Biography

Singer. Actress. Presenter. Author. Mother.

On the 1st of September 1975, in the regional town of Wollongong NSW, two proud parents, Betty and Michael Bassingthwaighte, welcomed a star into the world. From a young age, it seemed Natalie Bassingthwaighte was destined to become an entertainer. Loving nothing more than to showcase and ‘show off’ her talents, little Nat used to charge 20 cents for family and friends to come and see her dress up and put on a show.

Natalie got her first taste of the limelight after landing the all-important role of ‘Tinkerbell’ (alongside her best friend Tod O’Mara), in her primary school production of ‘Peter Pan.’ From that day forward she has never looked back, progressing onto the Wollongong School of Performing Arts, and then graduating from the Australian College of Entertainment.

Fresh out of college and eager to break into the world of entertainment, Natalie auditioned for a job at Sydney’s ‘Wonderland’ and scored her first professional gig – performing at 50′s, 70′s, country and Hanna Barbara shows. After her stint at Wonderland, Natalie landed another job as lead vocalist and stand up comic at the ‘Kaos Comedy Theatre’ restaurant in Sydney.

In the meantime, she was also auditioning for many different musicals. Finally, after an exhaustive audition process, she was chosen over 6000 hopefuls for her role of Mark’s mom (and Maureen’s understudy) in the Australian tour of the rock musical ‘Rent’. During Rent’s tour, she was approached to audition for another big stage production. This time it was for ‘Chicago.’ The casting directors were dubious given the fact that she wasn’t an A-List dancer, however her enthusiasm and talent won out and Natalie landed the part of ‘June’ and understudied the principal role of ‘Roxie.’

Nat then went on to have a lead role in the production of ‘Chang and Eng’ in Asia, and back home in Australia, Sydney’s Capitol Theatre played home to a very successful season of ‘Footloose’ the musical in which Nat played the role of ‘Ariel’ opposite Spencer MacLaren.

Extending her skills and removing herself from her comfort zone, Natalie ventured into the world of acting. She made her debut on the small screen in an episode of ‘All Saints’ and landed a few other minor guest roles in Australian soap operas. However she was not to stay around for long, finding herself back overseas in America for a guest role in an episode of ‘The Lost World.’

However it wasn’t until 2003 that all of Natalie’s hard work and dedication to her craft really paid off, taking over our television screens and winning over viewer’s hearts in one of Australia’s most popular soap operas, Neighbours. Knowing that the job would prove very beneficial to her credibility as an actress, her manager, Mark Byrne put her up for the audition. While at first she wasn’t particularly eager to work full-time on television, knowing that music was her first love, she agreed to do the audition, and landed the role as the conniving Ramsay Street sex siren, Izzy Hoyland.

During a short hiatus from Neighbours, Nat got the chance to play every girls dream role, ‘Sandy’ in the musical ‘Grease’. After auditioning 400 other hopefuls, the shows producer was given a breath of fresh air when Natalie took to the stage. She nailed the audition; oozing all of the vulnerability Olivia Newton John had previously brought to the role. She was excited to be given the opportunity to escape the ‘Izzy’ stereotype and show everyone that she was more than just a soap actress.

Her busy life was just about to get busier. Natalie had been intent on a music career for a very long time, and had been working on her own demos; mainly with an acoustic-rock sound. But instead of going solo with a pop career and cashing in on her television success like so many before her, she found her place in Aussie dance outfit ‘Rogue Traders’ in late 2004 – and kept her identity secret until after the release of their first single, ‘Voodoo Child.’

With dark hair, and clothed in gothic-like attire, ‘Izzy’ from Neighbours was almost unrecognisable. Meanwhile, the single was getting a lot of radio airplay and charting well, leading people to question “who was the voice behind the song?” In fact, it was over 2 months before one journalist got hold of the truth and unveiled her identity.

With the success of the Rogue Traders, Nat found it increasingly difficult to juggle her commitments with Neighbours and the band. After careful consideration, she decided not to renew her contract for the show. The band then went on to have enormous success in Australia, with two top 10 albums, a plethora of top 10 singles, sell-out concerts, and a swag of award nominations.

But that was really only the beginning for her music career. Parting ways with the Rogue Traders in 2008, Natalie released her first solo album ’1000 Stars’ in 2009 which went straight to number, receiving glowing reviews from critics, and spawning a bunch of top 10 hits.

Natalie also signed on as host of So You Think You Can Dance Australia, which was an enormous ratings success for Channel Ten; co-wrote an inspirational children’s book, ‘Sisterhood,’ with her sister Nicky; and continued to flex her acting muscles, starring in the low-budget horror/comedy movie ‘Prey,’ and series 3 of Australia’s biggest crime show ‘Underbelly: The Golden Mile.’

But in early 2010, it was announced Nat was about to take on the biggest role of her life – parenthood. Engaged to long-time boyfriend Cameron McGlinchey, Natalie gave birth to her first daughter, Harper Rain Sinclair McGlinchey, on August 16.

And while being a mother is her number one priority, 2011 looks like it will be another exciting and successful year for Natalie, with television drama and local film projects being lined up, as well as plans to release her sophomore solo album.