From former Olympic athlete to frontrunner to take the helm at Sunrise, Matt Shirvington’s rise to the top of Australia’s TV ranks would’ve been unthinkable a few short years ago.
In 2014, Shirvington’s name was merely gossiped about among a flurry of options to take over from Ben Fordham as sports reporter on Nine’s Today show. Ultimately, he was overlooked in favour of Tim Gilbert.
Flash forward to now, and the sprint champion of the late 90s and 2000s is almost a certainty to be named as David Koch’s replacement on the leading breakfast show, with an announcement to be made on Monday morning.
Shirvington, 44, joined the Seven Network in 2020 as a sport reporter, a full circle moment having begun his career with the network in 2005 as a presenter for the defunct science show Beyond Tomorrow.
He later enjoyed a 10-year career with Foxtel, joining Sky News in 2010 where he delivered his first ever live news read, before eventually becoming a pivotal part of Fox Sports’ NRL coverage.
Speaking at the funeral of Australian TV executive Brian Walsh in April, Shirvington revealed the late Foxtel boss was the person who took a punt on him post-retirement.
“He helped me get into the TV game after I retired. He took me to Sky News saying I would learn everything there. He got me to read the sport,” Shirvington revealed.
“I called him after my first read which was terrible – maybe I still am – he said not worry that could all be fixed.”
An industry source tells news.com.au that in his later years at Fox Sports, Shirvington felt his career wasn’t progressing so he made the choice to sign with Seven.
And three years into his contract, which began with him working as a sports presenter in Sydney on Fridays and Saturdays, Shirvington has branched out from focusing on just sport, having hosted multiple reality shows, including Holey Moley and Ultimate Tag, and most notably, has been the go-to fill-in for Koch on Sunrise for at least two years.
TV Blackbox editor Robert McKnight speculates Koch’s private decision to leave the breakfast show last year – which was ultimately pushed out another six months after pleas from executives – was to allow Shirvington more time to prepare for the role.
“I have no doubt this was to allow Shirvo more time to build up his credentials,” McKnight tells news.com.au.
“It makes sense. If someone comes out of left-field, Seven runs the risk of having to build a new identity and hope they have chemistry with [co-host] Natalie Barr – chemistry is the key ingredient at breakfast.
“We’ve seen what happens when hosts don’t have chemistry – ratings go down and there are the inevitable stories of ‘tensions on set’.”
McKnight says where Sunrise excels over Today – regularly beating its rival in the ratings – is the network’s considered approach to drip-feeding potential hosts to viewers, which they’ve done with Shirvington in recent months.
“Seven has a great ability to transition from one host to the next. Samantha Armytage had been a consistent fill-in for Melissa Doyle before assuming the role, and Nat had been there from the beginning,” he says.
“This allows the audience to accept evolutionary change. If you look at the Today show, the changes have been erratic.
“Who would be the likely replacement for Karl Stefanovic? I have no idea to be honest, but Shirvo seems the most likely replacement for David Koch as he has been his go-to fill-in.
“While there are others in the network who have sat in Kochie’s chair, Matt has been given the time to get used to the role and audiences have been given the chance to get used to him.”
Koch and Shirvington’s backgrounds couldn’t be more different.
Koch, now 67, was a prominent finance journalist before Seven took a gamble on him in 2002, while Shirvington spent much of his earlier years dedicated to sprint training before embarking on a largely-sport focused broadcast career.
But more athletes are nudging their way into the news media fold, with ABC’s Tony Armstrong proving incredibly popular among viewers, slicing through a traditionally stuffy format with more relaxed energy.
“Athletes often have nothing to prove and can therefore be relaxed and personable, but that could be said for anyone from any field – the problem is finding those rare gems who come alive on the screen,” McKnight says, adding Koch was a pioneer in livening up the breakfast TV game in the first place.
“Athletes build their brands by showcasing their extraordinary skills in their chosen fields. Many are given the opportunity to progress their careers in television and radio because they are a ‘name’.
“The ‘name’ factor only goes so far though. If they don’t have the skills they can lose those opportunities very quickly.
“Shirvo has a natural ability but he’s also been given the opportunity to learn on the job and has developed a fantastic relationship with the camera and audience.”
Speaking to news.com.au back in 2014, Shirvington himself said his past life as a professional athlete served him well for a career in media – because both require “performances”.
“The more confident you are, the more prepared you are, the more focused you are, the more likely you are to do well,” he said at the time.
Outside of his career, Shirvington has built an equally successful personal life.
He has been married to wife Jessica for over 20 years, the pair sharing three young children: Daughters Sienna and Winter, and son Lincoln.
Jessica, also 44, is a successful author, best known for her book series Embrace.
The couple have invested wisely in property over the years, and are based at their $12.5 million family home in Sydney’s affluent Mosman, which they bought for $7 million in 2017.
They had previously owned another home in Mosman, which they sold in 2016 for $4.15 million.
More recently, they flipped a heritage-listed mansion in Killara. They paid $11.2 million for the property in May last year, before selling it a few months later for $11.6 million after undergoing renovations, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Elsewhere, Jessica is also prominent in the hospitality space, and is a managing director of up-market Mosman restaurant, Bathers Pavilion.
On Monday, Koch announced to viewers he would be stepping down as Sunrise host after 21 years.
He said it was time for the “next generation” to take over.
“I have decided to hang up the boots as co-host of Sunrise. After nearly 21 years and over 5300 shows, 16,000 hours of TV, it is now time to work in business hours and have a bit of flexibility to focus more on our big family and the family business. And frankly, my football club as well (Koch is Chairman of the Port Adelaide Football Club),” he said.
“So after 20 consecutive premierships in the breakfast TV ratings game, I’m frankly finding it harder to get off the ground to take those marks and I think it’s time to bring in the next generation.”