They have noses for news and faces for television.
Local girls made good Rebecca Maddern and Amy Parks star as leading ladies of the nightly television news.
Michelle Herbison turned the tables to interview them about their glittering careers.
Words: MICHELLE HERBISON
Photos: TOMMY RITCHIE
REBECCA MADDERN
How was it growing up on a farm in Ceres?
My stepdad used to train racehorses, so I was riding bareback from the age of three or four. It was the best childhood you could imagine – what little girl doesn’t want to own a pony!
A majority of my family still lives in Geelong, so I’m down there all the time. I still come down and get my hair done!
When I drive down that highway I actually always feel like I’m home.
AMY PARKS
What was your experience of living in St Leonards as a teenager?
I remember everybody being really friendly. I had this amazing opportunity to go down and get my horse off the farm, jump on bareback, cruise down to the beach and go in the water. My horse, Buddy, was like a big pet.
As I grew up we moved to Drysdale and Portarlington. I joined Portarlington Pony Club and we used to ride our horses from where they were kept to pony club via the beach along the water.
I was in the Sweethearts at Matthew Flinders and went on their first tour to Europe in 1997. I was only 15 and we played with BB King, Earth Wind and Fire and Cheryl Crow at the Montreaux Jazz Festival on Lake Geneva.
To read more, grab a copy of the December 2012 edition of Geelong Coast Magazine.
