Inside the life, career and personal struggles of Adelaide-born model Olivia Molly Rogers
She’s partied with Hollywood A-listers, won beauty pageants and fronted national campaigns, but it hasn’t all been champagne and roses for former Adelaide model Olivia Molly Rogers.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Young, beautiful, academically-gifted. On the face of it, Adelaide’s Olivia Molly Rogers was blessed with all of life’s riches.
But the 30-year-old model, artist and influencer, who in 2017 was crowned Miss Universe Australia, has waged several personal and private battles away from the spotlight that have not only defined her road to success, but also had a role to play in how she now chooses to use her profile and the causes she seeks to advocate for.
In recent weeks, Rogers’ personal life has become public news after she announced the end of her four-and-a-half year r~elationship and eight month marriage to husband Justin.
We take a look back at Rogers’ journey so far.
EARLY YEARS
Olivia Molly Rogers was born in Adelaide on March 17, 1992 to Mark Rogers, a doctor, and Nicky Klemich. The couple have three children Eleanor, Oliva and Oscar.
Rogers attended St Andrew’s School Walkerville and Seymour College but in 2017 told The Advertiser that school was not always an easy journey.
After her parents’ divorce she says she struggled with her weight and her self confidence.
“I was probably bad at ball sports because I was so scared to put myself out there and scared of failing,” she said. “I have always put a lot of pressure on myself to do well academically and I was focusing on that.”
Rogers says she eventually discovered walking and rowing, which “really helped me come out of my shell” and while studying Yr 12 at Seymour, she was scouted to become a model.
“But even still when I first got approached by a modelling agency I thought it was a joke because I was so insecure and so self-conscious,” she said.
Rogers had been planning to study speech pathology at Flinders University, but deferred her course to move to Sydney to try her luck as a full time model.
BIG MODELLING BREAK
By her own admission, Rogers’ foray into the industry was a difficult and unhappy experience.
“I didn’t really love that. I didn’t like not using my brain and I felt very objectified ... it’s quite a harsh environment to be in,” she said.
Her weight and measurements were checked on every visit to her modelling agency, and over time she dropped to just 49kg.
“For my height (173cm) that’s just not OK and it was all to look good in a photo and for what ... I wasn’t happy”.
Rogers said the pressure caused her to develop what she calls “disordered eating”.
“It’s when you think about (eating) too much and you think ‘I need to exercise because I’m eating this’ which I think a lot of girls do ... I definitely had that. It was consuming me,” she said.
Unhappy and struggling with depression, Rogers, then aged about 20, moved home to Adelaide and returned to her studies.
As The Advertiser reported, back in Adelaide Rogers rediscovered modelling.
But this time decided to represent herself having learned some hard lessons from her first stint in the business - one of the biggest, that being happy and healthy was more important than attaining a particular look.
“I think I pulled back from the industry just in time and when I moved back to Adelaide and said ‘Oh my God, I am never modelling again’ ... I think I was lucky that I did that.”
“It was so not worth it and that is the message that I want to spread to young girls ... that you all look at these amazing girls on Instagram and aspire to be like that, but everybody’s different and everyone has a different body shape,” she said.
MOVE TO MELBOURNE
In May, 2017, Rogers moved to Melbourne to be closer to then-boyfriend Andrew Pretto, a commercial construction professional she met on Tinder.
Speaking to The Advertiser, Rogers revealed the pair only met in person when Pretto came to Adelaide to visit a cousin.
“I didn’t think he would be very nice,” Rogers confessed.
“I thought ‘he is very attractive’ and I thought he would be really arrogant, but he was absolutely lovely and he started coming back to Adelaide very regularly and everyone was like ‘Ooh, he really likes his cousin’”, she joked. The couple dated-long distance for over a year before Rogers finally decided to make the move.
MISS UNIVERSE AUSTRALIA
Two months after arriving in Melbourne, Roger was crowned Miss Universe Australia, an honour she described in the moment as a complete shock.
Rogers, then 25, beat 31 other contestants to claim the title at the hotel Sofitel in Melbourne.
“ I keep forgetting to breathe. It doesn’t feel real,” she said.
“I have never done a pageant and never thought I would.
“I’ve done modelling since I was 17.
“I was a late entry.
“I was asked to do it back in December and I said no because I didn’t think I could do it and the thought of walking on stage in a bikini terrified me.”
After taking out the Aussie title, Rogers went up against 91 women from around the world in the Miss Universe competition in Las Vegas but failed to make the cut.
The competition was won by the contestant from South Africa, with Jamaica and Colombia placing second and third.
“Didn’t make top 16 but having the best time & I love you all,” Rogers wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you for backing me no matter what.”
‘MEET MY FRIEND LEO’
She may have missed out on the Miss Universe crown, but Rogers’ trip to the US wasn’t without its perks.
As The Advertiser’s Antimo Iannella reported, on her last night in the country, Rogers was at a nightclub in Los Angeles when one of her companions tapped her on the shoulder and said ‘I want you to meet my friend Leo’.
“It was Leonardo DiCaprio, my heart nearly stopped,” she said.
“He shook my hand and said, ‘Such a pleasure to meet you’. It was so weird, I was trying to play it cool but I was very excited.”
Di Caprio’s friend and Great Gatsby co-star Tobey Maguire was also at the club and when it closed, Rogers said she and about 15 other people were invited back to Di Caprio’s Hollywood mansion where they partied until the wee small hours.
“He has a beautiful view of LA, incredible art on every inch of the walls. It was like stepping on to a movie set.
“It wasn’t a raging party though and they were complete gentlemen . . . then at about 4am we all went home.”
RISING STAR
Despite missing out on the Miss Universe crown, Rogers’ career was given a huge boost by her Australian win and she has since gone on to front national campaigns for clients such as Priceline and Sofitel Melbourne, media appearances, hosting gigs and, in 2021, a spot on reality TV show The Apprentice Aotearoa in New Zealand.
A PLATFORM TO RAISE AWARENESS
Rogers has also used her star power to raise awareness around issues close to her heart.
Shortly before heading to Las Vegas in 2017, Rogers signed up to support the annual Movember campaign, which raises money and awareness for men’s health.
She told Adelaide’s Sunday Mail she was inspired to speak about the impact of mental health issues in her own family.
“My dad has bipolar. I haven’t actually spoken about it publicly before,” Rogers said.
“He’s a doctor and I think there’s a stigma around bipolar where people think that people with it can’t function.”
“They picture a man who’s stuck in bed, unable to do anything.”
“But Dad is working full-time, helping people every single day, and he’s just amazing.”
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph’s Confidential section, Rogers said about her dad’s illness “his bipolar doesn’t define him, that is the thing with mental illness, we have to talk about these things,”
“It is about being open and not embarrassed by it because it is not embarrassing. The more people we can get talking about mental health, the better.”
In 2021, Rogers documented her own struggles with anxiety and disordered eating in a book called Find Your Light.
“I’m hoping that people who do read it and relate to the eating disorder and mental health side of things, maybe can find some solace,” she told PerthNow.
BUDDING ARTIST
Rogers’ website, oliviamollyrogers.com, describes her as a “budding artist” as well as qualified speech pathologist and modeland several examples of her work are showcased on the Instagram account @oliviamolly_art/, which has over 10,000 followers.
PERSONAL LIFE
In late 2017, after two years together, Rogers confirmed she and boyfriend Andrew Pretto had broken up.
Speaking to the West Australian’s Access All Areas reporter, Rogers said the split “wasn’t necessarily because of Miss Universe but just like…”
“Life?” reporter Krystal Sanders asked. “Yep”, Rogers replied.
In 2018, Rogers, then 26, began dating Melbourne-based travel and events company CFO Justin McKeone.
In June, 2018, Rogers told The Advertiser she had brought McKeone home to Adelaide for the weekend to meet the family and the 30-year-old got the tick of approval.
“He met Dad’s side and Mum’s side and everyone in between,” Olivia told reporter Antimo Iannella. “It was a jam-packed family weekend but it was good,” she said.
“Everybody loved him, he got big ticks from everyone.”
SHOCK SPLIT
In early October, Rogers announced she and McKeone had parted aways after four-and-a-half years as a couple and after tying the knot in February this year.
In a statement on her Instagram page, Rogers said she and McKeone had made the “difficult decision” to separate.
“I do not wish to make any further statements about this in the near future,” she said.
“Please respect our decision and privacy at this time.
“Thank you for all your private DM’s, kindness and support.
The pair were engaged on an overseas holiday in 2019 and were married in February after being forced to postpone the occasion twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A week after announcing the split, Rogers wowed the crowd at the Urban Garden Runway at Melbourne Fashion Week in an orange maxi dress and gold accessories.
“I’m focusing on having a good time and living my best life,” she said.
“Wearing a good outfit definitely helps your confidence. It has been a hard time, but I am getting there.”
OLIVIA SPEAKS ABOUT DIVORCE
In February 2023, Rogers spoke openly about her divorce, telling the Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki podcast she and McKeone had “differerent attachment styles” and as early as nine months into their five-year relationship, she realised they had different communication styles.
“At the time we got together, I was quite anxious,” Rogers said.
“I was quite insecure and he was really avoidant, and anxious attached and avoidant is just like, it’s not a good combination,” she said.
“Because the more anxious you are, the more avoidant they become and that was like a pattern for us.”
Rogers also said she went into the marriage believing it would give her a sense of “extra security” or that “it would change something and make things better”.
“But it obviously doesn’t do that”.
She said she sought advice from Dad Mark who asked her how she was feeling in the marriage. “I said ‘I’m miserable’”.
Responding to her comments on the split on Instagram, McKeone said that people should never believe there was only ever one side to a story and that respecting “the dignity of a broken marriage” was greater than speaking publicly.
“My nearest and dearest know my side and that’s all that matters to me. That’s all you’ll ever (hear) from me. “Thank you for all the messages of support - I can honestly say l’ve never been happier,” he wrote.
Originally published as Inside the life, career and personal struggles of Adelaide-born model Olivia Molly Rogers
I found the Cook Islands’ best-kept secret
Rarotonga’s untouristed interior reveals a paradise that is lost on most travellers.
I flew 1600km for love and got ghosted at the airport
Model River Blake flew to meet a man she had been chatting to online for three years, only to be left stranded at the airport.