Follow me at http://twitter.com/SydneyCelebs.

See you there!

WordPress has been an excellent home for my celebrity spotting blog, but I have built up more of a following over on Blogger and I want to keep all my blogs in the one place.

So in the name of simplicity, that’s where this blog will be from now on. I hope all my WordPress readers will continue the spotting adventures over at my new site!

The link is: http://sydneycelebwatch.blogspot.com/.

I hope you can join me there! Oh and my profile photo is there so you can see what I actually look like, if that interests you!!

Thanks to everyone who’s followed me on WordPress, please come over and join the party on Blogger!

SCW

Alright then. A souffle of contestants from cooking competition show Masterchef were seen outside the ACP building in Park Street in the city this afternoon.

In attendance were members of the top 6: Lucas, Julia, Poh and Chris; plus a blonde girl I initially thought might be Justine (whom I used to have a slight crush on) but alas not ~ it was apparently a minder of some kind.

All four were dressed quite formally in suit jackets, with the girls in black dresses. Probably for a magazine photo shoot of some kind. What struck me about all four is that they have exactly the same “vibe” as they do on TV; they all seem like very normal and down-to-earth folks ~ which is of course what they are. Unlike a certain visiting British cooking celeb we could mention…

For more info about the Masterchef contestants, check out the fairly extensive profile pages on the official Masterchef site.

29/06/09 Edit & Update: Having now seen last night’s episode (28/06), and based on people’s comments, I am now fairly certain I’ve stumbled on a major spoiler. So are Julia, Lucas, Poh and Chris the top 4 Masterchef finalists ~ with Poh returning on the back of a judges choice?

If so ~ then you read the news here first on SCW!

01/07/09 Update: Just watching tonight’s (Wed) ep, and Poh is back! So far it’s looking like my sighting a couple of weeks back was indeed a MAJOR spoiler. Remains to be seen if she gets through this round ~ but I think it’s looking good at this stage! SCW

Rebekah was casually dressed in a black long sleeve jumper and blue jeans and was seen leisurely making her way around the supermarket. 

Rebekah was born in 1974 to a Greek father (a cellist) and English mother (whose cousin is reportedly Dame Judi Dench), and left school at age 15 to study acting, singing and dance. She rose to fame playing Sophie Simpson on long-running Aussie soap Home and Away (1989-1993, and again 2002-2005).

Rebekah has also appeared in movies such as Mad Max III and The Sum of Us. On TV she played in series like A Country Practice and Paradise Beach.

Last year she and her partner Kane Baker celebrated the birth of their first child.

To find out more about Rebekah, check out these links:

Wikipedia entry

IMDB profile

Woman’s Day interview

Flemming was seen wearing a dark knee-length jacket over a light blouse and dark trousers, and was walking into a  mall in the eastern suburbs.

Jane was the 1990 Commonwealth Games heptahlon (a competition with seven events) and long jump champion. Jane competed for Australia in two Olympic Games and three Commonwealth Games between 1986 and 1994.

Her highest placing at the Olympics was 7th at the Seoul Games (1988), and she placed 7th at the 1993 World Athletics Championships. She was named Australian Athlete of the Year in 1993.

Jane still holds the record for the highest Australian points scorer in the heptahlon (6695 points), a record she set at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, NZ. Since leaving sport she has been a TV sports commentator and businesswoman ~ in 1994 she launched the initially controversial Golden Girls calendar, featuring tasteful nude photographs of female athletes .

You can read more about Jane at her Wikipedia entry.

Read carefully kids ~ there’s a brainteaser at the end.

Ita Buttrose

The matriarch of Australian media, Ita Buttrose, was spotted yesterday in an eastern suburb of Sydney.

Ita was seen leaving a restaurant with a group of friends (family?). She was wearing dark glasses, and a fashionable outfit of simple black top and bottoms. My girlfriend and I were travelling on public transport at the time, heading home after a morning of shopping.

Ita is an icon in Australia, having been the editor of Cleo and the Australian Women’s Weekly magazines. Her major period of public prominence was the 1970′s and 80′s, and she was behind many campaigns to increase awareness of public health issues such as AIDS.

Find out more about Ita at her Wikipedia entry.

David Wenham

As my girlfriend and I were jogging through our local park, we spotted internationally known Aussie actor David Wenham.

I didn’t recognise him at first ~ he was dressed in a blue baseball cap, a blue parka and jeans. He was walking towards us, muttering and gesturing to himself in a way that made my GF think he was one of the local nutters. Then we realised he was actually rehearsing his lines! Possibly for a production at one of the nearby local theatres?

We had both spotted David before, please see my last post on this famous actor for his bio.

————————————————

Brainteaser: Can anyone tell me, other than both being famous Australians who live in Sydney, what these two Australian personalities have in common?

Post your answers by leaving a comment ~ the prize is the kudos of your fellow readers!

Cheers ’til next time

SCW

Graham was chatting to an older lady sitting at a bus stop, and  from their conversation it sounded like they were having a get-together later with friends. 

Marcus shot to heart-throb status in 1989 as “Wheels” Kovac in Aussie soap E Street. Since then he has been in Halifax FP, The Secret Life of Us, an episode of Charmed, even putting in an appearance in David Lynch’s film Mulholland Dr.

Latterly he has played in many shows about underworld gangs, such as 2008′s Underbelly.

Marcus has a Myspace page and an IMDB page.

At about 3pm Kylie was seen walking down a famous cafe strip in eastern Sydney, wearing traditional -style silk Chinese garments – much like she does on TV – a black top with green sleeve trim and matching pants. Oh and sneakers.

Kylie is a fourth-generation Chinese Australian, and started her career by learning Cantonese cooking from her mother. As well as having appeared on TV Kylie has now opened her first restaurant, Billy Kwong, located in Surry Hills.

Kylie’s official website says she strives to convey the sophistication of Chinese cuisine through her books, television shows and her restaurant. She occasionally gives cooking demonstrations at the restaurant.

An interesting historical fact is that Kylie’s grandfather was Kwong Sue Duk, a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine. Kwong came to Australia during the gold rush era and made a small fortune from gold mining. 

Visit Kylie’s official site or her Wikipedia entry to read more about Kylie Kwong.

The Getaway presenter was strolling through a harbourside park and talking on his mobile. The kid seems very down to earth and, dare I say, normal. Seems like a nice guy!

Jason grew up in Penrith and first entered the media by winning an MTV VJ competition. After a stint as a VJ he became a presenter on Getaway in 2007.

In 2008 the movie Fool’s Gold, in which Jason featured, was released. The film starred Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. No pressure, then, eh Jason? But then he capped the year off by winning Cleo Bachelor of the Year. In your face, McConaughey.

You can find out more about Jason by visiting his Wikipedia entry, his website, and his IMDB entry. Oh ~ and of course, Jason’s profile page on the Getaway website. Enjoy.

Hugo Weaving

It must be the dozen-th time, but I spotted Hugo Weaving at around 9.45 this morning.

He was walking  with his wife along Oxford Street, and was dressed very casually in blue flannel shirt and jeans. 

I almost didn’t recognise him, as he blends very well into a crowd! However all my Hugo-spotting experience has given me a good eye. I couldn’t tell what he might be doing, he just seemed to be out for a morning walk…

Manu Feildel

TV chef Manu Feildel was spotted with his young son on a busy morning Sydney-bound bus.

It didn’t appear that anyone recognised him, despite being one of the chefs from daytime TV’s Ready Steady Cook. However his blackberry ringing might have attracted more attention!

Manu is from Angers in France, and originally joined a circus school despite his entire family being in the field of cooking. Then at age 15 he did an apprenticeship in his father’s restaurant and headed to the UK to further his experience.

Not knowing any English was at first an obstacle, but he persevered and discovered he had a true love for cuisine.

He arrived in Melbourne then moved to Sydney where he worked at Hugo’s in Bondi. He then opened a Hugo’s in Kings Cross. Manu was then approached by countrymen Tony Bilson to open his eponymous new restaurant and he is still there.

Manu has appeared on channel ten’s Ready Steady Cook since 2005. To find out more, visit these links:

Profile page on Bilsons website

Profile on Ready Steady Cook website

Happy dining!