Johanna Leigh Griggs (born 17 October 1973) is an Australian television presenter and former competitive swimmer. She won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

. Griggs has been at 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 ...

since 1993 where she joined

Seven Sport Seven Sport is the brand and production department under which all sporting events on the Seven Network are broadcast. It broadcasts some of Australia's most prominent sporting events, such as the AFL, cricket, the Olympics and Paralympics, as ...

, first as a host at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

. She hosts the network's Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and the Australian Open, as well as being a presenter of their

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

coverage. She has been the host of '' Better Homes and Gardens'' since 2005 and ''

House Rules House rules are unofficial modifications to official game rules adopted by individual groups of players. House rules may include the removal or alteration of existing rules, or the addition of new rules. Such modifications are common in board g ...

'' from 2013 until 2019.

Commonwealth Games – swimming career

Griggs represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990—winning a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke event. In winning the 50-metre backstroke race at the

Australian Swimming Championships The Australian Swimming Championships is the national Swimming championships for Australia. They are organised by Swimming Australia and separate championships are held annually in both long course (50m) and short course (25m) pools. The two mee ...

in 1993, Griggs recorded the fastest time in the world (that year) for the event. The day following that swim, she announced her retirement from competitive swimming. Her career was cut short after a battle with

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

that began when she was 17. She had previously attempted a comeback in 1992, however, the exertion of that comeback hospitalised her with

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

, and ultimately caused her to withdraw from the 1992 Olympic trials.

Television career

Griggs was the first guest on the long-running ABC programme ''

Live and Sweaty ''Live and Sweaty'' was an Australian sports television program, broadcast on the ABC from 1991 until 1994. Hosted by Andrew Denton (and later Elle McFeast), the show was part panel-based, part talk show and part comedy, and predated '' The Footy ...

''. As part of the programme, sporting guests were asked to donate various body parts to the "Sporting Hall of Fame". Griggs donated her appendix. She appeared as a Swedish tourist in an episode of ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

'' in 1992. Griggs built a solid career in media, and in the late 1990s was a regular panelist on the

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 ...

program ''

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

''. At this time she was also dating rugby league footballer

Luke Ricketson Luke Ricketson (born 5 February 1973) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian and Ireland international, and New South Wales State of Origin representative back-row forward, ...

. She later joined the

. Griggs hosted Australia's longest-running sports program, ''

Sportsworld ''Sportsworld'' (also known as ''NBC SportsWorld'') is an American sports anthology television program which aired on NBC on Saturday afternoons from 1978 to 1994. Format The program presented a wide variety of lower-profile and offbeat sporting ...

'' with Matthew White on Sunday mornings from 2001 to 2006. Griggs hosted several seasons of lifestyle type shows, including ''

Auction Squad ''Auction Squad'' was an Australian lifestyle television series aired on the Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by S ...

'' and ''House Calls to the Rescue''. She participated in the

coverage, and was the first Australian woman to solely host an Olympics coverage when she covered the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In 2005, she replaced

Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...

as the primary host of the long-running lifestyle program '' Better Homes and Gardens''. In 2009, after previously acting as a fill-in presenter for '' Seven News Sydney'' weekend sports bulletin, she took on the role full-time, replacing

Alex Cullen Alexander Shaun Cullen is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and a former member of Ottawa City Council, representing the Bay Ward in Ottawa's west end ...

, who moved to the weeknight role. In November 2010, Griggs resigned from ''Seven News'' to spend more time with her family. Griggs covers several sporting events for

. Griggs was critical of organisers of the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

when the competitors were not included in the closing ceremony.

Personal life

Griggs was born in the Sydney suburb of Harbord which is now known as

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

. Griggs, who was previously married to actor

Gary Sweet Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in '' Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), ''Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''Bod ...

, has two sons. On 25 November 2006, Griggs married building foreman Todd Huggins in a private ceremony at their home in

Collaroy Plateau Collaroy Plateau is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Collaroy Plateau is 22 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and ...

, Sydney. In September 2009, Griggs was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, Sydney.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griggs, Johanna 1973 births Living people People with chronic fatigue syndrome Australian female backstroke swimmers Australian television presenters Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Australian women television presenters Members of the Order of Australia