Daniel MacPherson
Encyclopedia
Daniel Donald MacPherson (born 25 April 1980) is an Australian actor and television presenter, best known for his roles as; Joel Samuels
Joel Samuels
Joel Matthew Samuels is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Daniel MacPherson. Joel made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 1998...

 on Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...

, PC Cameron Tait on British police drama The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

, and Detective Senior Constable Simon Joyner in City Homicide
City Homicide
City Homicide was an Australian television drama series that aired on the Seven Network between 27 August 2007 – 30 March 2011. The series was set on the Homicide floor of a metropolitan police headquarters in Melbourne...

. He is the current co-host of Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series)
Dancing with the Stars is a Logie Award-winning, Australian light entertainment reality show airing on the Seven Network and filmed live from the HSV-7 studios in Melbourne...

alongside Sonia Kruger
Sonia Kruger
Sonia Melissa Kruger is an Australian television presenter. She is best known for co-hosting the popular Australian version of Dancing with the Stars, hosting 10 Years Younger in 10 Days and for the role of Tina Sparkle in the hit 1992 film Strictly Ballroom.-Early life:Born in Toowoomba,...

 and stars as Jack Keenan in Wild Boys.

Early and personal life

MacPherson grew up in Sydney's beachside suburb of Cronulla where he lists swimming, fishing, golf and watching the Cronulla Sharks
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...

, a rugby league football team, as his favorite pastimes. MacPherson went on to live in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 for many years before relocating to Sunshine Beach, Queensland
Sunshine Beach, Queensland
Sunshine Beach is a suburb in Noosa, Queensland, Australia. The area south of Noosa Headlands was formerly known as Golden Beach but was rarely visited before the 1920s. In 1928, Thomas Marcus Burke gained land there in exchange for building roads and bridges from Tewantin...

 before returning to Sydney for work in 2010.

He was accepted into MENSA
Mensa
Mensa meaning table in Latin, may refer to:*Mensa International, an organization for people with high IQs*Mensa , a southern star constellation*Mensa , a term used by geologists to refer to an extraterrestrial mesa...

 at the age of 10 and went on to attend the academically selective school Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School is an academically selective public secondary school for boys, located in the City of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with 1,180 students, from years 7 to 12...

.
An avid fitness advocate MacPherson regularly competes in Triathlons and Marathons.

Career

MacPherson was discovered while competing in the Kurnell triathlon in southern Sydney when he was 17. He soon landed the role of Joel Samuels
Joel Samuels
Joel Matthew Samuels is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Daniel MacPherson. Joel made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 1998...

 in the soap opera Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...

, starting in 1998. Bearing a similarity to his real life, the blond-haired actor's character was also a budding athlete.

After leaving the soap in 2002, MacPherson travelled to the United Kingdom to star in a British production of the musical Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...

in which he alternated the lead roles of Jesus and Judas with English entertainer Jonathan Wilkes
Jonathan Wilkes
Jonathan Wilkes is an English television presenter, actor and musician. Jonny Wilkes is currently performing as Billy Flynn in Chicago at The Cambridge Theatre, London. He is also the best friend of singer Robbie Williams...

. During this time MacPherson resided in Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...

 with close friend Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

. After completing the show, MacPherson was offered the role of PC Cameron Tait in the British drama The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

, which he played from 2003 until late 2004.

Upon leaving The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

, he took a role playing Jesus opposite Sir Edward Woodward
Edward Woodward
Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...

 as God in The Mysteries. This was a drama based on a medieval mystery play
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...

 cycle in which every scene moved to a different part of Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

.

In 2005, MacPherson returned to Australia to present the Australian version of The X Factor. MacPherson received positive feedback, despite the series attracting low ratings. After the season had finished, reports stated that before one of the live shows MacPherson was accidentally knocked unconscious by a plank of wood. After regaining consciousness several minutes later, MacPherson went on to do the show despite being heavily concussed. He says he "remembers nothing at all" from that night's broadcast. This was undetected by the public.

The following year, MacPherson hosted a three-part series called Killer Sharks on Australia's Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

 in February 2006. In late 2006, he appeared in a British/Australian production entitled Tripping Over
Tripping Over
Tripping Over is a British/Australian six-part drama series. Its first episode aired on Network Ten in Australia on 25 October 2006, and in the United Kingdom on Five on 30 October 2006. In the UK Tripping Over is repeated on Five Life....

. The show appeared on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

 in Australia. Tripping Over featured MacPherson's ex-Neighbours co-star Brooke Satchwell
Brooke Satchwell
Brooke Kerith Satchwell is an Australian actress, model, and environmental spokesperson.-Early life:The first of two children of Andrew Satchwell, a real estate agent and Jane Satchwell, a school teacher. Satchwell has lived on the Mornington Peninsula for most of her life...

. Tripping Over received numerous positive reviews and the show was a hit with Australian critics; however due to funding issues it was not picked up for a second season.

In October 2007, MacPherson left Network Ten after taking a role on Channel 7
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

's City Homicide
City Homicide
City Homicide was an Australian television drama series that aired on the Seven Network between 27 August 2007 – 30 March 2011. The series was set on the Homicide floor of a metropolitan police headquarters in Melbourne...

. The show became the number one Australian Drama between 2007 and 2008. MacPherson left City Homicide during the fourth season.

On 3 August 2008, Channel 7 announced that MacPherson would be taking over the hosting role on Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series)
Dancing with the Stars is a Logie Award-winning, Australian light entertainment reality show airing on the Seven Network and filmed live from the HSV-7 studios in Melbourne...

, after former host Daryl Somers
Daryl Somers
Daryl Paul Somers OAM , is an Australian television personality. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday.-Early life:Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage, was educated at...

 resigned at the end of 2007. This was his first live hosting gig since The X Factor in 2005.

On 17 May 2010, MacPherson guest co-hosted The Morning Show
The Morning Show (TV program)
The Morning Show is an Australian morning talk show that premiered on the Seven Network on 18 June 2007. The show airs between 9am and 11:30am weekdays and follows Seven's breakfast news program Sunrise, with both programs closely interlinked....

alongside Kylie Gillies
Kylie Gillies
Kylie Gillies is a television presenter for the Seven Network based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She currently co-hosts The Morning Show with Larry Emdur.-Career:...

, while regular male presenter Larry Emdur
Larry Emdur
Larry Emdur is an Australian television personality. He is currently co-hosting Saturday's Weekend Sunrise alongside Samantha Armytage....

 was on holidays.

Macpherson hosted the Seven Network series, Beat the Star
Beat the Star (Australia)
Beat the Star is an Australian game show, based on the British version, which in turn is based on the German game show Schlag den Raab . The series is hosted by Daniel MacPherson and produced by Seven Media Group for the Seven Network...

, a local version of the British and German television series for one season before the show was cancelled.

In 2011, MacPherson returned to hosting Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars in the first half of the year, before filming a new "Australian Western" style show, called Wild Boys based around Bushrangers. MacPherson plays the lead role and the shows protagonist, Jack Keenan and stars alongside Zoe Ventoura
Zoe Ventoura
Zoe Ventoura is an Australian actress. In early life she attended Penrhos College in Perth, Western Australia. Ventoura is best known for portraying Melissa Rafter in Packed to the Rafters...

. Wild Boys premiered to strong ratings of 1.67 Million viewers. unfortunately this was not to last and in November 2011, The Seven Network declined on making a second season of the show.

Other projects

MacPherson starred in two pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

s at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury alongside Paul Hendy and Leila Birch
Leila Birch
Leila Birch is an English actress, known for portraying Teresa di Marco in EastEnders.-Background:Birch grew up in South East London. She is of British, Italian and Irish descent...

. It drew audience members from all over the world, including Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

 and his daughters, and Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...

.

In 2006, MacPherson co-hosted the Sydney New Year's Eve 2006-07 telecast alongside Big Brother host Gretel Killeen
Gretel Killeen
Gretel Killeen is an Australian journalist and author. Killeen is well known for being the primary host of Big Brother Australia from its inception in 2001 until the 2007 season ....

. The telecast caused much controversy after former Big Brother 2004 housemates Ryan Fitzgerald
Ryan Fitzgerald
Ryan James "Fitzy" Fitzgerald is a former Australian rules footballer, Big Brother participant, and radio and television personality. After being drafted from the South Adelaide Football Club, he made his Australian Football League debut for Sydney in 2000, before being traded to Adelaide, where...

 and Bree Amer
Bree Amer
Bree Amer is an Australian television personality.Amer was a contestant on Big Brother Australia 2004 from the Gold Coast, in Queensland, and the first housemate of Big Brother Australia to re-enter the House when, hours after her eviction, it was discovered the votes were miscalculated...

 appeared to be drunk throughout their segments of the evening. Notably, MacPherson received much praise for being a "complete professional" and left with his reputation unscathed.

MacPherson competes in World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and Ironman 70.3
Ironman 70.3
An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of middle-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation . The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles covered in the race, consisting of a swim, a bike ride, and a run...

. He competed in Ironman Australia at Port Macquarie where he missed out on qualifying for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii by only one spot. His swim time of 49:30 in Ironman New Zealand 2008 was the fastest in his age group.

In April 2009, MacPherson completed the China Ironman in Haikou. He completed the race in 11 hours and one minute, after a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike ride and 42 km run in 45C heat. He came first in his 25–29 age group, qualifying him for the Hawaiian Ironman in October.

Triathlon Results

Series Race Overall
Position
Gender
Position
Category
Position
Category Time Qualified
WTC Ironman 2008 Ironman New Zealand 2008 143 133 25 M25-29 10:10:55

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998–2002 Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...

Joel Samuels
Joel Samuels
Joel Matthew Samuels is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Daniel MacPherson. Joel made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 1998...

Role specifically written for him
2003–2004 The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

PC Cameron Tait
2006 Blackjack
BlackJack (telemovie)
BlackJack is a series of Australian television movies created by Shaun Micallef and Gary McCaffrie, and starring Colin Friels. The movies began airing on Network Ten in 2003 and concluded in 2007. They were shown in the United Kingdom on the BBC and UKTV Drama.After blowing the whistle on his...

Craig
Tripping Over
Tripping Over
Tripping Over is a British/Australian six-part drama series. Its first episode aired on Network Ten in Australia on 25 October 2006, and in the United Kingdom on Five on 30 October 2006. In the UK Tripping Over is repeated on Five Life....

Ned British/Australian six-part drama series
2007–2010 City Homicide
City Homicide
City Homicide was an Australian television drama series that aired on the Seven Network between 27 August 2007 – 30 March 2011. The series was set on the Homicide floor of a metropolitan police headquarters in Melbourne...

Simon Joyner
2011- Wild Boys Jack Keenan

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Jack & The Beanstalk Jack Victoria Theatre
Victoria Theatre (Halifax)
Victoria Theatre in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England is a large theatre that opened in 1901.- History :The theatre was first opened on 8 February 1901, when it was known as the Victoria Hall...

, Halifax, UK
2000 Cinderella Prince Marlowe Theatre
Marlowe Theatre
The Marlowe Theatre is a major 1200-seat theatre in Canterbury, England.It closed in March 2009 for redevelopment and a brand-new Marlowe Theatre re-opened to audiences on 4 October 2011.-Name:...

, Canterbury, UK
2001 Aladdin Aladdin Marlowe Theatre
Marlowe Theatre
The Marlowe Theatre is a major 1200-seat theatre in Canterbury, England.It closed in March 2009 for redevelopment and a brand-new Marlowe Theatre re-opened to audiences on 4 October 2011.-Name:...

, Canterbury, UK
2002 Godspell Jesus/Judas 16 week, #1 venue tour, United Kingdom
2004 The Mysteries Jesus Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

, UK,
with Edward Woodward
Edward Woodward
Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...

, Thomas James Longley
Thomas James Longley
Thomas James Longley is a British actor and model. Hailing from the historical English city of Canterbury, he grew up performing in plays throughout the Kent and London fringe scenes...

 and Joseph McManners
Joseph McManners
Joseph McManners is an English actor and singer. He lives on a non-working farm in Petham near Canterbury and recently left Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys for Tonbridge School after being awarded a drama and academic scholarship.-Singing career:McManners decided to become a singer after he...

2005 Love Letters Andrew NIDA
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...

/Parade Theatre, Sydney

Host

Year Title Role Notes
2005 The X Factor Host Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

Good Morning Australia
Good Morning Australia
Good Morning Australia from Network Ten was the name of two different programs. This article is for Bert Newton's morning program, not to be confused with the breakfast news program of the same name....

 (GMA)
Fill in Host Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

Killer Shark Documentary Host Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

2006 NYE Live Broadcast Co-Host Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

2006/2007 National Geographic Presents Host Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....

2008– Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series)
Dancing with the Stars is a Logie Award-winning, Australian light entertainment reality show airing on the Seven Network and filmed live from the HSV-7 studios in Melbourne...

Co-Host Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...


Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result
1999 Logie Awards  Most Popular New Talent – Male
2001 Logie Awards  Most Popular Actor
2003 British National Television Awards
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...

 
Best Newcomer

External links

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