TV, Hollywood, fashion, property: Meet the women who turned being a Grid Girl into big business
In the early 2000s, Grid Girls reigned and models, footy stars and TV personalities took to the Albert Park circuit. See all the photos from the F1 golden days.
Fiona Byrne
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With the fastest men on four wheels burning rubber about Albert Park this weekend, it is hard to believe that just a few years ago the F1 aces weren’t the only celebrities on the track at the Australian Grand Prix.
With its drama, prangs, skids, spin outs, occasional festering rivalry and even an international love affair, the once greatly loved Celebrity Challenge firmly held its place on the Grand Prix program, attracting huge attention.
It was as it sounds, a grid full of celebrities racing around Albert Park as a key part of the motorsport carnival’s program.
Each year a gaggle of stars were put through their paces and underwent driver training.
If they passed the test they were granted a racing licence and set loose at the track on race day.
Things did not always go to plan.
Western Bulldog great Luke Darcy smashed his Mini into the wall at Albert Park with the car flipping and landing on its side in 2008.
Model Grace McClure, the then face of the race, fractured her pelvis after ploughing into the track fencing while racing in slippery conditions in 2003.
After that incident Grand Prix ambassadors were no longer allowed to compete in the race as it was not a good look for the event if they got hurt.
The world’s first male supermodel Marcus Schenkenberg certainly turned heads when he arrived in town for the Celebrity Challenge in 2007.
It turned out the stunningly handsome Schenkenberg was something of a hoon and he was sacked from the race for his reckless driving during training.
The beefy Swede cried when officials told him he would not be competing in the big race. His enthusiasm behind the wheel had resulted in a wrecked car and 360-degree “doughnuts’’ at the driver training ground at Sandown racecourse.
It was only the second time in the race’s history that a driver had been denied a start in the race, the first being Channel 10’s entertainment guru Angela Bishop.
Bishop failed to pass her racing licence test in 2003 after poor performances in training – she was not dangerous, just very slow – and had to sit out that year’s Celebrity Challenge.
When Olympic rowing great James Tomkins was first invited to drive in the race he had to decline as he couldn’t fit into the Mini being used as the race car that year.
Two years later when BMW provided the vehicles he joined the grid and blitzed the field.
Famously, Austrian tennis ace Thomas Muster and Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Jo Beth Taylor fell in love while taking part in therace in 2000.
A wedding, a baby and a divorce soon followed.
The race was a fixture until 2014 but by then the cost of the event and the difficulties in getting a car manufacturer to provide the vehicles for the race meant that was finally parked for good.
The race was lived up to its name with dozens of notable identities taking part over its long history including Elle Macpherson, Kelly Slater, Eddie McGuire, Megan Gale, Nathan Buckley, Dermott Brereton, Mark Philippoussis, Pat Rafter, Kostya Tszyu, Hamish Blake and Andy Lee, Natalie Imbruglia, Kristy Hinze, Rob Sitch, Catriona Rowntree and Ruby.
Before cancel culture, Grid Girls reigned
They might be cancelled now but being a Grid Girl at the Australian Grand Prix was once a greatly desired role, so much so there was even a national competition run to fill the spots.
Here are some of the well-known Melbourne women who used their Grid Girl experience as a springboard to further success.
Nicky Whelan.
From Albert Park to Ramsay Street and onto Hollywood, Nicky Whelan has come a long way from her Grid Girl moment for the Australian Grand Prix.
Whelan donned the grid girl uniform and posed with an F1 car as part of the launch of the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.
Sarita Stella
Now married to former Collingwood favourite Brodie Holland, Sarita Holland, as she is now known, shared her Grid Girl moment with Nicky Whelan. Like Whelan, Holland was part of the launch of the 2002 Australian Grand Prix and featured in the glamorous photography from the day.
Lucy Brownless
Lucy Brownless was starting out as an influencer when she was part of the Grid Girl troop at the Australian Grand Prix in 2017.
She has since gone on to ambassador roles, modelling and now runs a business with her mum, Nicky, and sister, Ruby, called Bless, selling singlets, mesh shopping bags, head scarfs and moon cycle calendars. Fun fact: 2017 was the last year Grid Girls were part of the Australian Grand Prix.
The axe fell the following year.
Sarah Czarnuch
Well-known Melbourne model Sarah Czarnuch already had Grid Girl experience when she took part in the F1 carnival in 2017.
Czarnuch had been a Grid Girl previously at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Czarnuch has collaborated on capsule collections for fashion label ELLIATT, taken on ambassador roles and held the Miss Tourism Australia title.
She is dating cricketer Marcus Stoinis.
Melissa Kotsos
Melissa Kotsos, who is now known as Melissa Hetherington following her marriage to singer and stage star Matt Hetherington, was part of the Gird Girls experience in 2002, when the troop was sponsored by Fosters.
Kotsos was featured in media at the time that focused on the nationwide competition that was run to find the 22 women who would be part of Grand Prix that year.
An accomplished event MC, she is now a real estate agent in the bayside area.
Kylie Gulliver
Model, actor, entrepreneur, Kylie Gulliver is always on the go.
She has always embraced her Grid Girl experience, posting about it on her social media as a fun opportunity many years ago.
Gulliver was a Fosters Grid Girl in 2005.
Haley Rich
Haley Rich-Bracken, she is married to former Australian Test cricketer Nathan Bracken, was a Grid Girl in 2002.
Rich-Bracken has worked as a model and was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars where she competed against her husband who was also one of the celebrity contestants on the show. She represented Australia in a Mrs Globe International pageant and is a singer, teacher and hypnotherapist.
Kate Neilson
Now based in Los Angeles, Kate Neilson was one of the first Grid Girls to really grasp the opportunity the role presented and build a name and profile for herself.
Neilson landed on the Australian F1 grid after taking part in a national search in 2004.
A model and actor, Neilson found herself in the headlines for dramatic reasons in the early noughties when her then relationship with former North Melbourne footballer, Wayne Carey, descended into chaos.
Mylissa Piva
Mylissa Piva may not be a name that gets recognised these days but in the early 2000s she was one of the ‘it’ girls of Melbourne.
She came to media attention via the Fosters Grid Girl Search and was constantly in the media for her skimpy red carpet ensembles.
She was a photographer’s favourite and took a leaf out of Liz Hurley’s book that a great dress can make you famous. Piva was such a fan favourite that Fosters sent her to London to represent Australia in the Grid Girl troop at the British Grand Prix in 2004.
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