The faces we loved to hate and grew to love during the pandemic
They were the big players who graced our screens, radios and social media feeds constantly during the pandemic. So where are some of Covid’s most divisive figures now?
Victoria
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They’re the faces we love to hate, or grew to love. The big players who graced our screens, radios and social media feeds – some daily – during one of the most tumultuous periods in our history.
From politicians, to rule breakers, internet personalities and bureaucrats, the pandemic shot them to fame, and made them some of the 21st century’s most recognisable figures.
But once the dust had settled after more than 260 days of lockdowns and two years of restrictions, where did they scuttle off to and where are they now?
Daniel Andrews
The long-serving Labor Premier quickly became the most divisive figure in the country, with his ruthless regime, including the world’s longest lockdowns, also attracting international attention.
In just the first six months of the pandemic, Andrews had enforced a hard border around Melbourne – dubbed the ‘ring of steel’ – and restricted Melburnians to a 5km radius around their homes.
By the end of 2021, Melburnians were officially the most locked down people in the world, imprisoned in our homes for a total of 262 days.
To the Dan fans, he was the man who fronted the media for 120 days straight, but to critics, he was ‘Dictator Dan’.
“In Victoria, the haters hate and the rest vote Labor and that’s fine by me. Call me what you want,” Andrews said.
Despite huge backlash and widespread anger, Andrews accomplished another ‘Danslide’ at the 2022 election. His resignation came as a shock to many in September 2023, after nine years of power.
So too did a decision to award Andrews a Companion of the Order of Australia medal so soon after his resignation, prompting victims of those who died in Victoria’s second wave to slam the decision.
Andrews has largely remained out of the spotlight since quitting politics.
Within months he set up Glencairn Street Pty Ltd and Wedgetail Partners Pty Ltd with former China adviser Zheng “Marty” Mei, and has been regularly jetting off to Asia and the US.
Mr Andrews is the sole director of the consultancy companies.
The fortunes of the businesses, however, have been kept on the lowdown.
Meanwhile, he continues to be haunted by the infamous 2013 Blairgowie crash that left teen cyclist Ryan Meuleman with life threatening injuries.
In January, he and wife Catherine were threatened with Federal Court defamation action over statements relating to the smash, with a Supreme Court case relating to the collision also due to go to trial in May.
Scott Morrison
The former prime minister was thrust into the pandemic as he tried desperately to repair his reputation, shattered by his decision to holiday in Hawaii as bushfires burned across the country.
As millions of Australians entered their first lockdown, Morrison rolled out a $2.4bn package designed to help protect Australians against Covid, including 100 pop-up respiratory clinics and telehealth services.
The former PM was then widely criticised for suggesting the vaccine rollout was “not a race” as the pandemic entered its second year.
As world leaders struck deals with Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, Australia finally secured a mixture of vaccines, including Novavax, Pfizer and BioNTech.
Australia ultimately trailed much of the developed world by July 2021, with just five per cent of the population fully vaccinated compared to 48 per cent in the UK and 46 per cent in the US. Mr Morrison then came head-to-head with Premiers, including Daniel Andrews, over their resistance to opening up the country once 70 per cent of the adult population was vaccinated.
“(Australia) can’t stay in the cave forever,” he said.
After losing the 2022 election to Anthony Albanese, Mr Morrison joined leading international advisory and consulting firm American Global Strategies LLC (AGS) as the non-executive Vice Chairman.
In October, he scored a shock new role as chairman of Space Centre Australia, becoming the international face of the rocket launch platform.
He attended Donald Trump’s exclusive New Year’s Eve event at Mar-a-Lago, alongside Space-X founder Elon Musk.
The ex-PM – known for his divisive antics – continues to stir the pot on social media, posting pictures of his questionable-looking curries.
Brett Sutton
Daily Dan was almost always flanked by chief health officer Brett Sutton, who patiently went into minute detail about Covid in televised press conferences.
Sutton resigned in June 2023 after four years in the role to be the Director of Health & Biosecurity at the CSIRO, where he continues today.
In 2024, he was appointed an Officer of the order of Australia for distinguished service to the people of Victoria through public health administration, governance and medicine.
Following the release of a national inquiry into the Covid pandemic in October last year, Sutton admitted he failed to explain to the public why Covid lockdowns were necessary.
“(I) wanted to be able to speak to all of that nuance and complexity but … not all of it was captured in a way that I think, you know, I would have liked,” he said.
PRGuy
It was the question on every Twitter-fiend’s lips during the pandemic: Who is PRGuy?
The high-profile Daniel Andrews cheerleader, who enraged the Dan haters through the pandemic, had amassed a following of more than 120k on X – then Twitter – when his mysterious facade was finally lifted.
An online campaign to unmask him, which amounted to a defamation threat by right-wing commentator Avi Yemini, forced the online figure to reveal his identity as Jeremy Maluta.
Despite accusations, Maluta, who described himself as a “normal everyday person”, was not connected to the government.
After the pandemic, Maluta or PRGuy, switched his focus to attacks on right-wing politicians, including Peter Dutton and Donald Trump.
These days, he appears to have faded into obscurity, with his X account silent since June 2024.
Sally Capp
As small business owners faced permanent closures and fought for ever-larger patches of footpath and car spaces to sprawl diners onto in a bid to stay open, Capp became the government’s face-mask and vaccine champion.
“If wearing masks means that more people can come into the city, that more people can be inside shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes, inside museums and art galleries – then we are all for the masks,” she said.
In 2022, she was slammed by small businesses for claiming Covid “was good” for Melbourne, and that it had emerged a “bolder, braver, better place”.
After standing down in June 2024, Capp went on to become the non-executive director of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Melbourne Uni.
In December, however, she scooted off to her current role heading up Create Advisory, offering “strategic, commercial and technical advice”.
Jeroen Weimar
The transport bureaucrat was handed the title Covid commander in 2020.
Mr Weimar began to front marathon press conferences alongside Daniel Andrews and Brett Sutton, where he was lauded internally for his communication skills and ability to break down complex logistics.
After the pandemic, Mr Weimar was paid $620,000 a year to co-ordinate the state’s failed 2026 Commonwealth Games, which was eventually cancelled.
Despite overseeing that embarrassing saga, he was parachuted into a specially-created role heading up the government’s Housing Statement.
Late last year he was named as the new boss of the state’s transport and planning department.
James Merlino
The former deputy Premier stepped up to the top job in March of 2021 when Daniel Andrews fell down a flight of steps during a weekend away at the Mornington Peninsula.
He remained acting Premier until Andrews’ returned to work in June that year.
During his time as acting Premier, Mr Merlino fronted the daily conferences and plunged the state into its fourth lockdown from May 28 until June 10.
In June 2022, he joined senior Ministers Lisa Neville, Martin Foley and Martin Pakula in quitting politics ahead of the state election that year.
Post-politics, Mr Merlino was appointed chair of the Suburban Rail Loop Authority.
He also sits on the board of the Hawthorn Football Club and is the independent chair and director of superannuation fund Rest, as well as the chair of the Victorian Catholic Education Authority.
Jenny Mikakos
The former health minister barely made it through six months of the pandemic before being kicked to kerb.
In 2020, she had come under growing pressure over the failed Hotel Quarantine program, which led to almost 800 deaths, and the overall pandemic response.
But it was Andrews who, when hauled in front of the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry, put the nail in Ms Mikakos’ coffin.
Testifying under oath, Andrews said she was the one to blame for the fiasco.
Within hours, she had resigned from cabinet and parliament.
Mikakos struck back when giving evidence to IBAC, describing the government as “very centralised with the PPO (Premier’s Private Office) having its tentacles everywhere”.
In December, with Andrews long gone from the top job, she was welcomed back into the fold by the Labor government, securing a role as the new chair for the Victorian Interpreting and Translation Services (VITS) LanguageLoop Board.
Karen from Brighton (Jodi Grollo)
As Andrews rolled out his controversial 5km radius, Jodi Grollo became an overnight sensation.
Dubbed ‘Karen from Brighton’, the fed-up Bayside mum protested to a reporter as she walked The Tan: “I’ve done all of Brighton, you get sick of walking the same streets.”
Leaning into her new identity, Grollo set up an Instagram account, sharing regular videos slamming Andrews – usually through song.
So when Dan hung up the boots, ‘Karen from Brighton’ knew just what to do.
“What a beautiful day, Dan’s finally going away,” she sang to her almost 10,000 followers, holding up a glass of champagne.
These days, ‘Karen’ doesn’t post that often but Jodi is still very much active.
“Oh, I’m still walking around Brighton. I get a bit further now though and make it up to Balaclava these days,” she laughed.
“Karen’s died a natural death. If something got up my nose enough, maybe she could return.”
Despite it being five years on, Jodi remains riled up about the trauma of lockdowns and Covid restrictions.
“It was absolutely ridiculous. Dictator Dan was loving himself,” she said.
“Now we’ve got Dan in a skirt.”
Eve Black
Covid conspiracy theorist Eve Black, whose real name is Eugenia Limberiou, became notorious for sneaking through a checkpoint in regional Victoria.
A viral video, in which she celebrated outsmarting cops, quickly gained the attention of Victoria Police who swooped on her in a dramatic arrest in Carlton on July 29, 2020.
She was charged with traffic offences, failing to produce her licence, failing to provide her name and address, and breaches of directives from the chief health officer.
The high-farce continued in a court hearing, conducted by videolink, when her “good friend” Zev, who she’d asked to represent her but did not provide his last name, was interrupted by a squawking parrot. She eventually copped a $200 fine.
Since then, Black – who is understood to be living in NSW – has gone silent on social media.
Shane Patton
No-one copped the revolt against Andrews’ strict pandemic regime more than the former police chief and his members.
Shane Patton had been promoted to the force’s top job just months into the pandemic, while Victorians were experiencing their first lockdown.
In the following months, chaos erupted on Melbourne streets, with police forced to deploy rubber bullets at rallies, and officers seriously injured as unruly “freedom fighters” hit back.
Following a particularly violent ‘freedom rally’ in 2021, Patton said the “disgraceful” protest was among the most violent he had seen in two decades. Six cops were hospitalised and 218 people were arrested.
Patton, two years on, linked a cultural shift under Covid lockdowns to the state’s youth crime crisis.
After failing to secure a new pay deal for his members, a no-confidence vote resulted in Patton being booted from the helm by the government last month.
Catherine Bennett
The leading epidemiologist became one of the most recognisable faces throughout the pandemic, as she navigated Victorians through the uncertainty of 2020 and beyond.
Professor Bennett was a regular commentator on case trends and provided an unbiased perspective on whether the restrictions imposed on Victorians were justified or too harsh.
In the post-Covid world, Prof Bennett was on the three-person panel handing down the Inquiry into Australia’s Covid response and recently named a Distinguished Professor, on top of her role as Deakin University’s Chair in Epidemiology.
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