From the royals to pollies and celebs, these are the people to watch in 2019
A raft of Australian celebrities have had amazing highs and shocking lows. For some their future is uncertain. From sackings to scandals, these are some names to watch in 2019.
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The past 12 months has been full of ups and downs for these celebrities. So what does the New Year hold for them?
From sackings to scandals, these are some names to watch in 2019.
MEGHAN AND HARRY
2019 will be the year that reveals whether rumours about Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s feud were just that … or whether there was substance to the gossip. The sisters-in-law put on a united front on Christmas Day but, if there really are cracks, they’re not going to be able to keep up the act. Meghan’s baby is due in April or May — which will be the big royal news of the year — and she and husband Prince Harry are due to move from their current residence to Frogmore House, away from Kate and Wills.
JULIE BISHOP
She’s on the Liberal party’s backbench after the 2018 leadership spill which saw Scott Morrison become PM. Bishop, 62, is still making her voice heard in parliament, speaking out about the lack of women in the party and confirming she will contest the next election. Although she quit the front bench, Bishop made sure she didn’t fall out the spotlight through various high-profile antics, most recently jumping off a yacht in the Sydney to Hobart race, and attending Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough’s wedding.
THE STEFANOVICS
To say that the Stefanovics ended 2018 in a dramatic fashion is an understatement. Both Karl Stefanovic and Peter Stefanovic lost their high-profile jobs at Nine. Karl married new love Jasmine Yarbrough, in a cringe-worthy wedding in Cabo that possibly cost him his job on Today. Though Peter — a former foreign correspondent and co-host of Weekend Today — left the network entirely, Karl remains contracted to Nine with only one confirmed project, as host of This Time Next Year. Both their professional futures look uncertain in 2019.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS
The former Today Show newsreader’s future is unclear after she left the Today Show in December. In a statement, Jeffreys, 32, told The Daily Telegraph that although she will not return to Today, she - like Stefanovic - will remain within the network. It’s understood she will be moved into a prime time role.
“I’ve loved and embraced every minute of my Today show chapter and feel humbled to have worked with so many passionate people - hosts, studio crew, cameramen and producers - who have become my great mates. There are few shows that are fortunate to have such an engaged audience, and I thank our viewers for inviting me into their homes day after day,” she said.
“I’m thrilled to sink my teeth into a brand new project. Opportunity often knocks when you least expect it and I’m ready to dive right in to what’s ahead of me.”
CASSANDRA THORBURN
While everyone is watching Karl, the real wildcard is his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn who has already dipped her toes in the media with frequent appearances on Studio 10 and a headline-making interview with New Idea. It marks a return to the industry for Thorburn, who put her own journalism career on hold to raise her and Stefanovic’s three children.
TODAY SHOW
Nine’s breakfast TV show Today was given a dramatic overhaul in December, with the sudden axing of Karl Stefanovic and veteran entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins. Current Today host Georgie Gardner looks set to keep her job and may even be teamed with newsreader Deborah Knight in an all-female panel, as Nine desperately tries to revive its struggling program. What’s certain is that Today will look dramatically different in 2019.
SAM NEWMAN
He trolled everyone with his cryptic “resignation” from Nine’s The Footy Show but controversial AFL broadcaster Sam Newman has signed on for a new two-year deal. After much speculation, The Footy Show will return to screens in 2019 in an entirely different format. But Newman is reportedly set to flit between projects. “Sam will float through all of the shows but will obviously be a star of the specials,” Eddie McGuire said in December.
What that means for Newman’s brand of controversial humour remains to be seen.
LEE LIN CHIN
Now that she has slipped the bounds of SBS, veteran newsreader and style icon Lee Lin Chin is free to take on commercial TV projects. We’ve already seen her star in ad campaigns for Sheridan and Uber Eats. And anything that gives us more Lee Lin Chin is a good thing, even if it’s a 30-second ad.
JENNIFER HAWKINS
After 12 years, Jennifer Hawkins left her long-held position as the face of Myer, saying
“it’s time”. The former Miss Universe, 35, will shift her attention to her businesses including J Bronze (fake tanning) and Sesion Tequila (a booze company), as well as construction company J Group Project, which she runs with husband Jake Wall. Will she add other major endorsement deals to her portfolio?
ERIN MOLAN
She was a star on the rise, brought in to revive Nine’s NRL Footy Show. But Erin Molan’s career was in tatters a year later when Nine dumped the show after a ratings tumble, amid suggestions Molan, 36, “killed” the show when she was brought on to replace ex-host, Paul “Fatty” Vautin. Molan will not only continue her role as host for the Sunday Footy Show but will also “take an even more prominent role on Nine’s sports broadcasts going forward,” according to Nine’s Director of Sport, Tom Malone. We will have to wait and see.
JUSTIN BIEBER
He started 2018 still dating on-again off-again girlfriend Selena Gomez … and ended it married to Hailey Baldwin (with a string of romances with fame-seeking Instagram “models” in between). It’s been a year when Biebs, 24, made headlines for his personal life (and often dishevelled appearance) rather than his songs.
RIHANNA
She hasn’t released a new album for about three years. In that time, Rihanna, 30, started a lucrative makeup brand, Fenty Beauty, and lingerie label, Savage x Fenty. Rihanna finally confirmed she has new music on the way in 2019, responding to a fan who asked the question on Instagram recently. The fan wrote, “when is the album dropping Robyn? Can we have a release date for that?” Rihanna’s response? “2019”. In typical Riri form, no further details have surfaced, other than her vocal producer saying it would be “incredible”.
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