Robert Irwin, host of Network 10’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and currently winning hearts via participating in the US version of Dancing with the Stars, has been named Australia’s most popular broadcast personality for the second consecutive year in the 2025 Australian Talent Index’s Top Talent Report from Talent Corp. Irwin was the most popular for male and female audiences, showing his cross over appeal.
Robert said:
“I’m incredibly honoured to be recognised like this, it’s truly humbling. At the end of the day, it’s all about using every opportunity to share my passion for wildlife and conservation. If that message is reaching people that it ordinarily wouldn’t, then I feel like I’m doing my job.”
In second, for the first time ranking one ahead of his long-time podcast partner Hamish Blake, was Andy Lee. Rebecca Gibney made her debut at no. 4 and the most popular female broadcast celebrity. Others in the Top 40 Broadcast Talent list include comedians, chefs, sports stars, journalists and radio personalities.
Across radio it was one and two for ARN’s Amanda Keller and SCA’s Carrie Bickmore respectively with David Hughes third.
Amanda Keller, said:
“I’m beyond thrilled! I’ve always said that doing breakfast radio feels like talking to friends every morning – sometimes oversharing with friends, if I’m honest. To know people are still listening, laughing and connecting means the world.
It’s such a privilege to do what I love every day – even if it does mean keeping Jonesy in line!”
TV saw Dr Chris Brown down one place to no. 5 and celebrity chef Manu Feildel has been usurped by comedian Glenn Robbins. The top three were the same as overall.
The Top Talent Report gauges consumers’ awareness, attitudes, and sentiments towards a range of Australian talent, including celebrities, broadcasters, comedians, sports stars, and chefs. This year, a nationally representative sample of more than 4,000
Australians were surveyed by Lewers Research, rating more than 500 personalities, and providing comments on how they felt about each one across a number of measures*. The Australian Talent Index is calculated by subtracting the proportion of people who disliked a personality from those who liked or loved them, giving each a score ranging from -100 (universally disliked) through to +100 (universally liked).
Some additional radio related results saw the Nova Network’s Mel Tracina, KIIS Network‘s Kyle Sandilands was considered Australia’s most controversial broadcaster again in 2025, Most relatable is former KIIS presenter now podcaster Mitch Churi for a second year running and, in the TV and radio battle for breakfast, Nine’s Today show co-host Karl Stefanovic just pipped Kyle Sandilands and Nova Sydney Breakfast co-host Kate Ritchie.
Mark Noakes
Talent Corp Managing Director, Mark Noakes, said:
“The Talent Index was created to meet the industry’s need for robust, data-driven metrics that measure a personality’s appeal, that goes far beyond social media likes and engagement.
Our 2025 Talent Index confirms that audiences respond strongly to personalities who combine authenticity with reach. Robert Irwin topping the list again demonstrates the commercial power of a celebrity whose appeal is both broad and trusted.
For marketers, the Index is more than a popularity ranking, it’s a data-driven tool that highlights which personalities can deliver the broadest possible audience appeal within a campaign’s target demographic that you won’t be able to find in ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.”
Main image: Robert Irwin at the premiere of Disney’s TRON by Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA – Reuters, licenced to Radioinfo. All other images and graphs supplied.
*Methodology: A survey of 4,000 Australians who were asked their opinion on a range of personalities across broadcast talent. The Talent Corp Australian Talent Index ranges from -100 to +100 based on how recognisable and liked a personality is (the higher the number the better). Lewers also asked people to provide a few words to describe how they felt about each personality. These words were classified into emotions based on an extensive library of over 20,000 words and phrases to identify how people feel about a personality. As a final step, respondents played a type of word association game to understand their gut reaction to different personalities.