When comedian Kate Langbroek arrives for her sitting on Portrait Artist of the Year, she doesn’t expect that she’ll know one of the artists. But she does know her – and quite well!
“Oh my goodness, Cherie!” Kate says when she sees her behind the easel. “What!”
The artist in question is former music manager Cherie Ceberano, mother of singer Kate Ceberano – and Kate Langbroek’s son Lewis is dating Kate Ceberano’s daughter, Gypsy.
“This is my son’s girlfriend’s grandma,” Kate tells everyone. “And also an artist. Hello, lovely.”
Luke McGregor, who co-hosts the show alongside Miranda Tapsell, tells TV WEEK that when it comes time for Kate to choose her favourite portrait of the three painted by the three different artists, she has to decide whether or not to go for Cherie’s.
“Do you automatically pick hers or do you pick whichever one you like the most?” he says. “It was very funny to watch her um and er about it.”
The other two celebrities sitting for their portraits this episode are country music legend Troy Cassar-Daley and the 2026 Australian of the Year, astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Artist Will Upchurch, who is tasked with painting Troy, is using a swag as a canvas, while Xanthe Muston, one of the artists painting Katherine, is using salt to create the effect of stars.
“That four-hour time limit can be really hard on some people, depending on how they create their portraits,” Luke points out as he watches.
As well as the celebrity sitters each getting to choose their favourite portrait to take home, the judges – National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering, associate professor of art history Robert Wellington and award-winning artist Abdul Abdullah – have to choose their favourite portrait of the nine, with that artist going on to the semi-finals. Who will it be?
Catch Portrait Artist Of The Year on Sunday at 7.30pm on ABC TV or ABC iview.
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