Fiona Taheny (born 16 July 1963), commonly known as Fiona O'Loughlin, is an Australian comedian. O'Loughlin has made television performances on ABC TV's '' Spicks and Specks'', and

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 fiv ...

's ''

Rove Live ''Rove'', also titled ''Rove Live'', was an Australian television variety show that featured live music performances and interviews with local and international celebrity guests. The program premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, bef ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

All Star Family Feud ''All Star Family Feud'' was an Australian game show which aired on Network Ten from 14 March 2016 until 6 May 2018. The series, which is a spin off of ''Family Feud'', sees celebrities compete in teams to raise money for their chosen charity. '' ...

'', '' The Project'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Show Me the Movie! ''Show Me the Movie!'' was a weekly Australian television comedy panel show, which premiered on Network 10 on 22 March 2018 and ran until 28 March 2019. The program was hosted by Rove McManus who, with team captains Joel Creasey, Jane Harber ( ...

'' and ''

Hughesy, We Have a Problem ''Hughesy, We Have a Problem'' was an Australian comedy panel television series which premiered on Network 10 on 30 January 2018. The program was hosted by Dave Hughes, who along with a panel of comedians, attempted to solve problems of viewers ...

'' and a series of advertisements for

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the co ...

soups. She has performed as a headline act in the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typical ...

and the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

festival. In 2011 a book of her short stories, ''Me of the Never Never: The (Chaotic) Life and Times of Fiona O'Loughlin'' was published by Hachette Australia.

Career

In the early 1990s O'Loughlin was writing a column for the ''

Centralian Advocate The ''Centralian Advocate'' is an Australian regional online newspaper based at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The ''Centralian Advocate'' is part of News Corp Australia, and serves under the ''Northern Territory News'' banner, containing he ...

'', and emceeing cabaret shows at the

Araluen Arts Centre The Araluen Cultural Precinct, formerly the Araluen Centre for Arts & Entertainment, in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia, is a cultural precinct which includes the Araluen Arts Centre, the Museum of Central Australia (incorpo ...

. By 1994 she was doing a weekly radio segment on the ABC. In 2000 she appeared at the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

. In 2001, she won the award for Best Newcomer at the

with her show, ''Fiona and her sister (and some weird guy)''. In 2007, she was the "funny woman" in the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

's ''

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 ...

''. In 2009, she was a contestant on the Australian version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

''. In 2012, O'Loughlin was a candidate on the second series 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 chair ...

''; she was the first to be fired from the series. In 2014, she appeared on the ABC TV’s ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'' discussing her career and her alcoholism. In 2018, she was a contestant on fourth season of the Australian version of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. She won the series and donated the prize of $100,000 to her chosen charity,

Angel Flight Angel Flight is the name used by a number of groups whose members provide free air transportation for passengers in need of medical treatment far from home and perform other missions of community service. Such a non-profit organization may be l ...

. In 2018, she appeared as herself in the comedy film

That's Not My Dog! ''That's Not My Dog!'' is a 2018 Australian comedy film written and directed by Dean Murphy and starring Shane Jacobson. Each of the cast members in the film are portraying themselves. The film had a limited cinematic release from 15–18 March 2 ...

She appeared as a guest quiz master on ''

Have You Been Paying Attention? ''Have You Been Paying Attention?'' (abbreviated on social media as HYBPA? and stylised on-screen as Have you been paying attention? in sentence case) is an Australian panel game television quiz show on Network 10. The series, which is produced ...

'' In 2021, O'Loughlin appeared as a guest on episode #23 of Riley Dyson’s “Aussies with stories!” podcast. O'Loughlin appeared as leader of the negative team on Australia Debates.

Personal life

Fiona Taheny was born into an

Irish-Australian Irish Australians ( ga, Gael-Astrálaigh) are an ethnic group of Australian citizens of Irish descent, which include immigrants from and descendants whose ancestry originates from the island of Ireland. Irish Australians have played a consider ...

family at

Warooka, South Australia Warooka is a town on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, known as the 'Gateway to the bottom end'. At the , Warooka had a population of 348. See also * List of cities and towns in South Australia A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. ...

, and is herself a single mother of five children. She lived in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...

for 27 years but relocated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

in 2012. She was married to Chris O'Loughlin from 1985-2012. Her family, and attitude towards children, make up a large component of her act. In 2009, O'Loughlin collapsed during a performance in Brisbane. She subsequently announced that she suffers from

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

. Her younger sister,

Emily Taheny Emily Taheny (born 1978) is an Australian comedian, television actress and singer known for her multiple appearances on the sketch comedy television series '' Comedy Inc.'' from 2003 through 2007, her role as "Kat" on the 2009 series ''The Jeste ...

, is also a comedian and formerly a regular cast member of '' Comedy Inc.'' O'Loughlin's daughter, Biddy O'Loughlin, is a comedian, and toured Ireland in 2011-12.

References

External links

Fiona's bio and photo
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oloughlin, Fiona 1963 births Living people Australian people of Irish descent Australian women comedians People from Alice Springs The Apprentice Australia candidates I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) winners