As one of the best-known faces on Australian television, Chrissie Swan knows only too well that a loss of privacy can be the price of success.
But the former advertising copywriter – who exploded into the spotlight 20 years ago as a contestant on reality show Big Brother – has proved the exception to the rule.
The 49-year-old is keeping her private life as a proud mum and her public profile very separate. How?
Chrissie Swan is a household name in Australia.
(IMAGE: Supplied)”It’s simple”, Chrissie tells TV WEEK: ”You just have to draw a line between work and home and stick to it.”
”Being in TV and radio is my job – not my kids’ [Leo, 13, Kit, 10, and Peggy, eight] job,” she says.
”Obviously, I have to take on everything that comes with those roles, but my kids don’t. It’s very easy for me to maintain that line.”
Sometimes, the divide has been tough to maintain – for example, when her split from partner Chris Saville became public knowledge in 2021 and interest in her family piqued.
”It used to irritate me when false stories came out about me, but I don’t care anymore,” she says.
”I can’t control it. It gives me great peace to ‘control the controllables’ and let everything else go.”
Fact or fictional? Chrissie has hosted Would I Lie to You? Since 2022
(IMAGE: Supplied)That’s something she’s learned since arriving on the scene in 2003 thanks to Big Brother, a time she can’t quite believe was two decades ago.
”Big Brother was 20 years ago this year – can you believe it?” she says.
”Everything about my life has changed since then and of course it has. Most people have different priorities and obligations than they had 20 years ago and I’m no different.”
What isn’t different is her love of a challenge, which Chrissie admits has guided her career.
”If I’m offered something and think, ‘Well, no – I couldn’t do that!’, straight away I start to think, ‘Well, that means I have to do it!’ It’s almost like I’ve dared myself to try. It’s made for a very interesting few years.”
Chrissie joined Melb B, Abbie Chatfield and Dave Hughes on the panel of The Masked Singer in 2022
(IMAGE: Supplied)She isn’t kidding. Since her Big Brother debut, Chrissie has been a panellist on daytime chat shows, co-host or host of several series, led a current affairs program and plenty more.
And now, it’s led her to host Would I Lie To You?, where team captains Charlie Pickering and Frank Woodley and guest celebrities reveal unusual facts and hilarious personal tales for the opposing team to evaluate as true or false.
”The show is manna from heaven for curious people and I’m a very curious person,” she says.
”It feels like I’m hosting a party – which I also like to do in real life. Before the show tapes, I’m in everyone’s green room having a chat and making sure everyone’s looked after. I just love the whole thing.”
With Georgie Tunny on The Project.
(IMAGE: Ten)Would I Lie to You? returns for a second season in 2023, with tweaks to the format that Chrissie believes viewers will appreciate.
”With anything, the second time is going to be better than the first,” she says.
”Even if you’re making pavlova for the first time, it’s perhaps not as good as the second time, and so on. This felt like we’ve got the recipe right now.”
And hanging out with Sam Pang and Jonathan Brown when she was part of the Chrissie, Sam and Browny breakfast show in Melbourne.
(IMAGE: Supplied)Clearly, Chrissie is hoping Would I Lie To You? is the show that keeps her in a job for a long time. But with her inner voice challenging her to take on anything that might at first seem impossible, anything could be next.
When it’s pointed out that a move into politics would be impossible, she’s immediately intrigued. She couldn’t possibly do that, could she?
”And now I have to!” she declares with a laugh.
”Oh my God – I’ll be the prime minister of Australia. Could you imagine that?”
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