James Mathison

James (Hernandez) Mathison is an Australian television presenter.

Early life

James was born on January 14 1978 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to parents Kath and Colin. He grew up in Sydney's Northern Beaches (Frenchs Forest) and attended St. Augustine's College, Brookvale, where he was named School Captain in his final year. After leaving school, he worked in menial jobs, including packing computers and working in a service station, before spending a year on exchange in Ecuador with AFS Intercultural Programs.Fact|date=February 2007

First television appearance

In 2000, James was a contestant on the reality TV show "The $20 Challenge", during which he was shown busking on the streets of London for extra money. His confidence and enthusiasm was arguably what won him second place in "The $20 Challenge". Weeks after returning from London, he was at work when he saw the final cattle call for channel [V] 's new reporter search. It was the last day of the comp so James called one of his four sisters to come to his work and create his entry with him. He made it to the final 8, then, along with Yumi Stynes, was offered a job at channel [V] as a VJ.

Australian Idol

In 2003, James became co-host (with Channel [V] co-star Andrew G) of Australian Idol. Also associated with Idol, James and Andrew created a behind the scenes show for channel [V] called Australian Idol Extra for the second and third seasons of Idol. On this show, James was shown to be particularly in tune with Mark Holden, often engaging in 'moments' with backstage cast and crew, which simply involved staring silently at each other for a short period of time.

Other appearances

James appeared on a celebrity episode of the Australian version of Ready Steady Cook in October 2005, in which he was declared the winner, beating vegan Andrew G.

In 2005 and 2006, James hosted the ARIA Music Awards. In 2007, James, along with Hamish and Andy, hosted the ARIA red carpet.

He also made a brief cameo appearance on the Australian Feature Film BoyTown in the ARIA's scene playing himself alongside Ella Hooper.

James was one of the co-hosts of the televised Australia Day-eve celebrations on 25 January 2006.

He also appeared as a contestant on "Australia's Brainiest TV Presenter" airing on February 12th, 2006.

In June and July 2008, James will be playing Adam (partner of Eve) in the Chester Mystery Plays in the UK.

Personal life

As of August 2007, he resides in the Sydney suburb of Manly.

He is currently single.

External links

*imdb name|id=1468325|name=James Mathison
* [http://blog.who.com/whosays/australian_idol/index.html WHO.com Australian Idol blog]