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Hazel Phillips remembers TV pay gaps

Australia's first daytime talk host tells Studio 10 how much she earned compared to Don Lane & Graham Kennedy.

Showbiz veteran Hazel Phillips OAM made a surprise appearance on Studio 10 this week, from her Gold Coast home.

Phillips, 90, was only the second woman in Australia to win a Gold Logie (following Lorrae Desmond), for Girl Talk, the first midday show on the new Channel 10 in 1967.

“When Channel 10 first started, the public were put to the vote on who they’d like to see on the new channel and I came out top of the bill, so they put me on daily at 12. I was the first talk show host in this country,” she said.

As she recalled, TV Week once reported on her salary alongside the likes of Don Lane and Graham Kennedy.

“(They got) $5000 a week and Hazel Phillips was the highest paid woman. $350 bucks. 7 live shows a week. But I thought it was great. My husband had swanned off at some stage and I was left with an 8 and 10 year old so I had to earn my keep,” she said.

In 2011, she performed in Australia’s Got Talent, reaching the semi-finals.

This week showing she was not about to shun the spotlight, she was promoting a new line of retro-fridges.

Go Hazel!

You can check her out at 10 Play.

2 Responses

  1. Oh bless Hazel Phillips. I loved her personality when i was a little boy, she was one of the first TV stars in my eyes!. Lovely to see she is still shining. And still speaking her truth. Good on her.

  2. Great to see the very talented Hazel Phillips is still alive and still looking beautiful. Hazel is very special to me as I was a close friend and mate of her husband Bill when we worked at the old Ch. 2 studios at Gore Hill. Wonderful memories!

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