>>>Julie McCrossin Articles<<<

You are a very busy person. What are your work commitments right now?

My involvement with Channel Ten is for the Good News Week's farewell special for the end of the year and for a number of GNW debates. I work part time with ABC Radio National on a show called Life Matters, and write a fortnightly column for the Financial Review. I am also a part time law student and work as a professionally facilitator at seminars and conferences. I have a very diverse life but it is mainly about talking for a living. I am also recording an interview program for ABC TV called McCrossin. Sorry, is that too much?

Phew. So what do you do to chill out?

To be brutally frank, I don't do enough to chill out. I have become the archetypal 21^st Century deregulated worker where almost all of my work is contract and it's intense. I love what I do but its extremely demanding. My chilling out is gardening on the weekends with my partner, going out to see silly children's films with my stepchildren who are 11 and eight. I also have an aging kelpie and he embodies my commitment to fitness.

Okay. So on that note then, what does your fitness regime involve?

Six months ago, I had a really young border collie and he had the energy of a nuclear fission and a brain that could do a better job of running Telstra than the people currently doing it.

So, I was walking three times a day, but I felt guilty about his quality f life so I sent him to live in the country and my exercise level has dropped remarkable.

So I need to get another young dog. I walk every day now, but we have a very elderly dog, so we dawdle.

So, what are your greatest challenges with work and spreading your time around?

I feel incredibly lucky because on a daily basis I am asked to do interesting things, both paid and unpaid. The issue for me is making choices to balance the intellectual stimulation with some sort of physical wellbeing. Right now, I think I am out of balance and living more in my head than in my body.

What do you think you need to do to achieve a better balance?

Get a young dog. Also, I used to go to a place called the Korean Bathhouse and that is genuinely as good as sex. Once you have a soak in the ginseng, the hot and cold bathes, the sauna and you get the full body scrub and a massage, it is profoundly relaxing.

What about diet? What do you think is the key to a healthy, but fun, diet?

I refuse to see food as a problem to deal with. I am part woman, part rabbit. I eat heaps and heaps of salad. But when I feel the best is when I'm exercising regularly and not thinking too much about food.

You are a teetotaler aren't you?

Yes, I haven't had a drink for 20 years. I frankly don't think I could live the life I do if I drank. The way I cope with the insecurity of jobs in the media is to have a really normal working life in the daytime. But, I couldn't final GNW at 1am and be really coherent running a seminar the next day if I wasn't completely compos mentis. Foe me, not drinking has been a fantastic experience because I never have a hangover.

Why did you give it up?

I was a problem drinker. My personality changed when I drank and I felt I couldn't predict my behavior. I made that decision when I was 24 and I am now 46. It was the best decision I have ever made.

Is it a challenge at time?

It hasn't been. I consciously seek out other non drinkers at times and talk about the decision and reinforce it, but it has become a part of who I am. I've always felt it was the right decision for me.

The whole truth...

What would you change about you body?

I have brought a lot of women a lot of pleasure on television by being in my mid 40s, size 16 and happy and confident. I don't think I want to change anything.

Who would you most like to do an aerobics class with and why?

Amanda Keller from Triple M. She is incredibly good company, she is a regular user of a personal trainer and she is a great role model. She's also very accepting so she wouldn't laugh at me.

What would you like to be served for your last supper? Salad. I love salad with Virgin Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and avocado.

What is your greatest regret in relationships? Work intrudes on how regularly I see my friends.

When did you last paint the town red and what did you do?

Last week I went to dinner with my partner and two friends I love the most. We got there at 7pm and didn't draw breath until midnight. It's about talking, not drinking.

What do you think is the secret to happiness?

Balancing time for quiet personal reflection with real engagement with your friends and your partner.

She's landed her own chat show at the ABC, but Julie McCrossin says it will be less froth and more about serious issues.

While Good News week breathed its last gasp a few weeks back, Network Ten has already promised that the GNW gang- Paul McDermott, Mikey Robins and Julie McCrossin- will be back next year in an all new comedy show.

But it seems things are far from signed, sealed and delivered behind the scenes of their mystery new project. At this stage, Julie McCrossin doubts she will even be involved.

"I don't know- we'll see about that one," Julie says. "My instinct is that the boys are heading into light entertainment and that's not quite me. It'll be something in the comedy music arena, more in the mode of GNW Night Lite.

"As for the cocktail of Paul. Mikey and myself, I think I offered the 'warm woman's opinion" on many issues. It's best to play with your strengths- a chat show discussing ideas is much more me."

And that's exactly what Julie has landed at the ABC with her new chat show McCrossin, which screens Tuesdays at 10pm. After four years of being the third banana of the GNW trio, Julie has the chance to step in as the centerpiece of her own show.

McCrossin is a half-hour chat show format in which Julie will anchor a discussion among three guests on topics ranging from The Next generation to Coming Out. And at the end of every show, there will also be a musical number.

"One of the things I most wanted was a song at the end of every show," she says "It gives everything a sense of occasion! Three guests and a song- it's that simple."

While the quips and one liners slip easily from Julie's tongue, she says she would never consider herself a comedian. "I call myself a social commentator with extravagant body language," she laughs.

Julie has worked as a TV host and commentator on telecasts as diverse as Anzac Day marches to the Mardi Gras parades, as well as on ABC Radio National's Life Matters program.

McCrossin, she insists, will not be about funny gags or set-ups. It's about people discussing a range of topics.

"That's my background. I was pushed right outside my comfort zone with the GNW comedy material, but I love a challenge," she says

Julie is giving nothing away with her line up of guests, but she hopes one of her GNW pals will make an appearance.

"I hope Mikey will come on as this is very much his style"

So with some doubt over her TV plans for the New Year, would Julie be happy to stay on her own show at the ABC?

"In this current season, I have seven goes to get it right. If I have even more after that, I'll be thrilled!"

TV Week, December 9-15th.

By John Burfitt

Former Good News Week star, and now ABC chat show host Julie McCrossin talks up our city.

How long have you lived here?: I loved living in Sydney for 45 of my 46 years. I spent 1987 on the midnorth coast, at Kempsey, on ABC rural radio doing talkback.

What are your first memories of Sydney? My earliest memory is graduating from the learn-to-swim classes at the Watson’s Bay baths. On graduation they gave you cloth water wings and sewed them on to your cossie. I can still remember feeling proud.

What is your favourite Sydney street and why? My own street in Annandale. It is cut by an old aqueduct, so there’s only local traffic. Digs sit and sun themselves in the middle of the Road. My neighbours sit on their front steps on warm nights and we call out to each other as we arrive home from work. It’s a real "neighbourhood" to use a Yankee work I like.

What is your favourite restaurant and why? The Bar Baba in Norton St, Leichhardt. It has great food, friendly family service that’s quick and they let me sit as long as I like.

What is your favourite past time and place to hang out? Walking around the headland at Camp Cove for the best view in the world; or taking my stepchildren to the movies at the mecca of the west, Penrith Plaza; or relaxing at the Coogee Ladies Pool; or walking my beloved kelpie through the grounds of the old Callan Park psychiatric hospital.

What’s the best beach in Sydney and why? Neilsen Park is a Sydney Harbour beach I adore. It’s full of happy childhood memories and I still love nothing better than a picnic at sunset with a pack of kids and mates.

What do you find most appealing about Sydney? The sea, the harbour and the magnificent Blue Mountains just on our doorstep-and it’s the home of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which reflects a libertarian streak I enjoy.

What’s your perfect Sunday?

Being at home with my girlfriend and the kids with no plans and lots of time together.

Sunday Telegraph, Dec 10^th 2000

Stan Grant returns to television on Tuesday night, in a guest appearance on McCrossin- the new ABC talk show hosted by Julie McCrossin of Good News Week. But viewers expecting revelations of lust and romance will have to settle for the appearance of another guest-Anthony "The man" Mundine. In one of the more remarkable flirtations on Australian television, Mundine turned his charms on McCrossin during the taping of her talk show. During a chat segment on Aboriginal role models, the pair warmed to each other, to the point where Mundine couldn’t help taking things a step further. At one stage in the interview he asked McCrossin: "What are you doing later on?"

Despite her protests about being the same age as his mother, Mundine replied "You’re still looking lovely though"

Sun Herald, December 10 2000

Demand the impossible.

"Be realistic, demand the impossib;e" was one of the thoughts that Julie McCrossin imparted to the Year 11 students of Bankstown Girl's High, recently before the students embark on their final year of senior study.

Julie McCrossin is pictured with Year 11 student, Traci Pham.

Ms McCrossin encouraged the students during her talk, to speak their mind and give their opinions about issues relating to equal opporunities for women and wbout the choices and avenues available for women today.

By retelling some of her experiences as a family member, as a participant in the television show Good News week and as a journalist, the media celebrity throroughly entertained her audience but also made them think and question.

The Torch, Wednesday 19th 2000