Who is the biggest Aussie TV personality of the 21st century?

Hardly anyone is watching Aussie TV - and you only have to look at this year’s Gold Logie nominations to get a view of how bleak things have become.

Choosing the best Aussie TV stars from the past 25 years isn’t an easy task — mostly because there aren’t many.

The days when the television landscape was dominated by household names who TV viewers genuinely loved have almost gone, replaced by a catalogue of reality drama queens, game show jesters and the odd newshound.

And to make things more difficult, hardly anyone is watching. Anything.

You only have to look at this year’s Gold Logie nominations to get a view of how bleak things have become.

To celebrate the launch of the new news.com.au app, we’re celebrating the people, places and events we’ll never forget from the first quarter of the 21st century by asking for Australia’s view. Our 25@25 series will finally put to bed the debates you’ve been having at the pub and around dinner tables for years – and some that are just too much fun not to include.

The inclusion of the genuinely glittering Hamish Blake, Julia Morris and Sonia Kruger is countered by the eye-raising additions of P-plater A Current Affair host Ally Langdon and the ABC’s Lisa Millar, who clearly got a guernsey because everyone loves the real stars in her fly-on-the-wall bush drama Muster Dogs. Surely there isn’t enough people watching the ABC breakfast show to warrant a nod in the category of Australia’s most popular TV personality, especially when the more established morning talent Karl Stefanovic and Nat Barr didn’t get a look in.

Then you throw in reality chef Poh Ling Yew (albeit undoubtedly a great cook) and Home and Away darling Lynne McGranger and you start to see what we mean.

The evolution of Australian free-to-air TV is the root cause of the demise of the personalities.

Talk shows are dead, expensive dramas are now almost the sole domain of the streamers and the audience in the mornings is now so small the Logies would struggle to raise a quorum.

And when was the last time a free-to-air Aussie comedy got made, let alone found an audience?

All that being said, the early 2000s did give rise to some genuine hitmakers, beloved characters and loungeroom favourites that deserve their place at the top of this list. Take your pick in the poll above.

The inclusion of A Current Affair's Ally Langdon as Gold Logie nominee was eye-raising.

Rebecca Gibney

When it comes to TV stars, Rebecca Gibney is a sure bet. Even in the fickle world of small screen drama, the model turned actor doesn’t do duds. And when you consider television is an industry that generally courts youth, Gibney keeps getting work – and getting better.

She may be a Kiwi by birth, but she is also an Aussie citizen and thanks to a raft of hit shows (did you see what we did there?) she is one of most bankable and popular stars.

She was Australia’s favourite TV mum as Julie Rafter on Packed to the Rafters, the smartest shrink on the planet in Halifax f.p. and a woman with a dark secret in the crime thriller Wanted.

All quality, all hits and all added up to one Gold Logie and umpteen nominations.

Rove McManus

The last of the talk show kings whose career declined as Australian audiences fell out of love with the TV format.

But at his peak he was a TV juggernaut. Rove Live was well watched and much-loved. His boyish charm and ability to get his guests to spill made him lots of money and won him three Gold Logies during a period when the competition was hot.

So popular was he, he tried to transplant his Aussie-ified talk show into the tough US market, and although it ultimately failed, the brave attempt won the former stand-up guy much respect.

He was also one half of one of Australia’s much-loved romances, that with his late wife, Home and Away star Belinda Emmett, which only made audiences admire him more.

Rove McManus at the 2003 Logies.

Georgie Parker

Before she rebooted the role of Alf’s daughter Roo in the soap Home and Away, Georgie Parker was the most loved star on TV.

Early on she built fans for her work on prime time drama A Country Practice but it was her spin as Sister Terri on the popular medical drama All Saints that carved her name into the Aussie TV record books. She won two Gold Logies, and many other Logie categories as well, and appeared as herself on dozens of other programs, including on stage at Carols by Candlelight and as a regular on Play School.

She went quiet for a bit in the middle 2000s but returned to the screen in the Summer Bay soap in 2010, where she remains.

Hamish Blake

There is something irresistible about Hamish Blake. His easy charm and laconic sense of humour has made him a favourite among TV viewers of all ages. Whether he is appearing with his lanky sidekick Andy, or going it alone on his latest megahit Lego Masters, Blake can’t help scoring a ratings bullseye.

Like Rebecca Gibney, Blake is a TV hitmaker and he has earned two Gold Logies along the way (and it probably should have been more).

He was also honoured with the Bert Newton Logie for TV presenter, which perfectly sums up his likability and his strike rate for making people laugh.

A genuine star.

Sonia Kruger

One of the highest paid hosts on television, Sonia Kruger earned her stripe by working really hard. With her easy wit and megawatt smile, Kruger was so reliable she became the TV host of choice.

Kruger had early success and then she built her following on the Mornings couch with David Campbell.

She realised one way to attract attention was to ride the wave of reality television, taking on roles in Dancing With The Stars, Strictly Come Dancing, Big Brother Australia, The Voice Australia and she even survived the short-lived but truly horrible reality golf show, Holey Moley.

Kruger made headlines for her misunderstood Gold Logie winning speech in 2023 (which you can watch in the player at the top of the page) but it didn’t do her too much harm because she is back on the nominees list this year.

John Wood

Probably the most unlikely genuine star of Australian television through the 2000s, John Wood started getting noticed when he played the magistrate with a sharp mind and a heart of gold in the hit drama Rafferty’s Rules. It won him awards and a loyal — and rather large — audience.

It’s an audience he brought with him when he signed for the blockbuster cop show Blue Heelers and, with co-star Lisa McCune, rode a wave of success that would last a decade. He was nominated for the Gold Logie every year for 10 years, before finally scoring the gong in 2006, the year the show was cancelled. We would have included McCune on this list but she left the show in 2000.

Eddie McGuire

Nicknamed Eddie Everywhere for his seemingly endless list of TV credits, sports-mad McGuire was once considered the most powerful face on television. Not content with ruling the world of AFL as a commentator and president of the polarising footy club Collingwood, McGuire was literally everywhere.

He has been host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Millionaire Hot Seat, 1 vs 100, The Footy Show, Footy Classified, the Million Dollar Drop, Between The Lines and This Is Your Life. At one stage he was even CEO of the Nine Network and temporarily hosted A Current Affair, which was a bit of a disaster.

If there was a telethon or natural disaster fundraiser, McGuire was on the mic, and although he never won a Gold Logie, he hosted the awards twice!

Dannii Minogue, Eddie McGuire, Bec Cartwright and Sophie Monk at the Logie awards.

Kate Ritchie

Although now almost exclusively spending her time on radio, Ritchie is responsible for nurturing one of the most-loved characters on Australian TV – Home and Away’s Sally Fletcher.

For 20 years fans watched Sally grow up, surviving way too many scandals and traumas that could conceivably occur in one small town, especially one with the particularly sunny name of Summer Bay.

She was rewarded with two Gold Logies and a loyal base that followed her to other TV projects, including crime hit Underbelly, and eventually onto radio.

So popular is she, that media organisations reporting on her recent personal traumas cop bag-loads of hate mail from TV viewers warning to leave their Sally alone.

Now that’s superstardom.

Carrie Bickmore

Carrie Bickmore may have made her name as the foundation host of the now-defunct The Project, but she was never better than as the quick-witted journo sidekick to Rove McManus on the talk show Rove Live. The segment, Carrie @ The Newsdesk, was the precursor to the Project slogan, news done differently, and won the young West Australian a huge following, especially among young female viewers.

She won a newcomer Logie for her work, as a warm up for the gold statue, which she won in 2015. It was during her acceptance speech that her stardom exploded when she accepted the award wearing a beanie to launch her now successful brain cancer charity. The beanie idea was a tribute to her late husband’s own cancer struggles.

Karl Stefanovic

Alternately described as a TV buffoon and an undeniable chat show talent, it’s hard to ignore the man affectionately known as Karlos. One of the highest paid stars on the small screen throughout the 2000s, Stefanovic had minor gigs before landing the seat on the Today Show, Nine’s flagship brekkie offering.

Famously starting the job on less money than his more famous co-host Lisa Wilkinson, Karl leveraged his talent and his blokey charms to eclipse Wilkinson in salary, and ultimately outlast her on the Today couch. Although the show struggles in the ratings, and breakfast audiences aren’t as lucrative as they once were, Stefanovic remains one of the biggest names on the box.

More than just a TV buff? Take part in our other 25@25 polls

Originally published as Who is the biggest Aussie TV personality of the 21st century?