THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SOPHIE

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SOPHIE

Our home grown beauty talks about Love Island, heartbreak and her diverse career.

Beside her great looks, wicked laugh and rapid fire comments, Sophie Monk has one even more endearing quality. Total honesty. Ask her any question about any aspect of her life and she will gladly give you her take on what was going on at that point. She seems to have reached a calmness and acceptance about the varied twists and turns that have played out over her life and career, usually in full view of the public, and is unfazed by anyone else’s view. Now as ‘Love Island’ places a ridiculously good looking assortment of hot singles, sourced from Tinder, Sophie is front and centre as the presenter deluxe of all that occurs on and off camera.

She is the perfect choice to host Channel 9’s ‘Love Island’. Partially because of her welldocumented love life and also because she clearly remembers the first and definitely not the last time she had her heart broken. “It was in pre-school. There was a boy in my class who I really liked and I told him that. He rejected me, probably wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment,” she giggled. “Anyway the next year he came back and said he wanted to be my boyfriend but by that stage I had moved on to someone else.” She understands your pain.

SOPHIE MONK

Her relationships, good and bad, since she burst on to the consciousness of Australia in the pop group ‘Bardot’, give her the perfect amount of empathy and insight into what the contestants are going through. “I understand that they are on national television and putting themselves emotionally out there so it is a situation where emotions can and do run high. On some of my stints on reality TV, I would often cry for hours. It is an unnatural situation and you are so wrapped up in the situation that it does get to you. I understand that everyone has to chart their own path.” Would she step in to give advice if she sees someone struggling? “Usually not. Firstly they wouldn’t listen anyway but I might hug and console them.”

Sophie came to the Gold Coast as a two year old when her family emigrated from England. Her schooling reads like a hopscotch court as she jumped from place to place attending Helensvale Primary, St Hilda’s, Somerset College, A.B. Paterson College and MacGregor State High School during her school years. “The various schools was because I always seemed to be getting into trouble. Nothing major but it was down to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and I just couldn’t focus. MacGregor High suited me the best because it had a great performance/theatrical course which I loved. Somehow I ended up being School Captain,” she laughed. “My mother really wanted one of her children to get that badge. Someone else wrote my speech and my campaign was telling everyone that as I was singing all over the place I would be a great ambassador for the school.”

Her voice is a natural gift. “I was singing in the back seat of the car when I was seven years old and Mum thought it was the radio. She encouraged me and by the time I was eight I was singing professionally. I’m actually quite shy but put me on stage as a child and I was right at home. There were so many classes I was doing from gymnastics and singing to acting but it burned up energy and I kept learning.” Operatic training and performing at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod followed as she worked at following her dream of being a full-time professional singer. She landed a job at Movie World, famously performing as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator. “Show biz was always the plan and Movie World was perfect place. I loved working there and would go back again. Wonderful people to work with and such a great way to get experience. I played different characters, did street performances or sang in front of big crowds – it was simply the best training in learning how to work an audience.”

In 1999 at the urging of her mother she answered an advertisement looking for girls who could sing and dance. It was the television show ‘Popstars’ and as we now know she was selected to appear on the show, was chosen and went on to become an integral part of the mega-group ‘Bardot’. (There was a certain irony that pout, blonde hair and figure were very similar to Brigitte Bardot.) The level of fame they achieved thanks to the TV show was astonishing. Their debut album, ‘Bardot’, and single, ‘Poison’, hit number 1 in Australia and New Zealand immediately upon release. Sadly the group broke up in 2002 and Sophie began her acting career taking a courageous leap of faith by heading to Los Angeles in 2005 landing a coveted part in ‘Date Movie’, a spoof based on the popular rom-com format. Roles on ‘Entourage’ and other TV shows and movies followed. She also was