Studio 10 host Sarah Harris opens up on her humble upbringing
Studio 10 host Sarah Harris has endured plenty of challenges in her life. But the mum of two has revealed it’s her humble beginnings that sometimes makes her worry for her kids.
Fiona Byrne
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Six years as host of Channel 10’s Studio 10 morning show has turned Sarah Harris into one of Australia’s best live TV hosts. But it is not just her professionalism that has endeared her to her audience.
Her openness and honesty about her humble upbringing, body image battles, keyboard warriors, pregnancies and the juggle of being a working mum have made her all the more relatable and real.
FIONA BYRNE: Sarah, thank you for your time. You are enjoying great success now but I understand you grew up in quite ordinary circumstances.
SARAH HARRIS: I was born in Sydney and moved to Queensland when I was 7. I grew up in housing commission houses when I was in Sydney; me, my brother and my single mum. And when we moved to Queensland we lived in caravan parks for a while until mum got on her feet. I guess it was the making of me. Mum was really good at telling us, ‘you need to make sure you are properly educated and you work really hard to be able to give yourself options in life.’ I think it is kind of cool not to have a silver spoon in your mouth when you are growing up because you realise you have to work hard, and that life is not always fair, but that is OK as long as you are willing to put in the work you can be whatever you want to be and that is a pretty awesome thing.
FB: So your early years shaped your drive and determination?
SH: It (a humble beginning) almost gives you a chip on your shoulder that drives you forward and then you have to manage that chip on your shoulder so it does not completely trip you up. But it does give you that drive, that motivation to better yourself and to make a better life for yourself. I sometimes worry that my kids, who are three and a half and one and a half now and have been born into pretty lucky circumstances, they will never want for anything and I do hope they still have something that drives them, that pushes them to be successful people.
FB: Your start in TV came through a part-time job at Channel 7 while you were studying Year 11.
SH: It was 1997 when I started and I worked part-time at Channel 7 in Brisbane for three years. I then did six months at Prime Gold Coast News as a cadet reporter and then from there I was part of a show that folded in three months. It launched and crashed and burned pretty quickly. It was called Local Edition. So I was unemployed for three months and thought, ‘Oh God, this is the end of my career before I have even started.’ Then Channel 9 offered me a job as a researcher. I started at the bottom again off-air and then within a few months I was on-air reporting, doing stuff for news and the Today show. I then moved to Sydney working for the Today show and news. I had been at Nine for 12 years and then I got this really exciting opportunity to host this new morning panel show for Channel 10 and I had to take a risk and say yes. Almost six years later it is still going strong.
FB: Your show, Studio 10, is live for three and a half hours each weekday. Hosting a live show is an art. How would you describe it?
SH: It is sort of like a dinner party without the booze. I think it (the show) has really evolved over the years. It is a panel show with big personalities and we fearlessly debate hot topics. All the debates and arguments you see on TV are live and unscripted and are happening then and there and that is part of the fun. There have been times when one of us has put our foot in it and especially in today’s highly PC world you are thinking three steps ahead thinking, ‘Is this going to be a headline? How do I steer this debate out of that dangerous territory?,’ but it is the fun of it as well. I have worked with Joe Hildebrand and Angela Bishop for almost six years now and sometimes I still don’t know what they are going to say.
FB: Speaking of headlines, the panel debate in January about the Australia Day protests turned into a massive issue after Yumi Stynes described Kerri-Anne Kennerley as sounding “quite racist.” How did you feel being part of that?
SH: On Studio 10 we have tackled everything from the transgender debate, the Australian flag and the Australia Day debate. We really have gone into complicated territory. We don’t want to skirt around things because that is the robust nature of our show. We want to tackle all these topics. We have not always been successful at how we have handled that.
I am quite a perfectionist so when something blows up, and the biggest example I can think of was the conversation which happened between Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Yumi Stynes, it stays with me. I have replayed that moment of television over and over in my head so many times to work out how I could have handled it differently. In the rough and tumble of live TV, and three and a half hours that you are navigating every morning, we don’t always get it right, but we do really strive to set it right if we get it wrong. For example we made sure the following day we had indigenous women on to give a different perspective to the debate. Kerri-Anne had said she would go and visit remote communities in the Northern Territory to educate herself and she did that, she kept her word. We are not afraid to own it if we stuff up and we are not afraid to admit when we got things wrong. That kind of honesty and respect for our viewers is why we have such a loyal core audience. They know we are not going to bullshit them. We are not so full of ourselves that we won’t take responsibility when we stuff up.
FB: Your success on Studio 10 has coincided with you starting a family. How has that juggle been?
SH: I feel like I have gained two kids, 10kg and a husband on this show. I was just engaged to my husband, Tom, when I joined the show and now we have two sons, Paul and Harry.
It has actually been perfect to do a show that allows you to grow professionally and also to grow personally. This show has been so beautifully timed for that and it has been really lovely to share my pregnancies with our audience. I am very lucky but I have to say I don’t always get the juggle right.
FB: What prompted you to take a stand against keyboard warriors who criticised your pregnancy weight gain when you were carrying your first child?
SH: I had huge changes to my body and I put on a lot of weight. I am one of those women, we all carry differently, that blew up. My face looked pregnant, my ankles were swollen as can be. With our show there are cameras everywhere so they (viewers) saw me from every single angle. I copped a few nasty emails about putting on too much weight during my pregnancy. I finally took a stand after the Daily Mail published some paparazzi photos of me looking pregnant and unglamorous and the wind had blown up my top and you could see my belly. It was not the article, which was quite nice, that bothered me but it was the comments on the story that were awful. I took a stand. I was like, ‘You know what, get stuffed. I am proud to be here growing elbows and brain matter while hosting a TV show.’ The flood of support I received after that was so heartening.
FB: Why did you take those comments so personally?
SH: I have always had quite an uneasy relationship with my body. There has been yoyo dieting. In the past I went through very dark times where I made myself sick to bring the numbers on the scales down, things that I am just not proud of. Then I came to a point where I realised that your body is not just something to be gazed at and admired, it is an instrument, it is something that gets you through life, that helps you birth two babies. My whole mindset and my whole appreciation for my body has completely changed.
I am running a 10km fun run (her first) in a month’s time. It is not about losing weight. It is about making sure I am strong and I am fit and that I have enough energy to run after my two little rascals. I have completely flipped the script on what I thought your body was for. It is something that gets you through life and I think more of us should be grateful for that rather than thinking it is an ornament.
FB: Did you feel any pressure to return to you pre-baby shape for your TV career?
SH: No. To be honest I think in the last five years, maybe 10, there has been a radical shift and we are seeing really strong women who are on TV not because of how they look but for what they have to say. There are really strong, beautiful, big-hearted women who are on TV who don’t fit that typical TV cookie cutter mould that we were all expected to fit 20 years ago and I think that is really cool.
FB: You are very open about the fact that you regularly consult with a psychologist. How does that therapy help you?
SH: I feel like in TV the lunatics are running the asylum so it is good to have professional help. If you can’t beat them join them. TV can be bloody brutal and you have to make sure you are in the right headspace to roll with the punches. In any industry it is important to put that energy back into your mental health. I don’t think there is a stigma about it any more. Jessica Rowe, when she was on our show, she was so outspoken about making sure her mental health was a priority. Joe Hildebrand, my co-host, speaks very frankly about taking antidepressants and how that helps him. There are some months where I might have a few more sessions than others. You know people will spend three hours at a (hair) salon getting their roots done every six weeks, but they won’t spend the money on going to someone to talk about their problems. It has been so beneficial for me, just having that outside perspective when you are feeling overwhelmed. It is so important and everyone should do it.
FB: I must ask, have you moved your phone away from your bed these days after you accidentally live streamed yourself dead to the world, snoring, one night in 2017?
SH: Thank god they only got the snoring because I was very, very gassy during my pregnancy with Harry which would have been absolutely mortifying.
FB: Friends tell me you are famous for your potty mouth.
SH: I do have a potty mouth, but you have to clean up your act when you have children. They are sponges and when they start using the f-word in context at preschool you know you are in trouble. I have become better. That is a flaw in my character that I am working on.
FB: Is it true you are a Guinness World Record holder?
SH: Yes. I am. I hold the record for the most squashes squashed in one minute and I did it while wearing a Wednesday Addams costumes. I am very competitive. If someone says let’s break a record I am like, ‘Game on, let’s do it.’
FB: Did you try hypnosis to help break your Diet Coke obsession?
SH: Yes. I think I am too stubborn to be open to the powers of hypnosis. DC is one of my last vices. Now that I have got young kids I rarely drink and I just need something to pep me up. I have got it down to two cans of coke in the afternoon. I was buying them by the carton and it was not until my husband said, ‘you have gone through three cartons this week, ’ that I decided I had to try and change my ways.
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FB: Last year your name was mentioned as a possible co-host on Channel 9’s Today show. Were you ever approached to jump networks?
SH: No. I can hand on my heart say there were no offers at all and I was not looking to go anywhere anyway.
FB: Finally, what is the best advice you have received during your career?
SH: I would say it is to take the first step. The best piece of advice I have ever been given came from my father-in-law. He said life is a marathon not a sprint. They are words to live by. So take the step and enjoy the race.