Rachael Finch – Loving Life In The East

By Dan Hutton on November 18, 2010 in People

During the month The Beast popped down to Bondi’s Sparrow Café (45 Gould Street, Bondi Beach) to catch up with a former Miss Australia (and Miss Universe third runner-up), Celebrity Masterchef finalist, Dancing with the Stars contestant, and soon to be regular fixture on Channel Seven, the gorgeous Rachael Finch…

Where are you originally from?
I’m originally from Townsville, North Queensland. I like to call it the capital of North Queensland.

Our Cairns readers won’t be happy with that…
Cairns readers will not be happy with that but we’re always in competition.

You were born in Sydney though; is that right?
I was born in Sydney but dad was in the army and one of the main army bases is in Townsville so we moved up there when I was about 6 months old, and then I grew up there. I had a really good upbringing. We went camping, water skiing, played touch football – lots of outdoor activities. That is pretty much what Townsville provides and I loved it. I moved out when I was about 17 and started travelling the world. I lived in New York, Germany, Singapore, London, New Zealand and then decided to come back and I’ve based myself in Sydney for the past two years.

So you first moved to Sydney in 2008?
Yes, October 2008.

Were you working fairly hard as a model before the whole Miss Universe thing came along?
Yeah. As strange as it sounds, travelling around the world is pretty hard. Even if you’re not actually working hard it’s still hard being away from home. That feeling of not having your support base directly around you is a challenge in itself and you’ve really got to step outside your comfort zone, trust the people around you and build a family in whatever environment you’re in. I remember my first day in Singapore; I was really looking forward to it. I arrived and we drove into the apartment complex and I got the elevator up to my room. I was sharing an apartment with nine other models. It was a three?bedroom apartment with ten girls, so there were three and four girls in each room in bunk beds. I felt like I was in military school or something. I remember cockroaches roaming around the floors and my bed sheets were from the girl before me. There was no hot water, no soap, no towel. I didn’t know all this. I just assumed that there would be a linen press because that’s what I grew up with. That was a huge shock, and just getting over the culture barrier really opened my eyes. Travel really opens your eyes and you just learn to be happy with nothing.

So the modelling industry isn’t quite as glamorous as everyone thinks?
I don’t think so, no, not really. I think Miranda Kerr would be very well looked after, but it’s like any job, when you’re starting out you’ve got to go through your apprenticeship, you’ve got to go through the training. You can’t just go straight to crew trainer when you’re working at McDonald’s, you’ve got to start out sweeping the floors and mopping up the crap in the bathroom, if you know what I mean.

You sound like you’ve worked at Macca’s before?
That was my first job, so I know what it’s like.

Where are you living these days?
I’m in Alexandria, so it’s on the cusp of the Eastern Suburbs. When I first got to Sydney I was living in Bellevue Hill. I’ve always been around the Eastern Suburbs. I’m looking for somewhere to buy on the shoreline of the Eastern Suburbs, closer to the beach. I crave the beach every day.

Any suburb in particular?
Probably Coogee. I like Coogee and I like Rose Bay, and Vaucluse is beautiful – anywhere around that little niche, near the water.

Do you get over to the Eastern Beaches very often?
Yes, if it’s summer almost every day, if I can. If I’m travelling obviously I can’t, and if I’m working I can’t, but on my days off I will be there every day.

Straight to Coogee?
Yeah, straight to Coogee. I like the more quiet, secluded beaches too. I love Clovelly and I do the Bronte to Bondi run and I sometimes go down to Tamarama.

What do you love about the Eastern Suburbs?
I think it’s got a good mix of everything. It’s not too over-populated, you can access the beach easily and it’s also close to the city and the airport. The people are much more friendly and easy going too. People are different everywhere around Sydney and I think the people in the Eastern Suburbs are just so chilled and relaxed and they’ve got a nice vibe about them, and coming from Townsville I like that.

Is there anything you don’t like about living around the east?
I’m not close enough to the beach. I still have to travel more than a kilometre to get to the beach and for me I need to be on the beach. That’s the only thing.

Do you have any favourite local beachside haunts?
I do love Bitton Cafe in Alexandria. It’s not exactly beachside but it’s probably my favourite to go to. I did all my cooking lessons there for Masterchef. I used to go there every day religiously. They sell the best bowls of coffee I’ve ever had in Sydney and so I used to go there a lot. I’d chat to all the staff and when I was training for Masterchef I really wanted some cooking lessons and Dave, the owner, was like, “We’ll give you some, don’t worry about it, chill out.” They helped me for weeks and they’re just really nice guys.

Were you a handy cook before Masterchef?
I love to cook and I love experimenting. I was never a professional, and I’m still not a professional, but I love throwing things together. I love throwing different sauces with different meats. I love trying new things. I’ll pull out a cookbook and go, “I’m trying that tonight.”

Do you have a signature dish?
I’d have to say roast lamb, and it’s so easy. People think roast and they get so put off by what’s involved but all you’ve got to do is put some herbs in the meat, stick it in the oven, roast some potatoes and some vegetables, toss it with a bit of olive oil, do a really nice gravy and serve it with a glass of red wine.

Are you in any way related to rugby league player Brett Finch?
No I’m not, however, it’s not the first time I’ve been asked that. I was asked by Matty Johns on ‘The Matty Johns Show’ recently. For some reason I answered, “I can be if you want me to be”, which I thought about later as a pretty silly thing to say, and wasn’t sure it even made sense. That’s live television sometimes!

Was getting into television presenting always a goal of yours?
Yes and no. I was all sport, sport, sport, and then I did a business management course when I finished school, just a part?time course. I love event management and that was what I really wanted to do, but I just fell into modelling. When I was 15 I entered a modelling competition and I was lucky enough to win. I then received a modelling contract with someone in Brisbane and then in Sydney and all of a sudden things started to happen for me. My agent was ringing me up saying, “We’ve got people in Singapore who want to represent you. Do you want to go over there for a 12?month stint?” So I kept going from one thing to the next. You fall into these things and then you realise that you’ve been modelling for five years and you get over being a human coat hanger. You have no creative input in anything. There’s no, “How do you like your hair?” or “What do you think we should do here?” You just turn up to the job and do as you’re told. So TV presenting was just the next thing, I guess. I felt like I really wanted the chance to talk about things that I’m passionate about to an audience and relay the things that I love, and to touch people in a way that makes them feel good.

You’ve got a show in production with Tom Williams; what’s it’s called and can you tell us a little bit about it?
It’s called ‘High Road, Low Road’ and the first episode airs on Saturday, December 4 at 7pm. We travelled to different locations around the world and we’ve filmed four episodes at this stage. It has been an amazing experience. It’s not like the traditional style travel; it’s not as set up. The producers wanted to do something different, something that was more real, so Tom and I just ran amok. Hopefully people will like it.

Is it true that you’ve been attacked by a crocodile?
I’ve been semi attacked. I was doing a photo shoot just before I went away to the Bahamas to compete in Miss Universe. I went and visited a crocodile farm in Darwin and I was in there feeding one of the crocodiles with the ranger. He threw some chicken to the crocodile but because I was standing behind it for the photo, smiling away, it went up for the chicken then went for me instead, so I just had to bolt. It was coming for me and I had to run out of the pen. It was a scary moment.

How did you actually get into the whole Miss Universe thing?
As a model, you get to know about what’s happening in the modelling industry and I guess when Jen Hawkins won she really made a mark in Australia for us on the international scene. After she won, every year as the pageants came up, you just know Miss Universe was happening, and then in 2008 I thought I might give it a go. I was a model, TV presenting was something that I wanted to do, I wanted to represent my country in something and it was just the perfect combination of elements in one competition. It was the most eye?opening experience though. You mix with the locals, you work amongst different charities, you see what people are doing in the community first hand. You go to hospitals, and you go to places where people are suffering and they really take you through all the experiences. But it’s hard work. It’s three weeks of intense competition where you’re up at 5am, you’re in bed at midnight and you’ve got to be on the ball all day. There are interviews all day long. You go from one to the other to the other, to a photo shoot, to an event. For me, I got go to travel to the Bahamas but there was so much work involved that when I returned back home I felt so alive. It was a really good experience.

Have you got ‘The Don’ on speed dial?
I wish. He’d have some great business advice.

You’ve met ‘The Don’ though, right?
Yes I met him a few times. He came and spoke to us about five or six times, which was pretty cool. He’s a lovely guy.

Are you glad it’s all behind you, all the forced smiling of Miss Universe?
Yes and no.

Did you put Vaseline on your teeth?
I did actually put Vaseline on my teeth once in the preliminary judging section because you’re on stage for such a long time. I believe in smiling from the heart; you’ve got to mean it otherwise it doesn’t look real, but I tell you what, when you’re on stage for six hours at a time and you’ve got to stand there in high heels and all you’re thinking about is your back getting put out, and you’ve got to keep a smile, it’s tough. So yeah, I put Vaseline on my teeth.

What do you do to keep fit?
Everything and anything. I love swimming at the beach, I love doing the Bondi to Bronte run, I play touch football on Mondays, I skip and I do gym work.

Do you have an organised regime?
No, I just go with the flow because I never know how my body’s going to feel. If it feels like I really want a good workout I’ll work really hard at the gym and do half cardio, half weights. And I love skipping, that’s one of my favourites, or I might go for a really hard run. If I want to take it easy I’ll just relax and do some yoga.

Have you kept dancing post ‘Dancing With the Stars’?
Sure have. On Monday and Wednesday nights I dance in a social class. I’m the instructor with Michael. Michael was my partner from ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and he’s my partner in real life as well. I love it. It’s awesome.

Do you have a career highlight thus far?
‘Dancing With the Stars’ is probably up there, just the adrenaline rush that you get right before you go on stage and then the feeling of accomplishing something that you really put your everything in to. You come off stage and think, “I can’t believe I just did a bloody 2?minute cha cha routine”. You just blow yourself away. Filming the travel show was unreal too, just seeing all the different places.

Do you support any charities?
Yes, I just came from a McHappy Day meeting today actually. I was also the ambassador last year. It’s just an awesome day and I get to go back to my roots at McDonald’s, which was my first ever job. The charity supports Ronald McDonald House, which aims to help seriously ill children and their families lead happier, healthier lives. We go to the different houses that they support and all the hospitals. You walk through the hospital wards and you go into the rooms and you actually sit next to the bed of the sick kids, these 2 and 3 year?olds with leukaemia. They’re losing their hair, they’re not allowed outside, they can’t see sun, they can’t move, they’ve got to sit in their bed until they get all their shots. You walk out with just goose bumps. It makes you wonder why we complain so much and why we stress about anything.

Do you support any others?
I’m also an ambassador for Camp Quality, The Children’s Cancer Charity, I support the Heart Foundation, and the Allanah and Madelaine Foundation, which aims to keep children safe from violence. In fact, I performed a song for their annual fundraising event, ‘Starry Starry Night’, recently. I sang Fever.

Do you have any advice for youngsters looking to get into beauty pageants, modelling or television?
Yes, I do actually. I think the biggest, best and only advice is to be yourself and have fun. You have to enjoy what you do otherwise it won’t look natural. If you can’t enjoy yourself it’s not going to work, so have fun.

In an ideal world, what does the future hold for Rachael ‘Finchy’ Finch?
At the moment it’s all about learning and developing a career in television and so I’m really trying to explore as many different opportunities in TV as possible. Channel Seven has been fantastic thus far in providing me opportunities to develop as a presenter. Ideally I’d be happy in a full-time television role that I’m enjoying, which could be anything from a travel or lifestyle show encompassing sport, health fitness, or food, to live TV, which I’m also loving and I’m trying to gain as much experience there as possible. Outside of my career, I just want to enjoy every day, spend time with my friends and family, keep my sport up and eventually get married and have kids down the track.