Sunrise for the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Personal life[link]

Barr was born in Bunbury, Western Australia and is married to Andrew (a television commercial editor). They have two children, Lachlan and Hunter.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Sunrise Family
• Arrival gate Q&A - Natalie Barr
• EntertainOZ celebrity speakers
• Natalie Barr at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article related to television in Australia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Jennifer Hawkins

Beauty pageant titleholder
Hawkins in February 2012
Born	Jennifer Hawkins (1983-12-22) 22 December 1983 (age 28) Holmesville, New South Wales, Australia[1]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Title(s)	Miss Australia 2004, Miss Universe 2004
Major competition(s)	Miss Universe 2004 (winner)

Jennifer Hawkins (born 22 December 1983)^[1] is an Australian beauty queen, model and television presenter best known as Miss Universe 2004. She is the face of Australian department store Myer.

Early life[link]

Hawkins was born in Holmesville, New South Wales, and currently resides in Sydney. She attended West Wallsend High School in West Wallsend, New South Wales. She is one of four children, and her parents are of Australian heritage. Hawkins was a former cheerleader for the Newcastle Knights rugby league team,^[2] and the Hunter Pirates basketball team and also worked as a model. It was as a model that she was cast as Miss Australia for the Miss Universe competition.^[3] Hawkins also worked as a choreographer for a dance team that toured Australia specialising in Hip-Hop and Ballet.^[4]

Career[link]

Miss Universe[link]

After dropping out of high school Hawkins went on to be a model. Before participating in Miss Universe 2004 Hawkins sought advice from the previous Miss Australia, Ashlea Talbot, who represented Australia in the 2003 competition, and learned basic Spanish prior to travelling to Ecuador.^[1]

The Miss Universe pageant was held in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004. A week prior to the event, Hawkins was ranked sixth favourite to win the crown.^[5] During the final competition, Hawkins became the first Australian to make the semi-finals since Voni Delfos in 1993. She then proceeded to the top ten after competing in the evening gown competition, where she wore an unusual vintage copper gown that was designed by Bora and cost A$25,000.^[6] After the swimsuit competition, Hawkins advanced to the top five, and eventually won the Miss Universe title.^[4] The remaining top five were all delegates from the Americas and Caribbean, including Shandi Finnessey of the USA (1st runner-up), Alba Reyes of Puerto Rico (2nd runner-up), Yanina Gonzalez of Paraguay (3rd runner-up) and Danielle Jones of Trinidad and Tobago (4th runner-up).^[4] Hawkins was the first winner from Oceania since Lorraine Downes of New Zealand held the title in 1983, and the first Australian since Kerry Anne Wells in 1972.

Hawkins was crowned by outgoing titleholder Amelia Vega from the Dominican Republic, after famously being announced by host Billy Bush as the "thunder from down under".^[7] Pageant co-owner Donald Trump described Hawkins as "the most beautiful Miss Universe I have seen in many, many years".^[4]

Hawkins received an elaborate Mikimoto pearl encrusted crown, worth $250,000 as well as an extensive prize package. Hawkins was the first blonde haired woman to win the title since Angela Visser of the Netherlands in 1989.

As Miss Universe, Hawkins represented the Miss Universe Organization. Her "sister" 2004 titleholders were Shelley Hennig (Miss Teen USA, of Louisiana) and Shandi Finnessey (Miss USA, of Missouri). During her reign, Hawkins travelled to Korea, The Bahamas, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Singapore, Indonesia, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, India, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, had multiple trips to Thailand, the host of Miss Universe 2005, and her home country of Australia. In Brazil, after an official meeting with Vice-President José Alencar, he said she was "the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life".^[8] Also, she was the first Miss Universe ever to parade in a Samba School (as Eve) during brazilian carnival, in February 2005.^[8]

As part of her year-long reign as Miss Universe, she resided in New York City in a riverside apartment provided by the Miss Universe Organization. Also during her reign as Miss Universe, Hawkins stated that her wish was to continue modelling and become a television presenter.

Shortly after being crowned Miss Universe in 2004, Hawkins created news during a fashion show at Westfield Miranda, an Australian shopping centre, when she tripped on the hem of her dress, which fell to the floor. Hawkins was left scantily clad in her red g-string in front of a surprised crowd. Hawkins later apologised, laughingly adding she "wished she wore better underwear". The incident received the dubious distinction of being named "The most embarrassing moment ever shown on Australian television"^[9] by Australia's Nine Network. The "wardrobe malfunction" was widely circulated through news outlets and according to Google, caused a sharp increase in internet searches for "Jennifer Hawkins".^[10][11]

Hawkins served as a judge for the Miss Universe 2008 finals in Vietnam.

Television presenting[link]

Jennifer Hawkins presenting The Great Outdoors, on location Saint-Denis, Réunion

Hawkins signed a contract with the Seven Network at the 2004 Melbourne Cup Carnival. Her first appearances were as a guest presenter on the network's travel show, The Great Outdoors, where she took viewers on tours throughout the world. When she ended her reign as Miss Universe, she became a regular presenter on the show, which resulted in a 2006 Logie nomination for Most Popular New Female Talent. No new episodes of the programme have been produced since 2009.

Hawkins also served as the host and one of the judges for Australia's Make Me a Supermodel, which debuted on the Seven Network in August 2008. The series aired for a single season.

Media outlets reported in October 2010 that Hawkins would depart Seven and move to the Nine Network after the expiration of her contract.^[12]

Other[link]

Hawkins was one of the participants in the fourth season of Australia's Dancing with the Stars and was the fifth celebrity eliminated. On 15 February 2006 she was in a celebrity version of Deal or No Deal called Dancing with the Deal which featured celebrities from Dancing with the Stars. She won $2,000 after refusing every deal.

Hawkins is featured as the love interest of Australian artist, Guy Sebastian in the music video for the second single "Elevator Love" off his third album, Closer To The Sun.

She has made cameo appearances in multiple episodes of The Apprentice with Donald Trump. Hawkins turned down the role of Sophie Solandres in The Pink Panther 2 due to scheduling conflicts, which was eventually given to Former Miss World and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai.^[13]

As a model she is represented by the Danish agency Bornmodels.^[14]

Endorsements[link]

Hawkins in an ad for Grand Waterfront

• In July 2005, she was signed by personal hygiene and skincare brand Lux as its face of Australia and New Zealand.^[15]
• In September 2006, Hawkins signed a 3 year deal with Lovable Australia lingerie as its Australian "face".^[16]
• In August 2006, she became ambassador for Grand Waterfront, a residential development in Hong Kong between Henderson Land Development and its associate the Hong Kong & China Gas Company.^[17] Full front page colour photographs of her have appeared as advertisements in several Chinese language newspapers; Minute-long advertisements for the development have been aired on primetime television in Hong Kong with Hawkins as the principal subject.
• In 2006, Jennifer signed a lucrative endorsement deal to become the fourth Australian face of Covergirl makeup.
• In November 2006, Hawkins endorsed a range of Asus laptops in Sydney, Australia,^[18] at which the company donated the proceeds of an EBay sale of a special edition pink S6 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
• In January 2007, it was announced that Hawkins had signed a deal with Australian Department Store Myer worth $4million (AUD).
• In 9 August 2007, she was offered $50,000 to pose nude in the men's magazine, Zoo Magazine, which she declined.
• On 6 January 2010, Hawkins appeared naked and unretouched on the February cover of Marie Claire Australia magazine to support the Butterfly Foundation and encourage positive attitudes to body image.^[19]

Public image[link]

Hawkins at a fashion show in August 2011

Reception[link]

Following her successful public reception, Hawkins initially accepted Bathurst school student Daniel Dibley's invitation to accompany him to his Year 12 graduation ball in August 2006.^[20] She later declined because she did not wish to draw attention from the other couples. She did however agree to go with him on a private date.

Personal life[link]

Hawkins is engaged to model and former carpenter, turned TV hopeful, Jake Wall.^[21] They met just prior to Hawkins winning the Miss Universe pageant and the two continued their relationship following her return to Australia after her year based in New York.^[22] Wall was in Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice. The Seven Network requested that she not attend the show, as Seven feared the Nine Network will capitalise on her presence, which may boost ratings for Nine.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jennifer Hawkins

• Official Website
• EntertainOz Profile
• Seoul Times on the pageant
• Exquisite Soul
• Askmen
• Jennifer Hawkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Jennifer Hawkins at the Fashion Model Directory
• Sydney Morning Herald article, 21 August 2006
• Jennifer Hawkins Videos at Made of Stars
• Jennifer Hawkins launches her own swimwear brand

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

Melissa Jane Doyle (born 10 February 1970) is an Australian television personality.

Doyle is currently a co-host of the Seven Network's breakfast television program Sunrise alongside David Koch.

Career[link]

Doyle attended the private school Pymble Ladies' College. She studied communications at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW. During her studies she was a broadcaster with on-campus community radio station 2MCE-FM. She gained a cadetship at WIN Television's Canberra bureau in 1990, then moved to Prime Television to become news anchor and general reporter. After her stint at Prime ended in 1995, Doyle joined the Seven Network in Sydney as a Canberra based political reporter as well as reading the afternoon news updates on occasion. Doyle was one of Sunrise's original hosts before it was axed in 1999, before being resurrected in 2000, and which she rejoined in 2002. She also had a stint reading the Seven Late News.

In 2000, she took over as host of Sydney's Today Tonight following the departure of Stan Grant. She stayed until March 2001 when she left for maternity leave.

In 2012, she was named as the Greater Western Sydney Giants' inaugural No. 1 Ticket Holder.

Sunrise[link]

Doyle returned to Seven from maternity leave in a variety of news and presenting roles before being asked to front a revamped Sunrise program with Chris Reason. After about eight months, Reason left the program after a recurrence of cancer, and David Koch joined the program as a replacement.

Together, Doyle and Koch, under the guidance of Executive Producer Adam Boland, eventually surpassed their incumbent opposition and market leaders, Today on the Nine Network.

In 2003 Doyle enjoyed a very public pregnancy with her second child, who was born in December of that year and named Talia.

Doyle was nominated for the Silver Logie as Most Popular Television Presenter in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. She was the only female nominated in that category.

Doyle was embroiled in legal proceedings in which it was alleged she identified a minor who was divorcing his parents. The divorce case was being heard in the Victorian Children's Court and because the boy was only 14 years old he couldn't be named. But Sunrise, as well as a number of other news outlets, including the Sunday Herald Sun and Today Tonight, allegedly identified him and the journalists/presenters were charged with contempt of court. The journalists and presenters/hosts were all acquitted but the Seven Network, its news director, Today Tonight's executive producer and the Sunday Herald Sun and its editor-in-chief were convicted.^{[citation needed]}

Other work[link]

In October 2007, Doyle's first book, The Working Mothers Survival Guide (co-written with Jo Scard), was published by Allen & Unwin. It sold over 10,000 copies in its first print run.

Doyle and Koch have also co-hosted another Seven Network production Where Are They Now.

In 2008, Doyle was selected to front a new documentary program on the Seven Network called The Zoo. The show had a six week run during the first half of 2008. A second series of The Zoo commenced on air in October 2008. It generated an audience of over 1.7 million people in each of its first three weeks making it one of the Top Five Programs on Australian television for that week, and one of the highest ranking programs of the year.

Doyle previously wrote a weekly column in Australia's highest selling newspaper, the Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne called "Balancing Act". The column talked about her experiences as a working mother.

References[link]

• Melissa Doyle Sunrise presenter, Seven Network

External links[link]

• Melissa Doyle's official site
• http://www.workingmotherssurvivalguide.com, Website for Melissa Doyle's book
• Melissa Doyle^{[dead link]}, Ninemsn Health, June 2004 issue of GoodMedicine magazine
• Interview on WHO.com with Mel and Kochie about their Cool the Globe campaign^{[dead link]}
• Melissa Doyle at the Internet Movie Database