Gretel Killeen (born 3 February 1963) is an Australian comedian, television presenter, media personality and author. She is known for being the host of '' Big Brother Australia'' from its inception in 2001 until the 2007 season (including ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' in 2002). Killeen hosted the 2009 ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

Career

Television

Midday

From 1989 to 1991, Killeen was a regular on ''

Midday Noon (or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for meridiem, literally 12:00 noon), 12 p.m. (for post meridiem, literally "after noon"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour clock) or 1200 (military time). Solar ...

with Ray Martin'' on the Nine Network. She wrote and featured in the sketch ''A Town Like Dallas'', a parody of the genre of soap opera.

Coast to Coast

In 1990,

Terry Willesee Terence Joseph Willesee (born 27 April 1945) is an Australian retired journalist and television and radio presenter. Personal life Willesee is the son of the Don Willesee, a long-time member of the Australian Senate and Whitlam Government mini ...

John Mangos John (born 9 July 1956) is an Australian news presenter. Mangos has previously been a news presenter on Sky News Australia. He has also made cameo appearances on the Australian comedy programs ''Pizza (TV series), Pizza'', ''Swift and Shift C ...

and Killeen hosted ''Coast to Coast'' for the Nine Network after the departure of

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

from the program, but the program in the new format was short-lived.

Big Brother

Killeen was host of Big Brother Australia, from its first season in 2001. She hosted each series up until its seventh season in 2007. On 28 October 2007, ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' reported that, as a part of a revamp of the show, Killeen was being replaced as host by

Kyle Sandilands Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host and television personality. He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' on Sydney's radio station KIIS ...

and Jackie O from

2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radio ...

Other television roles

Killeen, along with

Daniel MacPherson Daniel Donald MacPherson (born 25 April 1980) is an Australian actor and television presenter, known for his roles as Joel Samuels in ''Neighbours'', PC Cameron Tait in ''The Bill'', Sergeant Samuel Wyatt in Sky and Cinemax's '' Strike Back'', ...

, co-hosted the Sydney New Year's Eve 2006–07 telecast and also the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

eve celebrations on 25 January 2006. She was also the host of Ten's coverage of the

ceremony in 2007. In 2009 Kileen hosted the

Logies The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

and was lowered onto the stage in an angel costume. She played nurse Angela Mercie in two episodes of the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

The Horizon in 2013. In 2015, Killeen co-hosted

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

TV series '' How Not to Behave'' with Matt Okine. In 2019, Killeen appeared as a contestant on the Australian version of ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' as the Octopus, and was voted off in the first episode. Killeen is a regular guest on morning/talk-shows such as; ''

Studio 10 ''Studio 10'' is an Australian morning talk show on Network 10. The show airs between 8:30am and noon on weekdays and a highlights show airs between 9:30am and noon on weekends. ''Studio 10'' is broadcast live from Network 10 Studios in Pyrm ...

'', ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'', '' Today Australia'' and '' Today Extra Australia'' and '' The Project.'' Killeen has also appeared on ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'', ''

SlideShow A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manu ...

'', '' Good Morning Australia'', '' Celebrity Name Game'', '' Q&A'', ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten ...

'', ''

You Have Been Watching ''You Have Been Watching'' is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre (pilot and series 2) and Riverside Studios (series 1) in London. It first aired on ...

'' and ''

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation ''Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation'' is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions which premiered on Network Ten on 5 May 2009. It is hosted by Shaun Micallef. History Original run The first series ran on Network Ten for 18 epi ...

''.

Radio

Nova 100

In 2003, Killeen filled in on

Nova 100 Nova 100 (call sign: 3MEL) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, broadcasting on 100.3 MHz. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 91.5. History Nova 100 commenced on th ...

's '' Hughesy, Kate & Dave'' whilst

Kate Langbroek Katherine Langbroek (born 8 August 1965) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. Langbroek has previously hosted ''Hughesy & Kate'' with Dave Hughes on the Hit Network, HIT Network. Career Langbroek has a degree in journalis ...

was on maternity leave.

Literary works

As an author of a number of books,

Movie roles

Killeen has a cameo in the Australian film ''

Gettin' Square ''Gettin' Square'' is a 2003 crime caper movie set on Australia's Gold Coast and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. The protagonists are ex-criminals trying to keep out of trouble. ''Gettin' Square'' won nominations at several Australian ceremonie ...

'' as Rhonda Halliwell.

Stage roles

Killeen appeared as the Narrator in a stage production of

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

in Sydney and Melbourne in 2008.

Personal life

Killeen was born in Sydney and has 2 adult children from a previous marriage.

Awards

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Gretel Killeen won one award in that time. (wins only) , - , 2000 , Gretel Killeen , Female Comedy Performer of the Year , , -

References

External links

* *
Gretel Killeen at Penguin Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Killeen, Gretel 1963 births Australian people of German descent Australian stand-up comedians Australian radio personalities Australian women children's writers Australian women radio presenters Australian children's writers Australian game show hosts Big Brother (Australian TV series) Living people Comedians from Sydney Australian women comedians