Camp Hollywood calling

An interesting article appeared in today’s Australian analysing “the camp celebrity gossip.” They are certainly a staple of morning television. Nelson Aspen (pictured) appears on Sunrise, Richard Reid on Today and local boy Adam Richard on 9am with David and Kim.

Other showbiz experts on the box include Richard Wilkins (Today), Andrew Mercado (Mornings with Kerri-Anne), James Tobin (Sunrise), Luke Dennehy (The Morning Show), Jonathan Pease (Confidential TV), Peter Ford (A Current Affair), Sonia Kruger (Today Tonight), Angela Bishop (TEN News), and Dianne Butler (The Morning Show) -to name a few.

Of course to look back at the camp Hollywood correspondent it’s John Michael Howson who is the forerunner on Aussie television. Appearing on The Mike Walsh Show for years, Howson was never without a champagne bottle and his trademark “Hello girls, hello fellas!” More recently he was a regular on Good Morning Australia. Molly Meldrum, who still files occasional reports for Sunrise, is also the music gossip original harking back to his days on Countdown.

Sunrise producer Adam Boland noticed every time Nelson Aspen appeared with the Hollywood hills backdrop the audience spiked, so he increased it to daily, then to three times a day, notes The Australian.

One Nine producer was said to be so keen to cash in on the popularity of the correspondents she sacked an entertainment commentator on another show because he wasn’t “camp enough.” Crazy.

Today’s executive producer Tom Malone denies he hired Reid two years ago after seeing how well Aspen was working for Sunrise. “I definitely thought we needed more Hollywood news,” Malone told The Australian. “It’s a reflection on the cult of celebrity but I don’t think we were trying to replicate Nelson on Nine.”

But Boland is adamant Nine copied Aspen and is certain his Hollywood guy has more credibility. “Unlike many things in Hollywood, Nelson isn’t an act,” Boland said yesterday.

Reid, who also appears on Domestic Blitz, says he did not model himself on Aspen. “When I was hired I did not know about Nelson,” Reid told the newspaper.

“I think we are as different as night and day. His segment is very sweet, very nice. Mine is informative, genuine. I like to talk to people, not at them.”

“What used to be a hindrance for me is now my biggest strength,” Reid says of his camp style. “I owe a big debt to Carson Kressley and Steven Cojocaru from Entertainment Tonight. They are trailblazers for openly gay or camp men going into people’s lounge rooms on a daily basis. I bow at Carson’s feet.”
Meanwhile The ‘Fabulous’ Adam Richard is “straight” to the point.

“My approach to gossip is you read a few stories about people and then regurgitate what you can remember,” he says.

Additional source: The Australian