Livinia: more than just a ‘weather girl’
Livinia Nixon is well-regarded for having the combination of looks, wit and charm -but there are stereotypes to overcome.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
The Age today has a good interview with Nine’s Livinia Nixon, who has enjoyed a higher national presence lately thanks to the return of Hey Hey it’s Saturday and The National IQ Test.
Nixon is well-regarded both within the industry and by many viewers for having the combination of looks, wit and charm. And for her ability to work live.
Victorian viewers can see her regularly as the Nine News weather presenter. But as she tells The Age there are still some stereotypes to overcome.
“TV and radio are very much boys’ clubs; they’re industries that are still very, very male-dominated. I’ve been in meetings where there are 10 guys and they sit around talking about what women want to watch and I’m like, ‘Does anyone want to ask me?’ And then I’ll dive in and give my opinion anyway,” she says.
“But women are under-represented across the board, in all areas of the workforce and in life. It’s slowly changing, though, which is probably the only positive thing you can say.”
She has also noticed that a male who presents a weather forecast is a “weather man”, whereas she is a “weather girl”. “I wonder at what point you lose the ‘girl’?” she asks, having presented the segment on Nine’s 6pm weeknight news since 2004. “What age do you have to reach to not be called a girl any more?”
You can read more here.
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- Tagged with Hey Hey its Saturday, Nine News, The National IQ Test
19 Responses
Livinia gets plenty of airtime on HHIS. They cut to her almost every minute or so and she does various segments like Celebrity Head or whatever or she’s doing silly stuff with the band. Any more and it’d be Hey Hey It’s Livinia!
Leo, you obviously don’t have to be a serious journalist to do the job, but the ‘model’ from the Guy Sebastian video actually had a lot of previous TV experience hosting on MTV in the US, which probably helped her with the gig.
if she is so well regarded then why don’t they have her doing more on HHIS?? i don’t get why she doesn’t at least do plucka duck etc as well plus a bit more airtime, some eps we’ve hardly seen/heard anything of her.
HHIS has been very boys club across its existence. Don’t forget there are some females that did not survive at all. Livinia has.
She’s nice and all, but nothing she is a part of rates well. Isn’t that the key to a successful career in primetime TV?
Side question… can just anyone present the weather? It seems you don’t have to be regarded as a serious journalist to do that job. Nine News in Sydney once had a model from a Guy Sebastian music video presenting the weather a few months back.
Steve did you ever think she was answering a question that was put to her by a journo?
I’m guessing you also didn’t read the article where she spoke about the pain of dealing with her brother’s brush with death after he fell from a roof?
“It’s awful to see someone you love hooked up to every machine under the sun to help them stay alive. I used to go every day after school and sit in the waiting room and do my year 12 assignments . . . I was 17 when it happened but your outlook changes and evolves at that age anyway.”
Lavinia, if your biggest life issue is being called a “weather girl” instead of “weather woman” then life is pretty good for you…fair dinkum get a life !
She’s at the right Network if she wants to be challenged by stereotypes – don’t like her chances of beating them though.
I’m not a huge fan of her, I’m indifferent, however, she is one of those TV personalities who doesn’t elicit negative criticism. And that’s very good, as quite a lot of popular TV presenters or personalities can be very unlikable. Good for Livinia, she is well liked and modest, I wish her success.
One of GTV9’s best and brightest assets.
It has been a real treat seeing her tv career go from strength to strength over the years.
mj – don’t you think ‘weather woman’ would sound weird? it’s also a bit of a tongue twister.
Livinia is great.She does a fine job
Livinia is the perfect woman!
Yet, the only program she was in that I absolutely loved was Micallef Tonight… Oh! Also, her & Ed Philips made Temptation kinda watchable too because they were both funny & had a great chemistry. The trouble is, she works for the worst television network in the country & we all know those apes running Nine only care about her looks. As The Age article said, she’s so much more than that. She’s wasted at Nine! She needs to host her own show somewhere else, or run our country… Or something. 😉
If women who present weather are referred to as weather girls, shouldn’t men doing the same job be known as weather boys?
Well that would just makes them look silly and we couldn’t have that, now could we?
On the plus side for her, most people outside Melbourne don’t even realise Livinia is a weather… presenter.
How could anyone not love Livinia? She’s just too adorable! And she doesn’t take herself seriously as you can see on Hey Hey where she’s always clowning around and never gets upset or angry.
Especially when you google “weather woman” and the top results are for the Japanese softcore-porn movie SBS used to air when they back when the channel was cool.
Peter, I echo your first line, it really doesn’t!
Weather woman doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! Livinia is one of the nicest people in the industry, she’s just as nice offscreen as she is on.