WHO 13 January 2020

She’s one of our most famous exports and now Kylie Minogue has been revealed as the latest face of Tourism Australia. A three-minute musical commercial premiered in the UK right before the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day, aimed at luring Brexit-weary Brits Down Under. And it had all the elements you could possibly want to promote our fair nation – cute quokkas, beautiful beaches, subtle digs about our superiority at cricket and even Kylie reprising her role as Charlene from Neighbours! The tongue-in-cheek ad, ‘Matesong’, was written by the brilliant Eddie Perfect and pokes fun at the state of affairs in the UK with lines like: “This year has been tough and confusing, but progress is moving ... at a glacial pace!” And it jokes about our friendly rivalry with our British…

Volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul became the ninth victim of the bushfire season on Monday when his 10-tonne firetruck was lifted into the air and flipped by a ‘freak wind event’ as blazes continue to burn out of control across the country, and fears grow for several people unaccounted for. McPaul, 28, who married childhood sweetheart Megan in April 2018, was fighting to control a blaze in Jingellic, 70km east of Albury, NSW. His first baby is due on May 4. RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons choked back tears as he paid tribute to the brave firey. “He was a young man, well respected and admired throughout the local community and in his brigade,” he said. A fire tornado is effectively like a vast extraction fan above the flames which causes a violent, cyclonic-like…

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY for Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma, who transformed the backyard of their LA mansion into a floral wedding wonderland to tie the knot in front of loved ones on December 21. The singer/songwriter and actress took to Instagram last week to share a series of pictures from their special day, including a stunning ‘Just Married’ portrait in front of a vintage Jeep. Musician and DJ Koma shared the same photo, writing, “For the rest of forever … 12.21.19”. The couple, both 32, made sure to include their 14-month-old daughter, Banks, in the big day, with Duff walking down the aisle holding her little girl, both wearing Jenny Packham dresses. Duff’s modern gown featured some sentimental touches, including her and Koma’s initials and the letters ‘B’ and ‘L’ for Banks and Luca,…

AWARD-WINNING SINGER NATALIE Imbruglia has been spending the summer showing her baby boy her home country. She gave the world a glimpse of Max Valentine while enjoying coffee with mum Maxene on the Gold Coast. Fans had been holding out for a look at the bub, but the former Neighbours star had only posted two discreet snaps to Instagram, one of his tiny hand and a photo of her holding the baby in a carrier. “My heart is bursting #myboy,” she wrote. Imbruglia fell pregnant with the help of IVF and a sperm donor after a string of failed relationships since her divorce from Silverchair’s Daniel Johns in 2008. She had previously dated Friends star David Schwimmer for three years. This is set to be a big year for the eight-time ARIA winner with…

HOLLYWOOD STAR ZAC EFRON WAS AIRLIFTED TO A BRISBANE hospital from a remote area of Papua New Guinea with a life-threatening infection just days before Christmas. The High School Musical actor, 32, had been filming a new TV show, ironically called Killing Zac Efron, in which he spends 21 days in a tropical jungle. But the crew went into panic mode after he was dramatically struck down by a nasty bacterial infection, thought to be a form of typhoid, which left him in what a source described as an “extraordinary life-or-death medical emergency”. He was treated at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital for several days before being cleared to fly back to the United States on Christmas Eve. Addressing the incident on Instagram last week, he posted a picture (left) of him…

SHE’S ONE OF THE MOST FEARLESS women in Hollywood, but Charlize Theron has confessed to still being “scarred” from watching her mother kill her alcoholic father when she was a teenager living in South Africa. The actress was just 15 when her dad, Charles Theron, entered their home with a firearm, threatening both her, and her mother, Gerda Maritz. “My father was so drunk that he shouldn’t have been able to walk when he came into the house with a gun,” Theron told NPR. “My mom and I were in my bedroom leaning against the door because he was trying to push through. “He took a step back and just shot through the door three times. None of the bullets ever hit us, which is just a miracle.” In self-defence, Maritz shot back…