Renee Bargh: ‘I owe my job to John Travolta’

SHE is the toast of Hollywood. So what was the innocent question that propelled this Aussie into a job that involves attending the Oscars, going to movie premieres and schmoozing A-lister friends?

Renee Bargh: “I always say John Travolta got me my job.” (Pic: David Wheeler for Stellar)

ONE question. Looking back, Renee Bargh believes that a single, seemingly innocuous query is what propelled her into a job that means having to attend the Academy Awards, go to blockbuster movie premieres and gives her the chance to brag that Hollywood A-listers, such as George Clooney, are her friends.

It was 2010, and Bargh was working as a TV presenter for local music station Channel [V] when the phone rang.

On the other end of the line was a producer from the top-rating US celebrity and entertainment news show Extra, trying to source an Australian reporter for a gig.

“Extra called, said John Travolta is in Australia, and asked: could I do an interview with him?” Bargh tells Stellar, recounting the call with a smile. “His wife Kelly was due to give birth any day. And I said [during the interview], without thinking much about it, ‘Have you thought of a name?’ and he told me.

Bargh on our Stellar shoot. (Pic: David Wheeler for Stellar)

“The next day I woke up and it was news everywhere: ‘John Travolta reveals baby name.’ My now bosses were like, ‘Congrats, you just got us a huge exclusive.’” Bargh also got a job — her scoop sealed the deal for Extra, which had already been flying her to the US for meetings as they courted her for a full-time position.

“So I got to LA, landed at 9.30am, and was on a red carpet interviewing Russell Crowe by 5pm. The next day, Extra offered me a three-year contract.”

It was an admittedly unorthodox way to land a living. Or as Bargh puts it, “I always say John Travolta got me my job.”

“I landed in LA at 9.30am, and was on a red carpet interviewing Russell Crowe by 5pm. The next day, Extra offered me a three-year contract.” (Pic: David Wheeler for Stellar)

But covering the entertainment industry from its global base in Hollywood has meant getting used to a very different definition of “normal”. Normal, for Bargh, is now calling Clooney, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman her mates. Normal means frocking up in glamorous gowns is a common occurrence, and that an average day of work is actually a night in high heels, trying to get the attention of some of the most famous people in the world.

Seven years on, the native of Mullumbimby, NSW, still can’t help being awed. “Of course I [get] excited — I see Oprah and my heart beats and I feel like I’m going to throw up,” the 32-year-old tells Stellar. “I think the main thing is seeing people as people. Then you can have a real, open and honest conversation with them.”

Normal now means frocking up in glamorous gowns is a common occurrence, and that an average day of work is actually a night in high heels. (Pic: David Wheeler for Stellar)

When she earned an Outstanding Entertainment News Program Emmy for her work with Extra in 2014, Bargh tells Stellar, “I had to stop myself and say, ‘What would the 13-year-old girl being bullied at high school — the girl who never thought people would ever be nice to me or like me — ever be doing up onstage getting an Emmy Award?’”

So far, so standard Hollywood fairytale. But those years at high school were tough for the academically minded student who was mocked for her skinny frame and a body that seemed to be working against her. “I had to wear those orthopaedic flat shoes; I had a lot operations on my ears so I always had cotton wool in them.”

From bullied schoolgirl to co-host of one of the world’s top entertainment programs. (Pic: David Wheeler for Stellar)

After graduation, Bargh moved to Sydney and studied performing arts before a stint in Girlband, a pop group put together by Sony BMG and Mark Byrne from Rogue Traders. But it proved a steep learning curve, and did not turn out to be her calling. “I don’t speak about it often,” Bargh admits. “I was so naïve and unaware of what I was getting myself into. We did fly to Mumbai to shoot a music video and record a theme song for a Bollywood film.”

Girlband was short-lived, but her time with the group helped Bargh grow into herself and gave her a foothold in the music industry; she would go on to nab that Channel [V] job and host roles on shows including the Seven Network’s National Bingo Night.

Working on Extra has taught Bargh a few things. For starters, the glamour of the entertainment industry is mostly a façade; her reality is that she works in a demanding and competitive field. Plus, nobody ever seems to switch off in her adopted country. “In America it’s just go, go, go and nobody stops — you get emails at midnight that you have to respond to,” she says. “I work weekends, I almost work seven days a week and late nights, and now we are in award-show season, so it never stops.”

Renee Bargh features in Stellar magazine.

After seven years of practice, most of her celebrity encounters go smoothly. But there are times they can go wrong — very wrong. “Right before a big award show I stepped out of the car and completely tore my zip from top to bottom. One of my producers had to safety pin me from the side of the carpet. I also had a pair of pants split right before interviewing [then] Vice President Joe Biden, and the Secret Service had to help me get it stitched up before the interview.”

On her rare days off, Bargh sticks close to her Venice Beach neighbourhood, which has a lot of the same boho flair as the northern NSW region where she was raised. She also stays close with a quartet of fellow Australian expats. She and one-time flatmate Delta Goodrem head out for dance workouts; models Nicole Trunfio, Ashley Hart and Jessica Gomes are her partners on the yoga mat.

Friends are all well and good, but this year Bargh is keen on logging another accomplishment — finding what she calls “that Nicole and Keith kind of love. My priorities are work, my health and my friends, so trying to fit dating in there has been a challenge. But maybe, in 2018, I’ll figure it out.”