James Mathison

James Mathison
This article is about the Australian TV presenter. For the Scottish baronet, see James Matheson.

James Mathison
Born (1978-01-14) 14 January 1978 (age 46)
Sydney, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
OccupationTV presenter
Years active2000–present
EmployerNetwork Ten

James Mathison (born 14 January 1978[citation needed]) is an Australian television presenter and former independent political candidate.

Early life

Mathison was born in Sydney, New South Wales and grew up in Northern Beaches suburb of Frenchs Forest. He attended St. Augustine's College, in Brookvale. After leaving school, he worked in various jobs, including working in a warehouse for a mail-order company and as a cashier at a service station, before spending a year on exchange in South America.

Career

Entertainment

Television

In 2001, Mathison was a contestant on the Channel Ten reality TV show The $20 Challenge,[1] during which he was shown busking on the streets of London for extra money. He achieved second place in the contest. Weeks after returning from London, he auditioned for pay-TV channel Channel [V]'s new reporter search. After making it through to the final 8, he was offered a job there as video journalist.

In 2003, Mathison was appointed co-host of Australian Idol alongside Channel [V] host Andrew Günsberg. They created a behind-the-scenes show for Channel [V] called Australian Idol Extra for the second and third seasons of the programme. On 31 March 2009, after six years with Australian Idol, it was announced Mathison had quit as co-host.[1][2]

Mathison appeared on a celebrity episode of the Australian version of Ready Steady Cook in October 2005, in which he was declared the winner, beating Osher Günsberg (aka. Andrew G).[3]

Mathison has also been a presenter on Nova 96.9 where he hosted "LaunchPad", a late night new music show with Patience Hodgson of Brisbane band The Grates, as well as co hosting summer breakfast.[4]

In 2005[5] and 2006, James hosted the ARIA Music Awards. In 2007, James, along with Hamish and Andy, hosted the ARIA Red Carpet segment.[6] He also made a brief cameo appearance on the Australian feature film BoyTown in the ARIA's scene playing himself alongside Ella Hooper.[3] In June 2009, Network Ten announced that James would be a reporter and panelist on The 7pm Project covering media and sport alongside, Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and Dave Hughes.[7] In July 2012, Mathison joined Weekend Sunrise[8] where he replaced Jonathan Coleman as a movie reviewer.

In July 2013, Network Ten announced Mathison would be presenter of its new breakfast program Wake Up alongside Natarsha Belling, Natasha Exelby and Nuala Hafner[8] until the show was cancelled in May 2014.

In 2015, Mathison was a contestant in the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.[9]

He appears occasionally on both The Project and Studio 10 on Network Ten.

Music

Mathison also played in the Sydney-based band called The Punisherz between 2006 and 2008.[10] They managed to play at both The Big Day Out[11] and the Falls Festival.[12]

In June and July 2008, Mathison played Adam, the partner of Eve, in the Chester Mystery Plays in the United Kingdom.[13]

Politics

On 28 May 2016, Mathison announced that he would contest the 2016 federal election as an independent candidate for the federal seat of Warringah. The seat was held by Tony Abbott, a member of the Liberal Party and a former Prime Minister.[14] Mathison received 11.4% of the primary vote.[15] He assisted in grassroots training and campaign events supporting Zali Steggall in her successful bid to win the federal seat of Warringah as an independent in 2019.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "JAMES Mathison quits as host of Australian Idol". The Daily Telegraph. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Andrew G to host Idol alone". The Age. AAP. 31 March 2009.
  3. ^ a b Mathison, James. "Morning, James!". DNA Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Myers, Matthew. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  4. ^ Moran, Jonathon (10 May 2009). "James Mathison on quitting Australian Idol and Nova radio". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia.
  5. ^ "Higgins leads ARIA awards nominee list". ABC News. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  6. ^ Knox, David (12 October 2007). "Rove returns as ARIAs host". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  7. ^ Knox, David (12 June 2009). "The 7pm Project: it's official". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b Richards, Holly (28 October 2013). "Wake Up call from Ten". The West Australian. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  9. ^ Hoyer, Melissa (20 July 2015). "Gabi Grecko, Geoffrey Edelsten, Mel Greig sign up for Celebrity Apprentice". news.com.au. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  10. ^ "James Mathison quits Australian Idol". Sydney Morning Herald. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  11. ^ Boud, Daniel (7 March 2007). "Big Day Out Sydney 2007". Boudist. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  12. ^ Gene (25 November 2006). "The beats continue at the Lorne Falls Festival". The Dwarf. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  13. ^ "2008 Programme" (PDF). Chester Mystery Plays. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  14. ^ Levy, Megan (28 May 2016). "Election 2016: Australian Idol host James Mathison to challenge Tony Abbott in Warringah". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  15. ^ Warringah, NSW, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.
  16. ^ Chan, Gabrielle (25 February 2019). "Mathison Backs Steggall to beat Tony Abbott". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 July 2019.