MAGAZINE / NEWSPAPER ARTICLES




The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely
{Australian Penthouse - May, 1997)

Australian Penthouse asked 300 prominent Australian men, everyone from John Howard to John Laws, who presses their buttons.

Australia�s ten sexiest woman:
  1. Greta Scacchi
  2. Elle Macpherson
  3. Kimberely Davies
  4. CATRIONA ROWNTREE
  5. Nicky Buckley
  6. Kate Fischer
  7. Nicole Kidman
  8. Rebecca Gibney
  9. Indira Naidoo
  10. Tottie Goldsmith


Catriona Rowntree - Getaway Girl

Who wouldn�t want to travel the world with this tantalisingly tasty sort ? Currently globe trotting for the Nine network�s trave show, GETAWAY, the 24-year old former JJJ radio announcer and kiddie program host is making quite an impact in the sexy stakes. West Australian cricketer Damien Martin reckons 'Catriona is a great conversationalist, has heaps of personality to go with a fabulous figure... and sensational breasts!'

'She has stack of personality; a very natural, good-natured woman, without the usual TV ego,' writes Channel Nine�s Brisbane news presenter, Mike London. According to another fan, jewellery designer Stefano, 'Her intelligence, wit and charm compliment her ravishingly beauty.'

Sexiest Moment

Any time she flashes that sensational smile... or those magnificent mounds.



The Long and Winding Road To Fame
{The Age Green Guide - September, 1996)

Like many who wanted a job in the media, Catriona Rowntree had to battle to get her first job. But, as Kym Saddler reports, once she talked her way in, she never stopped.

Catriona Rowntree is the first to admit that she can talk the leg off a chair. The enthusiasm she exudes on the small screen is just as unmistakable in the flesh and she is certain her success stems from being herself. The reporter for Channel�s 9�s Getaway and former Triple J announcer, is an incessant talker and seems to be always having fun.

And she has good reasons to be happy. At 25, Rowntree has hosted the children�s programs Wonder World and What�s Up Doc?, her own radio request show on Triple J and is now in the enviable position of travel reporter or Getaway. So it�s hard to understand when Rowntree insists her road to fame has been painfully protracted. "I suppose if you were to read it on paper and to watch form a far it would seem it was relatively fast, but for me it has been tortuously long. So many people slammed doors in my face and I can actually lay claim to the joy of getting paid to do what I really love."

Rowntree takes delight in her new life in the limelight and welcomes public recognition as a sign of success. "I love it. Everywhere I go people want to stop and have a chat," she says. Rowntree originally hoped to be a journalist. After her HSC, she pounded the pavement and landed a job with Business Review Weekly. "I confirmed yes that this is definitely what I want to do with my life. I studied journalism but I couldn�t get myself a job anywhere and I was basically told: Go and get yourself some wrinkles and come back and see us."

She then set her sites on the electronic media and discovered a love for community radio. She later picked up a spot with the ABC�s Triple J, which evolved into her own Saturday night show, the popular Request Fest. She also began the push into television. She answered a newspaper advertisement for a job on Wonder World and competed against 8000 to make the final five but did not land it.

"They didn�t want to know me. Thy thought I was too experienced, which was strange to me because I had no experience. I think they were looking for someone they could mould. I though it was pretty unfair on the day, but you can see it all works out in the end." Rowntree continued to hound the Wonder World�s executive producer and 12 months later was appointed as a researcher. Persistent request gave her a chance at reporting. It just steamrolled.

"It was really wonderful to be in job where I was encouraged to be myself. I was given confidence in my own personality. There was never any pressure for me o be something I wasn�t. I didn�t have to wear any clothes I didn�t want to wear, I didn�t have to ut my hair, I didn�t have to speak in any newsreader style, I could just be me. Through that, thing have gone my way."

Despite her apparent determination and focus on career, she retains a certain humility: "If you had asked me six years ago did I ever think I would be working at Channel 9, I would never have thought it possible. It slowly appeared to me that if you�re an OK person, if you work your bum off and you genuinely love what you are doing then, eventually, by the laws of averages, god things must come your way."

When What�s Up Doc? came her way, Rowntree says she felt "a sort of reticence over how this would affect (her) credibility". She pondered the gamble of hosting a children�s cartoon sho in the wake of Sophie Lee�s bruising experience on The Bugs Bunny Show.

"You are constantly thinking how will people perceive me because I definitely don�t want to be perceived as being the "Bugs Bunny girl" - it was something I was really aware of," she concedes. Rowntree contributes a youthful perspective to getaway. She joined the show in February and assignments have taken her to Bali, Thailand and Egypt.

"Getaway is a definite step forward, but I�m not consciously thinking about my credibility", she says. And as for the future: "When it gets down to it, I can do radio and print at any age, and I�m not sure how long I can do TV. So, while the opportunity is there, I�m going to take it for everything I can."



Taking it! Celebrities confess...
Cleo (December 1996)

Which self-tanners are streaks ahead at giving you a glow?
We asked nine top names to do a road test for us.

Catriona - Le Tan Fast Pump Spray
"I used to be a sun junkie, but my baking days are over. Now my friends call me the Queen of Streak. I do the lot: exfoliate, moisturise, but still end up one big streak. But after two applications of this... no streaks. I�m onto a winner!"



Work is a Holiday
{Sunday Herald-Sun TV Extra - May, 1996)

Catriona has taken to her new job like a travel junkie with an open ticket. "Not only do I love to travel but I travel well," she enthused. "I genuinely love flying . i like the view from planes and I genuinely like aeroplane food (although she means the lo-cal type)."

Her latest trip will see her away for six weeks. "I pack the biggest bag I can possibly find." she said. "Then I through in as many clothes as I can, a couple of photo frames, my CD player, some CDs, a couple of books and the world's biggest toiletry bag." The frames represents something from home because, although Catriona loves travelling, her biggest stumbling block is homesickness.

The 24-year-old has recently bought he own house in Sydney, but still lives at home with mum, dad and grandma. "There's also a cat, dog, and I'm one of four kids. I'm very close to my family." The Rowntree family is indeed tight-knit and Catriona delights in being constantly embarrassed by father. Stephen, who keeps a scrapbook of his daughter's rapidly expanding career. "He has me cowering in the corner when he pulls out the scrapbook," she says. Mum Heather is less demonstrative but equally supportive and she says, with a family like hers, there is no danger of her developing an ego problem. "For my family I'm quiet. Although women rule the house, I'm the youngest and I've had to learn to yell the loudest." She describes her grandmother, Riria as her best friend. "She's the world's best financial adviser. She takes all my Nine cheques and hands them over to a stockbroker to invest for me."

But if there is one downside to this story, it is one "that no-one wants to hear, and that it is I have no real life other than my job. Still, it suits me for the moment."



Catriona's Clothes
{New Weekly - May, 1996)

Style:
'Comfortable clothing for work is necessary but for that one big event of the whole year - like the Logies - I love to go all out and dress in something amazing.'

Fave Clothing:
'Second-hand Levi's and, because I have difficulty finding shoes for my big feet, I love all my Donna-May Bollinger shoes.'

Love or Loathe Shopping?:
'I hate it. it's so frustrating.'

Shops:
'From one end of Oxford Street to the other.'

Australian Fashion is:
'Wonderful, original, and suits our attitude and climate perfectly.'

Fantasy outfit:
'Something designed by Nelson Leong that squashes into a suitcase, never has to be washed or ironed and makes me look like a million dollars!'



Catriona Returns on GETAWAY

Catriona finally returns to TV as a reporter for GETAWAY, Thursdays at 7:30pm on Channel 9. Her first story is a 'road-test' of Queensland's Theme Parks.

"Basically I went home every night feeling like my insides were having a party and hadn't invited the rest of me. It has been a brilliant assignment because I genuinely love scary rides. The scarier the better. But I'm incredibly embarassed that they are using this one as one of my first stories, because it is going to blow ny serious image completely."



Why Catriona left "What's Up Doc?"
TV Week, February, 1996

"I haven't had a holiday since 1989".
On Saturday February 10, 1996 Catriona hosted her last show on What's Up Doc? She will now been seen on the Nine Networks Getaway program as a new reporter. In an interview for TV Week she explains her latest career move. "I'm just growing up," she says. "Sooner or later I have to move out of children's TV and throw myself into the fire of prime time." "My contract was coming up for renewal with JJJ and I had been doing three jobs in three states (What's Up Doc? in Melbourne, Triple J in Sydney and Wonder World! in Brisbane) and had been very, very happy." "I was loving every second of it, but I hadn't been able to take up other opportunities. I couldn't give anything more to radio because of TV and I couldn't give more to TV because of radio." On her new position as reporter on getaway Catriona says "I'm not taking the position of anybody -the position was created".



Australia's 50 Most Eligible Women
[Metropolitan Style - December, 1995]

Catriona lives on Sydney's North Shore and is 24 years old. She loves her nan, whom she says is like Wonder Woman with wrinkles. She would love a bottomless bowl of creme brulee, and she knows she has succeeded when she gets that small feeling that she is making the most of her self.

What do you do for a living ?
Hmmm. I suppose I get paid to talk on the telly.

What sort of qualities do you look for in a partner ?
Like most girls, I look for three basic things: the body of Tarzan, the brain of Einstein, and a lad who'll kiss the ground I walk on. (I'd settle for just one of the above.)

What is your best and worst quality?
Positivity, and some say that my nose blowing is so bad it's scary.

What is the biggest misconception about you?
That Claudia Schiffer and I were separated at birth! (Just joking).

How do you relieve stress?
Jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet shuts me up pretty quickly.

Describe a great night out ?
Dinner with friends who know exactly how to make you giggle and devouring a meal that's truly mouth watering. And finishing off with a great flick and/or dancing off into the night.

What's you're favorite car?
Definitely a red 1975 Leyland mini.



Catriona's Holiday List
[TV HITS - December, 1995]
  1. A mobile phone
  2. A walkman
  3. A huge sun hat
  4. Heaps of blockout
  5. A case of water
  6. A notepad and pen
  7. "The Power Is Within You" by Louis Hay
  8. Case of Blistex
  9. Little Black Dress
  10. A camera




Catriona's Favourite Thing
[Herald-Sun - 1995]

Family is my fave, but on a material level these boots take the cake! I found this really great lady, Donna-May Bolinger, and all I have to do is throw some words at her and she creates yor dream shoes. For this pair I wanted something with heaps of character so we put a heart on the chisel toe, a secret heart at the back of the shoe and beautiful wine glass heels. So these are definitely my favourite thing...until my next pair of shoes.



Catriona On Computers
[Computer Living - Summer 1996]

"I began using computers when I was in school. I taught myself most of the skills. Later when I studied journalism, the course required that we get right up there with our computer knowledge. At the moment, computers are really just a tool to let me get my work done more efficiently. Channel Nine has recently given me a computer for home. I write all of my own scripts. I used to go down to Melbourne the day before a show and write them up there, but know I get to do everything from home."



Catriona Rowntree

{This is a biography of Catriona when she worked at TRIPLE J in 1995}

Where were you born?.....Sydney, born and bred

Starsign.....Cancer, with Leo rising, but I have the Cancerian traits... worry too much, work too much, way too emotional and I love my home.

What did you want to grow up to be?.....That depends on what mood you catch me in

Favourite food.....Chicken, of course

Who is your all time idol?.....My granny. You'd love her, she's cuddly, admirable, intelligent and generally just a cool nanny.

What was your first paying job?.....Stuffing the stuffing up chickens bums at the local chicken shop. They eventually fired me because I was incapable of putting the chickens in those special oven bags without ripping them - it's bloody hard.

What was your most embarrassing time on air?.....A real doozy was when I accidentally left my microphone on and yelled out "Can someone please mind the panel - I'm busting to go to the dunny!"

How do you want to be remembered?.....I'd settle for just being remembered

Catriona's Hi-5.....Once again they change all the time: Stevie Wonder - Masterblaster (Jammin'), REM - Night Swimming, Donna Summer - I Feel Love, Anything off the soundtrack to Betty Blue, ummm, ohhh anything to get down and get back up again to.




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