Kellie Connolly

Kellie Anne Connolly (born Kellie Anne Sloane; 5 January 1973) is an Australian television journalist.

Connolly was a presenter on the Nine Network's Nightline, and was also briefly an interim co-host of Today in 2007.

[edit] Career

Connolly first began her media career at ABC Local Radio in Adelaide in 1991, where she was a reporter and a newsreader. She later moved to ABC TV in Adelaide where she was a reporter and a weekend news presenter.

She later joined Ten News as a reporter and fill-in presenter, before moving to Sydney.

Connolly joined the Nine Network in 1997 as a lifestyle series reporter for both A Current Affair and Money. She was removed from A Current Affair in 2005, during a revamp of the programme to combat a ratings slump against rival Seven Network's Today Tonight.

Connolly became a full time news presenter at the Nine Network on a number of occasions, filling in on the National Nine Early News alongside Sarah Murdoch, and Nightline. In 2006 she was appointed permanent presenter of National Nine News Afternoon Edition, replacing Mike Munro.

In April 2007, Connolly moved to co-hosting Today working with Karl Stefanovic as the stand-in replacement co-host for Jessica Rowe, who was on maternity leave at the time, however Rowe announced that she was leaving the Nine Network on 6 May 2007.^[1]

On 10 May 2007, in one of the most memorable incidents on Today, Connolly collapsed live on air. The collapse occurred at 8:10am during a cooking segment with celebrity chef Tobie Puttock, of Jamie Oliver fame. It was reported that she was okay after the incident and Connolly returned to the presenters desk about 15 minutes later, allegedly attributing the "dizzy spell" to her 3am wake-up call.^[2] Vision of Connolly collapsing in slow motion later went viral on social media with YouTube.

She finished up her co-hosting duties for Today on 25 May 2007, as Lisa Wilkinson took over hosting duties as of 28 May 2007.

On 18 June 2007, Connolly returned as presenter of the National Nine News Afternoon Edition. In late 2007, she also presented the National Nine News Morning Edition.

In September 2008, she returned to presenting the Nine's Morning News.

In October 2009, the Nine Network announced that Connolly would be shifted to the late night news programme Nightline, with Wendy Kingston moving to present Nine's Morning News Hour. She was also a fill in presenter for Nine News in Sydney.

In July 2010, with declining ratings, Nine announced Nightline would be axed immediately with reporters who were on duty retained, presenting late news updates in its place. Nine offered Connolly a redundancy package after 13 years at the Nine Network.

Since June 2012, Connolly has filled in for Samantha Armytage and Jessica Rowe on the Seven Network's Weekend Sunrise, and she is also a regular on Kochie's Angels on Sunrise. Kellie has also filled in for Natalie Barr on Seven Early News and Sunrise.

[edit] Personal life

Connolly was born and raised in South Australia and is married to Adam and has three children. Her children are Thomas, Lachlan and William.^[3]

[edit] References and notes

[edit] External links

• Kellie Connolly bio @ Today - ninemsn.com.au (c. 2007)