Nine News names new Europe correspondent

SEB Costello’s been on the career fast-track since “knocking around in community radio” in his teens, but now finds himself with the ultimate ticket to ride, as Nine’s new London correspondent.

Nine News reporter Seb Costello is to become the network’s new European correspondent based in London. Picture: Sarah Matray

SEB Costello’s been on the career fast-track since “knocking around in community radio” in his
teens, but now finds himself just over a decade later with the ultimate ticket to ride, as Nine’s new London correspondent.

The 30-year-old, who began his career in regional radio with stints in Taree and Echuca, earned gigs on Melbourne’s 3AW and most recently Triple M’s breakfast show, and then impressed at Nine on various assignments overseas last year.

The dizzyingly fast-talker said he’d been “able to make the most of a couple of opportunities last year and I think this was really set up by (his work) in 2016”.

Those gigs showed the reporter’s versatility and included coverage of the Dawn service in Gallipoli; Leicester City’s fabled football victory in the Premier League; Muhammad Ali’s funeral and the US hate crime attacks at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, as well as the Rio Olympics.

It surely doesn’t hurt he’s the son of former treasurer and Nine board member Peter Costello, but as the young buck joked: “The family connections I have meant we didn’t have any friends in the media, so I probably haven’t been able to draw on those.”

Once his working visa’s sorted, Costello Jr will join Amelia Ballinger in London from mid-April, ahead of a May start on air.

Costello told TV Insider it was “a real honour to be following in the footsteps” of his network peers, including Tom Steinfort and Peter Stefanovic, and before that some of the big name journos of the newsroom, Mark Burrowes and Damien Ryan,” saying their legacy “also motivates you to do a good job”.

As Steinfort found during his terror-plagued stint, Europe remains in a state of great flux, with a planned State visit by US President Donald Trump and Brexit both hot button issues.

While Costello is teased by his industry mates for his bouffant head of hair, he clearly has his head screwed on right, stating: “While you have to be savvy, the positions you put yourself in... I’m relishing (the chance) but keeping my head about it.”

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Ashleigh Ross has more than 500,000 Instagram followers. Picture: Supplied

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Boy George in Sydney for The Voice. Picture: Instagram

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