Kathleen de Leon Jones (born Kathleen de León on 1 September 1977) is a Filipina-born Australian actress, dancer, and singer. She was an original cast member of the ARIA Award winning Australian children's musical group Hi-5. She left Hi-5 in July 2007 after nine years with the group.

Personal life

De León was born in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

on 1 September 1977 and moved to Australia in 1978 with her parents. She is the oldest of three daughters; her two younger sisters Jennifer and Melanie were born in Australia. The family spent most of de León's childhood in Sydney."Another Pinay goes international." ''Manila Standard Today'', 28 December 2006. On 30 April 2000, when de León was 22 years old, she met her future husband Daniel Jones. At the time, Jones was a member of the Australian pop band

Savage Garden Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on instruments. Formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993, the duo achieved international success from the mid-1990s to early 2000s with the No. ...

. The couple met at the 42nd Annual TV Week Logie Awards. In 2003, after over three years of dating, Jones proposed to de León during his 30th birthday party at the GPO Bar in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Over one hundred attendees—including Jones' parents—were "shocked" by the surprise proposal. On 9 October 2005, de León and Jones married at ''Avica Weddings and Resort'' on the Gold Coast in Queensland. de León's wedding dress was designed by Bora of ''Bora Couture'' while one of de León's friends designed a

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...

set for the back of the gown and diamond pieces for the front. Jones wrote a song titled "Love Is Enough" for his bride. On 25 February 2006, de León confirmed that she was four months pregnant. The couple's first child, Mikayla, was born on 26 July 2006. On 30 October 2010, de León gave birth to the couple's second child.

Professional career

De León started singing and dancing at an early age. She taught herself to play the guitar, prompting her parents to enrol her in

The McDonald College The McDonald College is an independent co-educational specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school with speciality in the creative and performing arts, located in North Strathfield, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wa ...

, an exclusive performing arts school in Sydney, Australia. She was awarded both the ''Roberta Armstrong'' and ''Kelloggs'' Scholarships to study at the school, where she studied dance, drama, and voice for a number of years while making professional auditions in her spare time. De León also trained with the Australian College of Entertainment in Castle Hill, New South Wales. She also competed in the Australian television talent show '' New Faces''—where she came third in the grand final—and appeared on various Australian television shows, including '' Heartbreak High'', '' Ridgey Didge'', '' Swap Shop'', and the ''At Home Show'' with John Mangos. It was while she was performing at a fundraiser for The McDonald College that de León was discovered by one of the directors for the Cameron MacIntosh company. She appeared in two musicals in Australia mounted by the Macintosh company, '' Miss Saigon'' and '' Rent''. She stayed with the cast of Rent (where she was Christine Anu's understudy for the role of Mimi) Note: Article is published across three pages. and was dance captain for the musical, until being cast in '' Hi-5'' in 1998. She featured with a puppet named "Jup-Jup", voiced originally by co-cast member Tim Harding. de León and Jup-Jup's segment of the show, ''Puzzles and Patterns'', promoted and educated children on problem solving and mathematics.

Departure from Hi-5

In July 2007, de León left Hi-5 permanently to focus on raising Mikayla. de León stated that she was still interested in working on television, but only if an opportunity existed in her then-home of Sydney so she could remain close to her family. de León was the first of all the original members to permanently leave '' Hi-5''. Sun Park replaced de León in Hi-5. As of 2018 de León resides in Las Vegas. In November 2016, while in the process of selling some properties in

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

, she stated that they would one day look to move back to the Gold Coast.

References

External links

Hi-5 Official WebsiteHi-5 on NineMSN
* {{DEFAULTSORT:de León Jones, Kathleen 1977 births 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian women singers Australian actresses of Asian descent Australian children's musicians Australian expatriates in the United States Australian female dancers Australian people of Filipino descent Australian television actresses Australian television personalities Filipino emigrants to Australia Living people Musicians from Manila Actresses from Sydney Women television personalities Actresses from Manila Musicians from Sydney