Neale Whitaker
Neale Whitaker (born 27 February 1962) is a British-born Australian television presenter and media personality and former magazine editor. He was the launch editor of delicious (2003) and editor of Belle (2006-14) and Vogue Living (2014-17) and is best known for his role as a judge on reality series The Block (Nine, 2010-present) and co-host of Love It or List It Australia(Foxtel, 2017-present).
Early life[edit]
Whitaker is the son of Derek Whitaker (died 1976) and Pamela Whitaker (died 1995) and was born in Rochester, UK. He is the second of three children, with an older brother, Stephen, and younger brother, Jonathan. He grew up in the English coastal town of Margate and studied at Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate.
Whitaker attended Warwick University (1980-1983) where he studied English Literature and Theatre Studies. After graduating with a BA degree in 1983, he travelled extensively in India and south-east Asia.
Career[edit]
After graduation, Whitaker began his career in 1984 in the London office of high-profile publicist Lynne Franks. He then worked as a publicist for London fashion retailer Browns. After a stint on UK Harpers & Queen magazine (now Harper’s Bazaar) he worked as a freelance fashion stylist for British high street retailers including Marks & Spencer. Throughout the first half of the 90s, Whitaker edited customer magazines for retailers Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and IKEA, firstly at Redwood Publishing and then at John Brown Publishing. He cites veteran British journalist Felicity Green OBE as his great mentor during this period. While working for John Brown Publishing, Whitaker launched Food Illustrated (later Waitrose Food Illustrated).
In 1999, Whitaker moved to Sydney at the invitation of publisher Matt Handbury and briefly edited Marie Claire Lifestyle for Murdoch Magazines. During a five-year period at FPC Magazines (now News Life Media) he launched food magazine delicious and edited Vogue Entertaining + Travel. In 2005 Whitaker published a book, The Accidental Foodie[1] (Murdoch Books), a collection of profiles and recipes from his time as a food magazine editor. In 2006, he joined ACP Magazines (later Bauer Media) where he edited interior design magazine Belle (2006-14) for eight years. Late in 2014 Whitaker moved to News Life Media to become Editor-in-chief of Vogue Living. In June 2017, he stepped down from that role to pursue a broader range of television, media and commercial opportunities.[2] From 2014 until 2019, Whitaker also wrote a weekly lifestyle column for News Limited’s Australia-wide newspaper division.
Television[edit]
In 2008, while he was editing Belle, Whitaker was invited by executive producer Julian Cress to join the judging panel of a new reality series called homeMADE on the Nine Network. The show aired in 2009 but was cancelled after one season. In 2010, Cress and fellow executive producer David Barbour asked Whitaker to join Nine’s reboot of reality renovation series The Block as a judge. Initially judging the show with real estate agent John McGrath, Whitaker was later joined by interior designers Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer. Whitaker will return for his fourteenth season of The Block in 2020.
Following an appearance as a guest judge on Foxtel’s I Own Australia’s Best Home late in 2016, Whitaker joined real estate expert Andrew Winter in 2017 to co-host Love It or List It Australia,
which aired that year on Foxtel’s Lifestyle. Season four of Love It or List It Australia 1`will air in late 2020.[3]
| Year | Show/Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | HomeMade/ Nine | Judge | One Season |
| 2010 – present | The Block/ Nine | Judge | 11 seasons to date |
| 2016 | I Own Australia’s Best Home/ Lifestyle | Guest Judge | One Season |
| 2017 – present | Love It or List It Australia/ Lifestyle
|
Co-host | One season to date |
| 2010 – present | Today/ Nine | Occasional contributor
|
Personal Life [edit]
After living for many years in inner-city Sydney, Whitaker and his long-term partner David Novak-Piper (the couple celebrated their Civil Partnership under UK law in 2008) currently live in Berry, New South Wales[4]. Their lives are shared with their Weimaraners, Otis and Ollie.
References[edit]
- ↑ The Accidental Foodie. Search this book on
- ↑ Miranda Ward (2017-05-09). "Neale Whitaker steps down as editor-in-chief of Vogue Living". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ↑ Lallo, Michael (2019-09-11). "He's a reality TV veteran. But don't hold it against him". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
- ↑ "At home with Neale Whitaker". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
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