James Mathison (born 14 January 1978) is an Australian television presenter and former independent political candidate.

Early life

Mathison was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and grew up in

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entra ...

suburb of

Frenchs Forest Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches) is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Frenchs Forest is 13 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Cou ...

. He attended St. Augustine's College, in Brookvale. After leaving school, he worked in various jobs, including working in a warehouse for a mail-order company and as a cashier at a service station, before spending a year on exchange in South America.

Career

Entertainment

Television

In 2001, Mathison was a contestant on the Channel Ten reality TV show ''

The $20 Challenge ''The $20 Challenge'' was an Australian reality television series that was broadcast on the Network Ten in 2000. The show was hosted by Tim Bailey, and saw four Australians trying to survive in a foreign country with nothing but $20 to their nam ...

'', during which he was shown busking on the streets of London for extra money. He achieved second place in the contest. Weeks after returning from London, he auditioned for pay-TV channel Channel s new reporter search. After making it through to the final 8, he was offered a job there as

video journalist Video journalism or videojournalism is a form of journalism, where the journalist shoots, edits and often presents his or her own video material. Background A predecessor to video journalism first appeared in the 1960s in the USA, when reporters h ...

. In 2003, Mathison was appointed co-host of ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

'' alongside Channel host Andrew Günsberg. They created a behind-the-scenes show for Channel called ''Australian Idol Extra'' for the second and third seasons of the programme. On 31 March 2009, after six years with ''Australian Idol'', it was announced Mathison had quit as co-host. Mathison appeared on a celebrity episode of the Australian version of ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'' in October 2005, in which he was declared the winner, beating vegan Osher Günsberg (aka. Andrew G). Mathison has also been a presenter on Nova 96.9 where he hosted "LaunchPad", a late night new music show with Patience Hodgkins of Brisbane band The Grates, as well as co hosting summer breakfast. In 2005 and 2006, James hosted the

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

. In 2007, James, along with

Hamish and Andy Hamish & Andy are an Australian comedy duo formed in 2003 by Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. Best known for their various drive time radio programmes on the Hit Network, which aired in multiple formats until 2017, their shows gained consistently ...

, hosted the ARIA Red Carpet segment. He also made a brief cameo appearance on the Australian feature film ''

BoyTown ''BoyTown'' is a 2006 Australian comedy film, directed by Kevin Carlin and starring an ensemble cast of prominent Australian comedians, including Glenn Robbins, Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin, Wayne Hope and Gary Eck. It was filmed in Melbourne, Vi ...

'' in the ARIA's scene playing himself alongside

Ella Hooper Ella Keighery Hooper (born 30 January 1983) is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, radio presenter and TV personality. Hooper is the lead singer of Killing Heidi. The band formed in 1996 (when Ella was 13) and also featured her older bro ...

. In June 2009,

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

announced that James would be a reporter and panelist on ''

The 7pm Project ''The Project'' (previously ''The 7PM Project'' from 2009 to 2011) is an Australian news-Current affairs (news format), current affairs and talk show television panel program, airing weeknights across Australia on Network Ten, Network 10, produc ...

'' covering media and sport alongside,

Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering (born 29 August 1977) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, author and producer. Pickering currently hosts ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'', a weekly news satire television show on the ABC, as wel ...

Carrie Bickmore Carrie Bickmore (born 3 December 1980) is an Australian talk show and current affairs Gold Logie award-winning television and radio presenter. Early life Bickmore was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1980, but moved to Perth, Western Aus ...

and

Dave Hughes David William Hughes (born 26 November 1970) is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter. He is known for his larrikin personality, drawling Australian accent, and deadpan comedic delivery. Hughes co-hosts ''Hughesy, ...

. In July 2012, Mathison joined ''

Weekend Sunrise ''Weekend Sunrise'' is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network and currently hosted by Monique Wright and Matt Doran. History In 2005 the Seven Network replaced its struggling Sunday morning program ''Sunday ...

'' where he replaced Jonathan Coleman as a movie reviewer. In July 2013, Network Ten announced Mathison would be presenter of its new breakfast program '' Wake Up'' alongside

Natarsha Belling Natarsha Belling (born 29 May 1970) is an Australian journalist. Belling has previously worked at Network 10 as a television presenter, news presenter and reporter. She spent over two decades with the company until being made redundant in Augu ...

Natasha Exelby Natasha Exelby is an Australian journalist. She was a news reporter for ''10 News First.'' Career Seven Network Following her graduation from the Queensland University of Technology in 2005, Exelby commenced her career as a full-time journalist, ...

and

Nuala Hafner Nuala Hafner is an Australian media personality of Ghanaian descent. She is also a clinical psychologist, psychologist. Early life and education Hafner was born in London, England, to Ghanaian-born Australian Dorinda Hafner. Her parents met i ...

until the show was cancelled in May 2014. In 2015, Mathison was a contestant in the fourth season of ''

The Celebrity Apprentice Australia ''The Celebrity Apprentice Australia'' is an Australian reality television series which aired on the Nine Network. Based on NBC's ''The Apprentice'', it first aired on 24 October 2011 and originally featured Mark Bouris, the founder and chairm ...

''. He appears intermittently on both '' The Project'' and Studio 10 on

Music

Mathison also played in the Sydney-based band called The Punisherz between 2006 and 2008. They managed to play at both

The Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

and the

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne (Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve ...

. In June and July 2008, Mathison played Adam, the partner of Eve, in the

Chester Mystery Plays The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of mystery plays originating in the city of Chester, England and dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century. Origins and history Biblical dramas were being performed across continental Eur ...

in the United Kingdom.

Politics

On 28 May 2016, Mathison announced that he would contest the 2016 federal election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate for the federal seat of

Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: *Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 *Electoral ...

. The seat was held by

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

, a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and a former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Mathison received 11.4% of the primary vote. He assisted in grassroots training and campaign events supporting

Zali Steggall Zali Steggall (born 16 April 1974) is an Australian politician, lawyer and former Olympic athlete. She has been independent member for Warringah since the 2019 Australian federal election when she defeated the incumbent, former Prime Minister ...

in her successful bid to win the federal seat of

as an independent in 2019.

References

External links

*
WHO.com Australian Idol blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathison, James 1978 births Australian Idol Australian television presenters Australian music critics Australian music journalists Australian VJs (media personalities) People from Sydney The Apprentice Australia candidates Living people