Chris Bath
Chris Bath | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christine Bath 13 May 1967 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | Sydney University Charles Sturt University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1988−present |
| Employers | |
| Television | 10 News |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Christine Bath (born 13 May 1967) is an Australian media professional known for her work as a journalist, radio host, and television news anchor.
Currently, Bath presents Drive on ABC Radio Sydney and hosts 10 News Weekend on Network 10. Her previous roles include hosting Evenings on ABC Radio Sydney from 2017 to 2019, serving as a weekend news presenter for Seven News in Sydney, and leading the current affairs program Sunday Night on the Seven Network until her departure from the network on 27 July 2015.
Personal life
Born in Auburn, New South Wales, Bath grew up in South Wentworthville and completed her secondary education at Holroyd High School. In 1985, she briefly pursued studies in English, psychology, German, and legal institutions at Sydney University before leaving to work in hospitality and retail management at Kmart in Merrylands.
Bath married composer Denis Carnahan in 1997; they had one son born in late 2000 before separating in 2008. In January 2012, she wed Seven News sports presenter Jim Wilson, with their relationship featured publicly in New Idea magazine in August 2013.
Career
Following a recommendation from Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter Bowers, Bath applied to study communications at Mitchell College (now part of Charles Sturt University) in Bathurst. She was awarded a scholarship and focused her studies on politics. During this time, she gained broadcasting experience through the campus community radio station 2MCE-FM. In 1988, while still completing her final year, she accepted a cadetship as reporter and newsreader at Sydney’s AM radio station 2UE.
Encouraged by a friend the following year, Bath joined regional television station AMV-4 in Albury, where she spent approximately 20 months working as a reporter, weather presenter, and full-time newsreader while commuting to Melbourne on weekends. At age 23 in 1991, she transitioned to Newcastle's NBN Television, dedicating five years as both a reporter and evening news anchor. Initially hired as a reporter, she advanced to newsreader after the previous anchor resigned. Bath departed NBN near the end of 1995 to join the Seven Network in Sydney; however, NBN sought legal action that postponed her Seven Network debut until February 1996.
Seven Network
Bath held a variety of hosting positions at Seven. Between 1996 and early 1997, she co-anchored the 6am news alongside Peter Ford, a program that eventually transformed into Sunrise. In 1997, she led the Sunday morning political interview series Face to Face and anchored Seven's Late News until it was discontinued in 2003.
During mid-1997, Bath took on extensive duties, frequently substituting as host for 11AM, delivering afternoon news updates, producing inflight news segments for Ansett Australia flights, and anchoring the 11pm Late News bulletin. In 1998, she worked as a reporter for the current affairs show Witness until its cancellation; she declined an offer to co-host Dateline but presented Sydney’s 6pm news during the summer period.
Bath returned to Seven Late News in 1999 while also reading afternoon bulletins on Sydney’s radio station 2WS. That year, she sparked controversy with an interview in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, where she disclosed that she personally wrote her news updates and declined a role on Today Tonight. Additionally, she appeared as a guest panelist on Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals and hosted Seven’s New Year’s Eve broadcast.
As part of Seven's coverage team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Bath contributed to programs such as Olympic Sunrise and carried the Olympic Torch through Newcastle. While seven months pregnant, she co-hosted the live prelude to the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.
Following the birth of her son Darcy in late 2000, Bath resumed political interviewing by hosting Sunday Sunrise from 2001 to 2004 and anchored Sydney's weekend 6pm news bulletin. Her work included live reporting from Bali in the aftermath of the October 2003 bombings. She also co-hosted segments of Seven's Federal Election coverage in November 2001.
In 2005, Bath participated in Dancing with the Stars, consistently receiving high marks from judges and ultimately finishing as runner-up.
Starting December 2005, she presented Seven News Sydney before shifting back to Seven Morning News midweek and weekend bulletins until January 2006. Throughout 2006, Bath anchored Seven Morning News from Monday to Thursday and Sydney evening news on Fridays; subsequently exchanging roles with Ann Sanders to present weekend evening news and Friday editions. That year, she also hosted the employment reality show You've Got The Job.
From 2007 through 2009, Bath regularly delivered updates on Seven Late News and anchored Friday episodes of Seven 4.30 News, taking over as Friday presenter from Monique Wright in 2009.
In January 2009, Bath became the host of Seven’s new current affairs program Sunday Night. Later that year in November, following Ian Ross’s retirement, she was named weeknight anchor for Seven News Sydney. From July 2012 onward, her husband Jim Wilson joined her as sports presenter for the weeknight bulletin.
Mark Ferguson replaced Bath as weeknight anchor in January 2014; however, she continued presenting Friday and Saturday editions while maintaining her role on Sunday Night. After two decades with Seven Network, Bath announced her departure in June 2015 to explore new ventures. Melissa Doyle succeeded her as presenter for both weekend news and Sunday Night.
Network 10
During late 2015 and throughout 2016, Bath was a frequent contributor to Network Ten programs such as Studio 10 and The Project. In 2017, she took on the role of co-host for The Sunday Project alongside Hamish Macdonald until her position was succeeded by Lisa Wilkinson in January 2018.
In December 2018, Bath returned to Network 10 as the presenter of 10 News Weekend, stepping into the role previously held by Natarsha Belling.
ABC
From November 2016 until the close of 2019, Bath was part of ABC Radio, hosting the Evenings program on ABC Radio Sydney, taking over from Christine Anu. In November 2017, she lent her voice to narrate the six-part documentary series Keeping Australia Safe for ABC TV and also served as a fill-in presenter on ABC News NSW during this period. She concluded her tenure at ABC Radio at the end of 2019.
In November 2024, ABC declared Bath would be returning to ABC Radio Sydney, where she will succeed Richard Glover as host of the Drive program beginning January 2025.
Community
Bath’s professional contributions include serving as a judge in the television current affairs reporting and camera categories at the Walkley Awards in 2004.
She has fulfilled duties as master of ceremonies at events like the Jeans for Genes Day Art Auction in Sydney during 2006 and 2007, and actively engages in motivational speaking focused on leadership development and team-building. In 2003, she played an instrumental role in organizing the "Step to the future" youth leadership forum aimed at Sydney students. Additionally, in July 2007, she delivered a keynote address at Queensland’s "Empowerment through Inspiration" Summit discussing leadership obstacles. Bath is also a Celebrity Ambassador for the Petrea King Quest for Life Foundation.
Other works
Apart from her work with Seven News, Chris Bath has appeared in several television shows and a feature film, including:
- The Man Who Sued God (2001) portraying a Newsreader
- All Saints
- Featured in multiple episodes between 2001 and 2008 as either Newsreader or News Reporter
- Participated as herself on Season 3 of Dancing with the Stars (September–November 2005), finishing as runner-up
- Appeared as Newsreader in headLand, episode 1.27 (2006)
- Hosted True Stories, Episode 2.02 titled "Sophie's Story" (2006)
- Presented thirteen episodes of You've Got the Job (2006)
External links
References
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1967 births
- Australian television newsreaders and news presenters
- Seven News presenters
- Australian television journalists
- Television in Sydney
- Charles Sturt University alumni
- Living people
- Australian women television presenters
- Journalists from Sydney
- Australian women radio presenters