Laura Csortan… A Well-Travelled Woman

By Dan Hutton on December 2, 2012 in Other

During the month The Beast caught up with former Miss Australia turned television reporter, Laura Csortan.

Where are you originally from?
I’m originally from Adelaide and I’ve lived all over the place, actually. I did some time in Europe, and then lived in Melbourne for a year and then I lived in LA for a year hosting a show there before I moved to Sydney in about 2000 when I started working on The Great Outdoors.

Where are you living these days?
I’m living in Vaucluse. I’ve tended to stick to Bondi, Dover Heights and Vaucluse since I’ve lived to Sydney. I love it here.

What do you love about living in the Eastern Suburbs?
Obviously we’re here at the Icebergs today and just looking around, I’ve done a lot of travel and I still say it’s the best place on the planet. I’m a big water baby so I’ve always been drawn to the ocean. That’s probably the main reason for me – the beach and the ocean. Of course I love the social dynamic here as well. There are a lot of quite fitness conscious people who all come together and I go for walks and runs and workout with mates and I just love the vibe here. There are good places to eat, hang, and just relax.

Do you have any favourite local haunts?
Yeah, heaps actually. I’m a fan of the Bondi Tratt. I’ve always gone there for the tuna dish and it’s like the one place you can sit in the sun in the morning and have brekky overlooking Bondi Beach. Speedos has always been a favourite of mine too. I love the owners, there’s always a friendly vibe there and again it has one of the best views. I love Icebergs as well and Paris Cafe has always been a staple for me too.

Is there anything you don’t like about the Eastern Suburbs?
Number one, the traffic is a nightmare at times, particularly on the weekends. I probably don’t come to the beach that much on the weekends because of the numbers and being a local you get a little bit possessive of your beach and your little favourite areas. I split my time between here and the Central Coast, probably spending more time here at the moment for work, but if it gets too hectic here I just escape up there and you’ve virtually got a whole beach to yourself. So I’m living the best of both worlds.

Is there anything else you don’t like?
Some of the people that come in on the weekends can be a bit annoying. I get annoyed when people muck up the beach, when they leave their trash on the beach. That really gets my goat because it’s such a beautiful place. Don’t disrespect the beach. Smoking on the beach is another pet hate.

Do you get recognised much around here? Do you ever get ‘papped’?
I’ve been papped a few times around here, which makes it a bit uncomfortable, particularly if you’re having a fat day and you’re down at North Bondi and you end up in the papers. That’s never good. I actually got done a few months ago down at Nielsen Park, which I thought was quite private.

You first came to attention as Miss Australia back in 1997; how did that come about?
Yep, when dinosaurs walked the Earth. When that came about I was studying, actually. I was doing a bachelor of applied science at uni and I was very sporty and was actually tournament water skiing as well. I always thought I was too muscly and I was a little bit embarrassed about it. I remember being at the beach one day and a woman who worked at a modelling agency asked if I’d ever done modelling and I said, “No way, look at me.” And she said, “Actually you’d be perfect for swimsuit modelling.” So I started out literally the next week doing that and started making a good crust out of it.

Was that down in Adelaide?
Yep, down in Adelaide. I remember Miss Universe Australia was coming to town looking for girls and she said she was going to enter me and I just thought that was the biggest joke in the world. I was like, “No way; as if.” And she said, “You get to go to Queensland; it’s free trip.” So I was like, bring it on. I went up there and ended up winning the darn thing and the next thing I knew I was being whizzed off to Miami to compete in Miss Universe and I won Miss Congeniality.

Did that open many doors for you, the whole Miss Australia thing?
It was really quite unrecognised at the time. I really had to work hard at getting a name for myself. I think I went back to Adelaide after that and I was hungry for any sort of TV hosting work. Channel 7 offered me a job hosting ‘Drag Racing Today’ and then I graduated on to ‘Fishing and Boating SA’. The drag racing job was hilarious. I’d literally get in the super cars and fang down the quarter mile with them. I produced that, wrote that, presented that. It was great launch pad. It was really tough work but I wouldn’t change it for the world. After that I moved to the US and I hosted a travel show over there before I got my break here with The Great Outdoors, and things kind of snowballed from there. I still can’t believe I got that job. I was relatively unknown here and I was up against 800 other girls.

So you went through an audition process to get that gig?
Yeah, it was really hectic. It was really full on. Audition, voice-over audition, several meetings; it definitely wasn’t easy.

Was The Great Outdoors an amazing experience or was it a whole lot of hard work?
It was both. It was really hard work. Going into it I never knew how tough it would actually be, like the hours and the pace you keep up and the pressure to come up with these incredible stories, sometimes under really harsh conditions. I sound like a whinger saying that because in essence I did get to travel the world and do the most amazing things. Like I’ve hung out with orangutans in the jungle and swum with whales and slept out with polar bears in the Arctic Circle and that’s just scratching the surface of what I’ve been able to do. I still pinch myself at some of the things I’ve done.

How many countries did The Great Outdoors take you to?
God, it would have to be close to fifty, I reckon.

Were you staying in accommodation the whole time?
One day I could be in the Ritz in Paris and the next – and this literally happened – I was in a stinky tent in Munich, bunking down with backpackers.

You appeared alongside our mate Larry Emdur as co host of Wheel of Fortune for a good year; what was it like working with king of game shows?
He is a king of game shows. He is amazing. He’s a laugh a minute and it was never work with Larry because we’d pretty much just laugh from go to woe. I was doing two shows at the time, The Great Outdoors and Wheel of Fortune, so it was a pretty hectic schedule but working with the likes of Larry really softened the workload.

Does Larry have any enemies?
I don’t think so. Can you not make this about him; I’m getting jealous. It’s always about Larry. He always steals my limelight, ha ha.

What are you doing for work these days?
I’m still doing a lot of work with Channel 7 and I’m an ambassador for the Cancer Council, so I’m often out there spruiking that. I’m to-ing and fro-ing between here and the US at the moment as well and exploring opportunities over there. I just got my US visa so that’s been interesting.

You’re part of a high profile relationship with Silverchair bass player Chris Joannou; has he ever written any songs for you or romantically serenaded you?
Oh, god no. Firstly, he can’t sing and secondly, just no.

Were you a Silverchair fan before meeting him?
I’d always loved their music. I’d never seen them live. I actually didn’t know who he was when I met him.

How did you meet?
Just through a mutual friend, actually. We’ve got a lot of mutual friends, which is very strange because we’d never actually met before. One of his best mates is Tom Williams, who I worked with for several years on The Great Outdoors.

Do you guys live a rock star lifestyle?
Oh, totally. Lear jets and limos, man, nothing but the best, ha ha.

Can you tell us one thing about Chris that is that is completely un-rock?
He loves gardening and he’s a really good cook.

Can we expect marriage and babies any time soon?
I don’t know. We’ve still got a lot of things we really want to do but I definitely want kids in the future, I just don’t know how soon.

Just to make things potentially awkward, do you have a favourite band or musician?
Apart from Silverchair I do love a bit of Coldplay.

Do you have any musical talents?
I’m pretty good on the triangle and I go okay on the maracas but that’s about it.

Can you sing?
I think I can sing okay but others might beg to differ. I’ve tried to get in the studio and get Chris to let me record something but he’s just not keen. Don’t know why. Can’t work it out.

If I was to say a line from a popular Silverchair song, do you think you would be able to come back at me with the next line?
No idea, try me.

Okay, what if I was to say, “There’s no bathroom and there is no sink”?
Well that sucks. I have no idea. I know the song though.

“The water out of the tap is very hard to drink”…
Yeah, no, sorry. You’re clearly a much bigger fan than I am. You probably would have known who Chris was if you’d met him.

Your mug often pops up in the social pages; do you get sick of attending events?
I haven’t been out and about in three or four months so it just looks like that.

Does it just go through phases?
No, it’s generally obligation. For example, I’ve been lent a lot of beautiful dresses and often the designer will ask me to attend one of their functions or something like that. It is a small industry here and everyone knows everyone and everyone’s got to give a little to get a little and help each other out. So generally it’s supporting a friend or a friend’s product or brand. I’ve been doing this here for almost 15 years now in this industry and it’s nice to go out sometimes to these events because you know you will have everyone in the same room, so you can catch up with everyone. In saying that, it can get exhausting as well but if you’re in the right frame of mind there’s nothing better.

You mentioned that you studied at university; what did you study?
It was a bachelor of applied science in recreation, planning and management.

Do you think tertiary education is important?
Oh, yes, absolutely. I thought I could have done better things with those years but at the same time, it’s definitely important

Did you have a good time at uni?
No, I hated every minute.

Really?
I couldn’t stand it. I was so itching to see the world and do things and I kept deferring and putting it off and taking off.

Is it true that you ride a motorbike?
Yeah, I’ve always been a bit of a petrol head. I think I get that from all my cousins who grew up on a farm. We frequented there every holidays as kids.

Can you tell us about the $25,000 Ducati that you wrote off?
I can’t believe I told you that; what was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking. I was sponsored by Ducati for a couple of years and right towards the end of the sponsorship deal I had a massive accident and totalled the bike and totalled my back and was in rehab for a while.

Did you hit another vehicle?
No, I was coming up a hill and going into a really sharp turn and there was another car sort of half in my lane, half in the other and I just had no option but brake hard or hit the car. I don’t remember a lot of what happened because I was knocked unconscious, but I do know that the bike locked up and flipped and I went with it.

Where was that?
It was actually in Bondi.

Holy shit…
Yeah, keeping it local.

And how did Ducati feel about the whole thing?
They were cool. I guess they were worried about me.

They probably got some good press out of it…
No, I kept it very quiet.

Until now…
Exactly.

How long ago was that?
That was about three years ago now.

Are you’re back on the bike now?
Yeah, I still ride. I was actually back on the bike two weeks later, as soon as I could. I was freaked out though getting back on.

Are you a bit more cautious?
I am actually. I was getting way over confident and that kind of pulled me a back a little bit.

Can you tell us about the work that you do with the Cancer Council?
It’s the second year in a row now that I’ve been an ambassador for the Cancer Council. Obviously October is cancer awareness month and throughout that time we just encourage women to host functions at home to raise money and awareness for the cause.

What got you involved in that?
Well, it’s all so prevalent. The numbers are astounding. Each year in Australia over 17,500 women are diagnosed with breast and gynaecological cancers. Two of my girlfriends have been fighting breast cancer this year and that really hit close to home. It’s been surreal. If someone’s offering you the chance of being an ambassador for something like that, my god, why not? It’s a no-brainer. I love being a part of it and every little bit I can do obviously helps and I try to make a difference.

Do you do anything else for any other charities?
I’m a massive animal lover, so I’ve done a lot of work with RSPCA and I’ve done a bit of work with WSPA. I scatter myself over all of them and do every little bit I can where I can.

Speaking of being an animal lover, can you tell us about your border collie?
Yeah, I’ve got a border collie called Abbey. She’s eight now and I love her to pieces. She’s a lot of work; obviously border collies need a lot of exercise and love and attention. She’s been with me through thick and thin and moved around with me a lot and she’s got quite a few frequent flyer points.

How did she feel about Chris when you guys started seeing each other?
She was okay. Chris has got a dog as well. He’s got a French bulldog so they are like chalk and cheese but they’ve actually come together really well. They’ve become really good little buddies and they protect each other, it’s really quite cute. We kind of look like our dogs. It’s hilarious.

So you’re saying that your boyfriend looks like a French bulldog?
No, oh no, please don’t print that.

You said it…
You’re an arsehole; you’re worse than some journalists I know. Is it too late to pull out of this?

Do you have any advice for youngsters looking to forge a career in television?
Yeah, always have a back up, which is hard because you really do have to pour yourself into this sort of entertainment industry. Presenting work is quite limited. I was just blessed to be on a show like The Great Outdoors for seven years because it doesn’t really happen as often anymore. So follow your dreams and all that sort of stuff but always have a back up. If study’s an option, do it, and just always have a finger in a few pies because you can’t really rely on this industry. I’ve been on shows that have been axed and others that haven’t even got off the ground. It’s a tough industry and you’ve got to have really thick skin. A lot of the time you just can’t take it personally.

Or hook up with a rock star…
Yep, hook up with a rock star!

In an ideal world what does the future hold for Laura Csortan?
I just want to be happy and content. Hopefully down the track I’ll have a family with a couple of cool kids. And I still love working, and thrive on work, so if I’m lucky enough to still be working in TV in a few years then bring it on.