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Travels From:
Regional Queensland
Fee Range: E
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From the beginning Ben had an affinity with the bush. Born on a dam bank in 1972, he spent the first 11 years of his life on his parents' property in Stanthorpe in south-east Queensland.
In 1984 Ben was sent to a boarding school for boys, to prepare him for manhood and have the edge belted out of his cheeky grin. After five years at school majoring in rugby, rowing and smoking he threw the long socks and blazer away and swapped them for the gear of a bushman and headed for the wide-open spaces.
With good rain coming in the summer of 1994, Ben threw his swag in the back of his rusty old Holden and headed for the bright lights of Brisbane. It was in a crowded and smoky bar that he met members of Brisbane radio's B105 Morning Crew. One thing led to another and the "Bush Pig" was born. For two and a half years on the number one rating show in Brisbane, with off-the-cuff interviews he terrorised the airwaves and every major celebrity who came to visit, from Paul Keating to Michael Jackson to the Rolling Stones. It was in this often-pressured environment that Ben honed his ad-lib skills.
With his love for Australia's history, Ben signed in 1998 with Nine to present Ben Dark's Australia, featuring some of Australia's most famous and infamous explorers, with Ben loosely retracing their journeys and using their amazing stories of adventure and survival as a basis for his travels.
Ben is one of the longest serving reporters of Getaway, Nine's popular travel and leisure program, having joined the show in 1999.
Ben is an excellent Master of Ceremonies equally happy with a scripted or combination of scripted and ad lib format. He has a genuine warmth and charisma about him, and never fails to capture the audience. He is a delight to work with.
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