Sophie Monk isn’t sure she could be described as Australia’s sweetheart.
Despite a career spanning more than 20 years, dipping her toe with ease into every pond in the entertainment world, the 41-year-old believes the connection with her audience has had its share of tumult.
“It feels like it’s been an up-and-down relationship,” Sophie tells TV WEEK with a laugh.
Sophie Monk is hosting the latest season of Beauty And The Geek.
(Image: Channel Nine)Looking back at her career, which was launched after she appeared on the 2000 reality talent show Popstars, she often can’t believe she’s still not just working, but thriving.
“Every year, I just go, ‘Holy s–t – how am I still here?'” she says. “When I did Popstars, there weren’t other reality shows and new talent coming in. They’d pick five people to look after and that was it.”
Throughout her career, Sophie has done it all: creating music with girl group Bardot, acting in films in LA and, most recently, returning to her roots in reality television.
Having the rare perspective of being both contestant and host – she was the Bachelorette on The Bachelorette Australia in 2017 and fronted Love Island and now Beauty And The Geek – Sophie truly understands the unique stress that comes with reality fame.
WATCH IN THE PLAYER BELOW: Sophie Monk performs as the Dragonfly on The Masked Singer. Post continues after the video*
“It’s why I have so much empathy for the contestants,” she explains.
“It’s so easy, as the audience, to watch a reality show and go, ‘What an idiot – I wouldn’t do that!’ but when you’re in it, it’s the centre of your universe.”
Sophie’s run as the Bachelorette in 2017 didn’t end with the love story she imagined with her chosen beau, Stu Laundy. But it did allow us to see her down-to-earth, dorky personality and earned her plenty of fans and followers on social media.
When asked if she has any advice for the next Bachelorette, Brooke Blurton, Sophie declares she needs no help.
“She’ll be fine – she’s far more confident than I am,” she says. “It’s ironic that I’m always on love shows, because I probably needed the most advice!
“You know, the settling-down-at-40 thing. But Brooke will kill it.”
On Christmas Day last year, Sophie got engaged to Joshua Gross after meeting on a plane in 2018. Within minutes of striking up a conversation, Sophie realised Joshua was someone special.
“I knew straight away that he was the one – I knew on the plane,” she admits. “It was just so good to have a chat like that with someone.”
After a few cheeky mid-flight kisses, it was clear that love, literally, was in the air.
Now, after recently celebrating their engagement, the couple are excited for their next steps together: marrying and starting a family.
Sophie Monk and Joshua Gross announced their engagement in January.
(Image: Instagram)Sophie declares they’d “love it all.”
“We want a pretty low-key wedding, but as for having kids, that’s hard to talk about, because people comment on it,” she says. “You can’t win with what you say, but we want it all.”
As the host of the highly anticipated relaunch of Beauty And The Geek – which ran for six seasons on Channel Seven between 2009 and 2014 – Sophie can’t help but draw a comparison between herself and Joshua, who works as a neurosurgical robotics consultant.
“He’s definitely got brains and I don’t,” she jokes.
“I’d say sometimes I’m the geek, though. Well, I’m more dork. I can’t retain knowledge like he can, but we both like playing VR, Xbox, board games. We have the same interests and they’re pretty geeky.”
“We want it all,” Sophie shares of their plans to start a family.
(Image: Phillip Castleton/TV WEEK, Are Media)While Sophie admits that previous seasons of Beauty And The Geek put the focus on nerdy men, and women who weren’t exactly Einstein, Sophie promises that this time around it’s not one-dimensional.
“It’s about the psychology of whether opposites attract,” she explains.
“You’ll fall in love with the cast – they’re gorgeous people. I know it sounds like bad TV, because we want drama, but you don’t need it. There’s so much entertainment, heart and comedy. It’s got everything. If this show doesn’t do well, there’s something wrong with humanity.”
Despite having her plate full with Beauty And The Geek, the in-demand host is excited to confirm that she’s giving music another crack after her well-received performances on The Masked Singer in 2020.
“I’m just dabbling in music,” she says. “I’ve got to wait to see if the audience like it. If they don’t, I’m out. But if they do like it, great. I’d love to do music again, but otherwise I’ll just sing in the shower like I used to.”
Want more Sophie Monk and Beauty And The Geek content? We’ve got you covered!
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The deal is sealed! Sophie Monk announces she’s ENGAGED to partner Joshua Gross
Sophie Monk reveals why her relationship with Joshua Gross is different to the rest
