Weekly celebrity news with Fiona Byrne: Tom Browne’s ‘unbelievably good opportunity’
Footy news hound Tom Browne has revealed an “unbelievably good opportunity” was the catalyst behind his shock resignation from Channel 7.
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Footy news hound Tom Browne has broken his silence on his shock resignation from Channel 7.
Browne informed Seven in recent days that he would be pursuing a new career path in 2024 and would leave the network after the 2023 footy season.
“I have had a great crack reporting and enjoyed every moment of it and I have had a great time,” Browne told Triple M’s Friday Huddle.
“If you told me 12 or 13 years ago that I would still be doing this now, I would have said I would be doing something different. I have enjoyed every bit of it.”
Browne’s new role will see him be a video content producer for Sydney Swan’s chairman Andrew Pridham’s MA Financial Group.
He will relocate with his family to Sydney for the opportunity, moving in with his in-laws to start with.
“I have a beautiful young family and an amazing wife,” Browne said.
“I am batting very much above my average and Tara moved down to Melbourne for me and I am looking forward to reciprocating.”
Browne said finance had always been of interest to him.
“I have an unbelievably good opportunity up in Sydney to work in an industry I have always had an interest in,” he said.
“I basically majored in finance at Melbourne Uni and did law so I am going to merge my media skills and production skills and finance and give it a crack.”
Browne said he was not ruling “anything in or out” when asked about the likelihood of him returning to the media.
He described the pressure of being a footy reporter as like: “being in a phone booth and all the windows being blacked out and you not knowing where the exit is, because you never know how to connect different bits of information and what that leads to.”
The Block’s carbon-neutral Daylesford plans revealed
The Block’s plans for its 2024 series in the Victoria spa town of Daylesford appear to have been revealed.
As first outline by the Sunday Herald Sun in May, the show will head back to the country next year and be set in Daylesford in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, 110km from Melbourne.
It was set in Gisborne South in 2022.
Earlier this month a planning permit for five luxury homes on a vacant piece of farmland at the entrance to the bustling rural township on Raglan Street was lodged with the Hepburn Shire Council.
It appears very much in the vein of past Block proposals.
The permit is in the name of a partnership not seemingly associated with The Block or Channel 9 and the land is not owned by a Block company, however the architect, Group Architects, that is listed as the joint applicant is the Block’s regular visionary Julian Brenchley’s business.
Interestingly, the application is for new builds, which would be a switch up for The Block – assuming this is the proposal for next year’s show.
The planning report attached to the permit application outlines plans for a proposed development of five carbon-neutral, fossil fuel free, architecturally designed, five bedroom homes.
Along with the bedrooms, the homes feature a generous kitchen and living/dining/multipurpose space, a mezzanine, study, rumpus room, three car garage, heated swimming pool, terraced al fresco areas, and extensive landscaping.
Nine is yet to confirm the location of next year’s Block although host Scott Cam said on Friday the 2024 season would be “sensational.”
“Next year is going to be our 20th season and we are going to produce something big and it is going to be sensational. We are trying to keep it under wraps, but we are moving along slowly,” he said.
The Block is nominated for three Logies at the Australian TV industry’s night of nights in Sydney on Sunday; Most Popular Reality Program, Most Outstanding Reality Program and Cam is nominated for the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter.
Hotel legend bows out
A legend of the Melbourne hospitality scene, Clive Scott, has retired as general manager of the Sofitel Melbourne On Collins after 18 years.
Scott’s career was celebrated at the hotel on Thursday, where it was announced he would stay with the company as the Sofitel arts ambassador for Australia.
Scott, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the hotel accommodation industry, and to the arts in the 2021 Queens Birthday honours, has turned Sofitel into Melbourne’s “Hotel for the Arts”.
Guests at the soiree, where Scott’s replacement, Rachael Harman, was introduced, included Lady Primrose Potter, Janet Whiting, Carol Henry, Brendan McClements, Jeremy Healy, Neil Wilson, Felicia Mariani, Terence Murphy, David Mann, Lindy Klim and Heidi Victoria, with Lord Mayor Sally Capp beaming in via video to acknowledge Scott’s support of the City of Melbourne and arts and hospitality organisations in the city.
Logie nomination ‘surreal beyond exciting’
Heartbreak High favourite Chloe Hayden is living her dream, having been recognised as one of the rising stars of the Australian TV industry.
Hayden has been nominated for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent at tonight’s Logie Awards.
“When I got the Heartbreak job my mum said ‘Oh my God, imagine if one day you get to attend the Logies’,” Hayden said.
“The pipe dream was just attending, so to have a nomination is a surreal beyond exciting feeling.”
Hayden relaxed before the Logies, spending Saturday morning at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo meeting Jimiyu the giraffe.
She said the success of the Netflix series had been life-changing.
“Literally the first day the show came out I was in the city and I got mobbed,” she said. “I can’t leave my house anymore without people coming up to me and talking about the show, which is incredible.”
“I think it’s really obvious that what we are showing is someone’s lived experience as opposed to some middle-aged white man who does not know what is going on writing teenage stories.”
Why Johnson travels with his Logie
Gold Logie winner Samuel Johnson says his Logie is the “people’s Logie.”
Johnson won the coveted award in 2017 for his performance in the telemovie Molly, based on the life of music guru Molly Meldrum.
“It gives you a bit of cred in country towns because they usually haven’t seen a Gold Logie, so you take it with you,” Johnson said of his well-travelled trophy.
“I’m that wanker that takes his trophies everywhere.
“So my Gold Logie is a little battered, but not as broken as the Dancing With The Stars trophy, which has been fixed five times.”
Johnson is a highly respected, driving force behind the Love Your Sister foundation which aims to vanquish cancer.
“I do a lot of work in regional and remote towns with the cancer stuff and I find that people don’t mind getting the odd selfie with it (the Gold Logie). It gives people a moment to imagine that they have won one because they can hold it.
“I would argue confidently that my Logie has been held by more people than all other Logies collectively. You only have to look at chipped and degraded it is to know that it is well loved.
“The people voted for me to win it so it is theirs more than mine.”
Also putting a smile on people’s faces is Wild Secrets, a leading sexual wellness business.
To mark its 30th year, Wild Secrets has reached another milestone, with donations totalling $250,000 to Love Your Sister, following a four-year commitment to supporting cancer research.
“Wild Secrets don’t just keep people happy between the sheets, they care about our communities,” Johnson said.
“It’s rare that a business commits to a $250,000 partnership and Wild Secrets are enthusiastically applauded by all at Love Your Sister for being a business that goes the extra mile. Then some.”
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