Dominic Joseph Bowden (born 15 December 1977) is a New Zealand television personality, host and voice actor. He is best known as the host of New Zealand reality series including ''

New Zealand Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series '' Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered ...

, Dancing with the Stars New Zealand and The X Factor New Zealand''. When based in Los Angeles, he hosted the American reality music competition show, ''

The Next Great American Band ''The Next Great American Band'' is a reality television talent show. The show premiered on October 19, 2007 and aired on Fox at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times Friday nights. The show was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles on Wednesda ...

'' and as a Hollywood reporter for the Erin Simpson show. Bowden has been called "New Zealand's Ryan Seacrest."

Early life

Bowden was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, where he attended Sacred Heart College. His parents are a surveyor and a business manager. Bowden is a graduate of the

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

, with a Bachelor of Communication Studies, majoring in Television which he achieved in 2000.

Career

After graduating from

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin *Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arriva ...

, Bowden began hosting the popular Saturday morning Children's television programme, ''

Squirt Squirt or squirting can refer to the following: Animals * Sea squirt, a marine animal Arts and entertainment * ''Squirt'', a comic strip in the '' Funday Times'' * "Squirt" (Fluke song), a song by Fluke * ''Squirt'' (TV series), a New Zealand ...

'' for

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

. Bowden then moved into live television on the weekly late-night music show Space. He also traveled the country with British popstar,

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

for a television special, ''Robbie Williams: Be Here Now''. Bowden, then moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and into radio, working as a roving nightly reporter for

Austereo Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company' ...

, on 2Day FM. Then in 2004, it was announced Bowden would return to New Zealand as the sole host of ''

'' for

. The ''Idol'' series one grand final was watched by a quarter of the country's population. During this time, for six months Bowden hosted his own nightly radio show for MediaWorks Radio on

More FM More FM is a New Zealand radio network that plays hot adult contemporary music. It is operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. More FM broadcasts in 25 centres throughout New Zealand on 81 transmitters with a mix of local and network programming. ...

, called Most Wanted. He also appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island: Series 1 and Shock Treatment. As well as hosting the successful game-shows, ''

Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader ''Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'' is an American quiz game show. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox where it was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. It is produced by Mark Burnett. The show premiered as a three-day special which beg ...

'' and ''Dare to Win'', which had a similar format to ''

Minute to Win It ''Minute to Win It'' is an international game show franchise where contestants take part in a series of 60-second challenges that use objects that are commonly available around the house. The first version of ''Minute to Win It'' to air was t ...

''. Bowden has worked as a reporter for the magazine news show '' 20/20 (US television series)'', traveling to Los Angeles to interview Ryan Seacrest for a television special in New Zealand. Shortly after, Bowden signed with Seacrest's then agent

William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...

and moving to Los Angeles. He was selected by ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' executive producers

Nigel Lythgoe Nigel Lythgoe OBE (; born 9 July 1949), also known as Nasty Nigel, is an English television and film director and producer, television dance competition judge, former dancer in the Young Generation and choreographer. He was the producer of the ...

and

Ken Warwick Ken Warwick is a British television executive producer and director, most noted for producing the reality television series ''American Idol'', and ''Pop Idol''. Before being a producer he was a dancer/choreographer, previously being a member of BBC ...

to host "

", which was cancelled after one season. In 2014, Bowden co-hosted the all access show with

Lacey Schwimmer Lacey Mae Schwimmer (born June 28, 1988) is an American ballroom dancer and singer. She is best known as a fourth place finalist of the third season of ''So You Think You Can Dance''. She is the daughter of noted dancer Buddy Schwimmer, as well ...

for

Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 19) Season nineteen of ''Dancing with the Stars'' premiered on September 15, 2014. On November 25, actor Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson were crowned the champions, while ''Duck Dynasty'' star Sadie Robertson and Mark Ballas finished in second pla ...

. Bowden was the sole host of the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

series of the New Zealand version of ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...

''. He was also the host of the revived sixth season of '' Dancing with the Stars'' in New Zealand, alongside

Sharyn Casey Sharyn Mary-Ellen Casey ('' née'' Wakefield; born 24 December 1985) is a radio host on The Edge's drive show, '' The Edge Afternoons with Sharyn & Jayden'', a host on the New Zealand version of ''Dancing with the Stars'', and a celebrity panel ...

. Both of these shows aired on TV3. Bowden was the host of The Hype on the E! Network in Australia and New Zealand, alongside

Ksenija Lukich Ksenija Lukich or in Serbian Ksenija Lukić (born 12 February 1990) is a Serbian-Australian model and television presenter. She is of Serbian descent and her parents are originally from Serbia and moved to Australia. Lukich grew up on the North ...

. The show first aired October 2015, but is no longer screening on E!.

Other work

Bowden has co-hosted the televised

Qantas Television Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

, Girlfriend Model Search, NZ Color Trophy Awards and the Christmas at St Matthews Music Special. He has also been enlisted as a weekly columnist for the ''

New Zealand Woman's Weekly The ''New Zealand Woman's Weekly'' is a weekly New Zealand women's magazine published by Are Media. , it had a circulation of 82,040, third by paid sales after ''TV Guide'' and ''New Zealand Woman's Day''. History On 8 December 1932, journalis ...

'', ''New Idea'' and ''The TV Guide''. He appeared on ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

''s 15th anniversary show. He has done voice over work for Bond and Bond and Burger King, as well as appearing in numerous TV commercials, as well as narrator for season 2 of '' IRT World Deadliest Roads''. As an actor, Bowden appeared in the independent feature ''

The Devil Dared Me To ''The Devil Dared Me To'' is a New Zealand film written by and starring Chris Stapp and Matt Heath. The film revolves around a fictional stuntman, Randy Cambell, who aspires to be the greatest living New Zealander in that profession. The charact ...

''. The film had its world premiere at Austin's ''

South by Southwest Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

'' and received a standing ovation. In addition to his film role, he had small roles on the television series ''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' and ''

''. He also played himself on ''

Go Girls ''Go Girls'' is a New Zealand comedy-drama television series that centers on four adult friends, three female and one male, living on Auckland's North Shore. In the fifth season it was the same premise, but this time centered on five adult fr ...

''. He also interviewed stars for between-movie fillers on Sky Television.

Personal life

Bowden married TV3 reporter Claire Robbie in 2008. The couple separated and divorced in 2012. During the filming of Bachelor New Zealand, it was revealed that Bowden had briefly dated one of the contestants. Bowden's family are

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and he attends mass when he is in New Zealand.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Dominic Bowden profile at Karen Kay Management
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowden, Dominic Joseph 1977 births Auckland University of Technology alumni New Zealand Idol Living people New Zealand television personalities