She’s the darling of Aussie prime time television, but in the Queen’s eyes, Carrie Bickmore has just stepped things up a notch.
In an honourable milestone, the stunning Project presenter has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal for service to the broadcast media and to brain cancer awareness from the Queen as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and right now, we couldn’t be more thrilled for the mum-of-three!
Carrie was clearly ecstatic to receive the honour, telling Ten Daily: “I am so honoured to have been awarded an Order of Australia. Having seen the inspiring Australians who have also received awards, I feel so humbled to be in their company. When I started my foundation I simply wanted to raise awareness about brain cancer and the devastating impact it was having on families all around our great country”.
She added that seeing the work that’s been achieved is “so encouraging” and paid tribute to the various scientists and researchers who have contributed in the fight against brain cancer.
“I feel so incredibly lucky to have been born in a country like Australia and am a proud recipient of this award.”
WATCH: Carrie Bickmore breaks down upon raising over $1 million for brain cancer. Post continues after video…
Carrie wasn’t the only honourable Aussie to grace the prestigious Queen’s Birthday honours list this year.
Today Extra‘s David Campbell also received an Order of Australia medal for service to entertainment and the arts while stars including actor Eric Bana, journalists Jane Caro and Leigh Sales plus singer Guy Sebastian were awarded as Members (AM) in the General Division.
Former Australian Women’s Weekly editor Ita Buttrose and actor Hugh Jackman were granted the esteemed honour of the Companion of the Order of Australia.
Congratulations, Carrie!
(Image: Getty Images)This is a huge honour for Bickmore, who has seen an incredible career over her time as a media personality in Australia.
Starting out as a newsreader on 92.9FM in Perth in 2001, Carrie had humble beginnings as a broadcast journalist.
In 2002, she then became the afternoon newsreader at Nova 100 in Melbourne. In 2002, she became the co-host of the drive show with Andy Ross.
From there, it was all go for the blonde presenter, who started getting some seriously high praise for her work on air, including being named a finalist for Best News Presenter in the Australian Commercial Radio Awards.
Carrie has seen a wildly successful career in media, especially in recent years alongside work-partner-in-crime Tommy Little.
(Image: Instagram @bickmorecarrie)In 2007, she joined Nova as a breakfast presenter, and two years later, announced she would be joining The Project.
The rest, as they say, is history – in her first year on the hit show, Carrie won a revered Logie Award under the category Most Popular New Female Talent – a huge achievement that was the beginning of a slew of Logie nominations and wins in the years following.
Now adding to her list of credentials, Carrie also hosts the Hit Network show Carrie & Tommy, it would be safe to say we’ll never tire of Carrie’s chipper demeanour and knack for telling a cracker yarn on air.
Australia delights in seeing Carrie grace the screens of The Project every weeknight.
(Image: Network Ten)In 2018, Carrie also had another exciting piece of news to share – she and partner Chris Walker would be welcoming a brand new baby to the world!
And indeed, come December 2018, the newest member of the Bickmore brood arrived – sweetly named Adelaide, Carrie’s young daughter was the vision of perfection, and made an extremely cute baby sister for Carrie’s two children Oliver, whom she had with her late husband Greg Lange and her first daughter with Chris, Evie.
Carrie’s baby girl Adelaide, aka Addie, couldn’t be any cuter!
(Image: Instagram @walkschris21)Carrie has been faced with a number of tough challenges throughout her personal life, which she has faced with admirable bravery.
Her late husband Greg was diagnosed with brain cancer in his early 20s, which was described as an incredibly hard time for the brave South Australian.
“They diagnosed him about a year after we moved to Melbourne. I was still 21 or 22 and he was about 25. He had a seizure at home and then one thing led to another,” Carrie explained in an interview.
“They diagnosed him with a brain tumour. In your 20s that’s the last thing you can… I didn’t know anyone that had cancer, I didn’t know anything about brain cancer, neither did he. It just completely threw everything we knew, everything we had planned, it threw everything on its head. It was the start of an incredibly hard journey.”
The pair were married when Carrie was aged 25, and welcomed their son Oliver in 2010. Greg tragically passed away a few months later in December 2010.
WATCH: Carrie Bickmore discusses her husband’s brain cancer. Story continues after video…
After the tragic loss, Carrie decided to take action for others who were suffering from the trying disease, starting charity Beanies 4 Brain Cancer.
Announcing the new charity, Carrie used her now iconic Logie’s award acceptance speech to publicly announce the new charity, and since then the movement has only grown.
“He would have loved it, he would have absolutely loved it. It blew me away,” Carrie said of the charity.
With donations raised in the millions, it would be safe to say Carrie has seen an incredible journey with the charity, and we can only imagine she’ll continue to do amazing things as she receives her latest honour from the Queen.
A huge congratulations, Carrie!
Golden girl Carrie continues to shine!
(Image: Instagram @bickmorecarrie)
