Richard Stephen Wilkins (born 19 June 1954) is an Australian television and radio presenter. He is the entertainment editor for the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, co-host of '' Weekend Today'' and weekend announcer on

smoothfm smoothfm is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by NOVA Entertainment. From original launch in 2012, The format was focused on providing 'more music and less talk' along with an eclectic easy-listening playlist, usually ...

, and master of ceremonies.

Biography

Early life, music and management

Wilkins was born in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

on 19 June 1954, where he graduated from teachers' college, majoring in English and music. Using the name "Richard Wilde" he became an aspiring pop singer.

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

signed him to a worldwide deal. In 1980, he brought his band ''Wilde And Reckless'' to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. He released some singles and a six-track EP, and toured with

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

. He left the music industry to work behind the scenes as Promotions and Marketing Manager for Sydney radio stations

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 ...

and

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on ARN's KIIS Network. The station's headline show is ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show''. ...

. He was part of the Australian Olympians' group which released the top-30 single " You're Not Alone". In 2006, he returned to the stage for his role as Vince Fontaine in the mega-production "Grease: the Arena Spectacular".

Television career

Along with

Joy Smithers Joy Smithers (born 15 July 1963) is an Australian actress, best known for her acting performances on television, and her role as a television news presenter, such as with MTV Australia in the late 1980s. Her credits include: ''All The Way'', ' ...

and Alison Drower, Wilkins was the original host of

MTV Australia MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. It is operated by parent company Paramount Networks UK & Australia headquartered in London with a local of ...

when it launched on Nine in 1987. In 1992, he hosted a

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

called '' Keynotes'', a summertime replacement for ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

''. In 1999 he hosted the Australian version of ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...

'' with Marie Patane. For ten consecutive years (excluding 1999–00), he hosted the Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks telecast. On 7 July 2007, Wilkins presented at the Australian leg of the

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...

concert. Wilkins has been the Nine's Network's Entertainment editor and presented daily features and interviews in showbusiness from around the world. He has also presented the Nine Network's coverage of

The Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, The Golden Globe Awards,

ARIA 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 Austra ...

and many other special events. In 2019, Wilkins co-hosted ''

Today Extra ''Today Extra'' is an Australian morning talk show, with an infotainment base, hosted by David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys. The show airs between 9:00 am and 11:30 am weekdays and follows the Nine Network's breakfast news program '' ...

'' on Wednesday and Thursday due to David Campbell hosting '' Weekend Today.'' In 2020, Wilkins replaced David Campbell as co-host of '' Weekend Today''. Reporting live on the deaths of

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

on 26 June 2009, Wilkins erroneously reported the death of actor Jeff Goldblum on ''Today'', although later in the program this was verified as a hoax.

Publication

In September 2011, he released his autobiography ''Black Ties, Red Carpets, Green Rooms,'' co-written with Carrie Hutchinson, which went on to be a bestseller.

Radio

In May 2012, Wilkins started on

. He is the host of weekend ''Mornings'' (10am – 1pm) on smoothfm 91.5 in Melbourne and smoothfm 95.3 in Sydney.

30th anniversary

In 2017, Wilkins celebrated his 30th anniversary with the Nine Network. In January 2017, for the twelfth time, Wilkins co-hosted the annual G'Day USA Gala - the annual Australian event in the United States, at the behest of

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curti ...

. In November 2017, Wilkins returned to host the ARIA awards from The Star in Sydney for the

Honours

Wilkins was presented with the Variety Club's "Heart of Variety" Award in 2000 for his outstanding humanitarian efforts. In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Wilkins was appointed a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

(AM), for "significant service to the community through a range of charities, and to the entertainment industry". Richard has won two

Australian Commercial Radio Awards The Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs), previously known as the rAWARDS, are an Australian award ceremony held to recognise outstanding achievements in the radio industry. They were first held in 1989, and recognise excellence in all area ...

for Best Music Special: for

John Farnham John Peter Farnham AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

and Michael Buble.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Richard 1954 births Living people Australian television presenters Members of the Order of Australia New Zealand emigrants to Australia People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School Naturalised citizens of Australia