 |
| 20 April 2002 |
| 20 April 2002 One-Woman Show From pub stand-up to successful show host ... Gretel Killeen injects respectability and wit into a show in which rating certain body parts forms serious debate. Flattering prophecies abounded when little-known comedy writer and tonsils-for-hire Gretel Killeen burst onto Sydney's airwaves in the late 1980s as a partner to 2Day-FM breakfast jock Tony Hartney. "Gretel has lots of character voices and an infectious giggle. She'll do well," 2Day's then program director, Cherie Romaro, said of the station's first female announcer. "Versatile", "talented" and "highly intelligent and creative", media critics said of the vivacious 24-year-old, better known for her stand-up performances at the Harold Park Hotel, owned by then husband Mark Morgan. But she was dropped from the program, and the station, after just five days on air, when the station changed hands. The experience might have deterred a lesser aspiring A-lister, but Killeen took it in her stride, moving straight to the short-lived night program, called Mike Walsh, on ABC television, and entering a stable of comedy talents doing the rounds of radio and television talk shows. Her latest role as the host of Ten's ratings hit Big Brother has cemented her place in the Sydney celebrity rollcall. The tabloids spot her at trendy cafes with handsome strangers, she is sprung buying million-dollar apartments at Bondi Beach and, predictably, criticised for being too bright or "not blonde enough" for a program the viewing intelligentsia love to hate. Just as well the now 39-year-old single mother of two is feted by a new generation of network soothsayers. Ten's head of factual programming, Tim Clucas, says Killeen's appeal is a simple matter of two million viewers tuning in each time she is on the show, which is twice a week for the next 10 weeks until the least-despised housemate wins. "They love the show, and if they didn't love Gretel, they wouldn't be watching," Clucas says, attributing the success of the first Big Brother series last year in large part to Killeen. "She's almost the perfect host for us, because she's intelligent and funny, yet without being condescending. She appeals to younger viewers and older viewers, of all socio-economic backgrounds, which is important when you look at our target market. "We couldn't think of anyone with the experience she's had. There's just no-one out there like Gretel Killeen." Few, at least, capable of bringing a modicum of respectability to a show sponsored by the makers of a genital herpes treatment and where contestants talk incessantly about pubic hairs, and whether certain body parts are "suckable or doable". Killeen lends muted wit, maturity and a wry smile to the program, yet it's a career move that confounds those who knew her in her early years, as captain of the North Shore Methodist ladies' college, Ravenswood, a member of the Australian debating team and UTS law student. "Gretel was always a flirt - you know, she liked to talk about sex in public places," says one old school mate. "But she's smarter than that. I don't understand why they didn't get some dopey blonde. But good on her. She's an incredibly hard worker, and bright girls who write a bit don't get to live at Bondi and send their kids to private school." Killeen describes herself as an "accidental" comedian. ("I actually started with a very serious poetry reading on the meaning of life, only everyone in my tech class thought it was very funny.") She dropped out of law school after six months, opting for a communications degree and the "less staid, more unpredictable" life of a stand-up comic, performing regularly at the Harold Park. Killeen says her career diverged from that of fellow Harold Parkers, such as Wendy Harmer, Jean Kittson and Mary-Anne Fahey, when she realised life was short and the finish line was in sight. She eventually fulfilled those early prophecies, making her way back to the 2Day FM breakfast show in 2000, having filled the intervening 13 years with appearances on everything from Ray Martin's Midday Show to Nine's Super Debates, a Geoffrey Robertson Hypothetical and Ten's Beauty and the Beast. Meantime, she wrote an average of 1 books a year, 24 so far, including the bestselling Visible Panty Line (a result of her regular column in The Australian Magazine from 1998-99) and a number of moderately successful children's books, one of them illustrated by her children, Ezekial (Zeke) and Epiphany (Eppie). She describes a common theme in her career choices to date - unpredictability. "I love doing Big Brother because there's that element of surprise. I have no idea what anyone is going to say because nobody knows how they're going to deal with being in a house under constant surveillance. "I've never had a nine-to-five job: I only started law because my boyfriend was doing it and in that post-feminist era, girls with a modicum of intelligence did medicine or law. "I look back at what I've done over the past years and think, 'That's cool. There's a lot of colour and movement.' I don't worry about money, although when you're a single parent, money is always a factor ... that's part of the reason you overwork. I worry about whether I'm sad or lonely or stimulated in a job. "When they asked me to audition, I told the head honchos it would be a waste of my time, but I feel intellectually stimulated doing the show. It's constantly challenging because you have to think on your feet." |
 |
| From pub stand-up to successful show host ... Gretel Killeen injects respectability and wit into a show in which rating certain body parts forms serious debate. |