50 facts about Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Australian recording artist, actress, and television personality

Natalie Bassingthwaighte and 50 things from her life and career.

1. Natalie Bassingthwaighte is an Australian recording artist, actress, and television personality.

2. Born and raised in Wollongong, New South Wales, she began her acting career in 1998 with guest appearances in television shows.

3. Natalie Bassingthwaighte rose to prominence in 2003 on the Australian soap opera Neighbours for her role as Izzy Hoyland, which earned her three Logie Award nominations.

4. In 2004, she was recruited as the lead singer of Australian electro-pop band, Rogue Traders.

5. After leaving Neighbours in 2006 to focus on her music career, Bassingthwaighte released a cover of "Don't Give Up" with Shannon Noll, which peaked at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum.

6. In 2008, she left Rogue Traders to pursue her solo music career.

7. Natalie Bassingthwaighte released her debut solo album 1000 Stars in 2009, which spawned the platinum top-ten hits "Alive" and "Someday Soon". The album was a commercial success, debuting at number-one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified gold.

8. Aside from her acting and music career, Bassingthwaighte co-wrote her first book, Sistahood: A Journal of Self-Discovery, with her younger sister in 2008.

9. That same year, she made her debut as a television presenter, hosting So You Think You Can Dance Australia until 2010 when the show was axed.

10. From 2011 to 2014, she was a judge and mentor on The X Factor Australia, and later joined The X Factor New Zealand in 2015.

11. Natalie Bassingthwaighte has been married twice; in 1998 she married Graham Wilmott, a chef from Wollongong, for two years.

12. In December 2011, she married her former Rogue Traders' bandmate Cameron McGlinchey.

13. The couple have two children, a daughter named Harper Rain Sinclair McGlinchey and a son named Hendrix John Hickson McGlinchey.

14. Natalie Bassingthwaighte was born on 1 September 1975 in Wollongong, New South Wales to Betty and Michael Bassingthwaighte.

15. Her mother Betty has worked as a theatre nurse, beauty therapist and hairdresser.

16. Since 1982 her father Michael has worked as the CEO of a health care insurance provider

17. Natalie Bassingthwaighte grew up in the suburb of Mount Warrigal as the second of four girls with her older sister Melinda and the twins, Lisa and Nicole.

18. From a young age, she used to charge 20c for family and friends to come and see her dress up and put on mini concerts.

19. Natalie Bassingthwaighte got her first role in a primary school production at Balarang Primary School of Peter Pan, playing the character Tinker Bell.

20. Natalie Bassingthwaighte enrolled at Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts and graduated from the Australian College of Entertainment.

21. After college, Bassingthwaighte successfully auditioned for a job at a theme park, Wonderland Sydney.

22. She participated in a variety of performances, including 1950s, 1970s, country and Hanna Barbara shows.

23. After working at Wonderland Sydney, Bassingthwaighte performed for two seasons as lead vocalist and stand up comic at the Kaos Comedy Theatre restaurant in Sydney.

24. Natalie Bassingthwaighte was chosen from over 6000 people for the role as Mrs. Cohen in the Australian tour of the rock musical, Rent (1999).

25. During Rent's tour, she auditioned for another stage production, Chicago. The casting directors were initially dubious given that she was not an A-List dancer, however she won the role of June and understudied the principal role of Roxie Hart.

26. In 2002, during Chicago‍ '​s run in Perth, Bassingthwaighte and some cast and crew members decided to visit The Pinnacles, a limestone formation and tourist attraction about 190 kilometres (120 mi) north-west of Perth. On the way there they became lost and their 4WD broke down - they were rescued by a Navy helicopter.

27. Her first lead role was in the Asian production Chang & Eng - it depicts the biography of the first Siamese twins - she portrayed Adelaide Yates in both the Singapore and Bangkok seasons of the show.

28. Natalie Bassingthwaighte had considered a music career for some years and had been a member of an R&B group, but it did not work out and her interest focused on other options.

29. By 2004 she began working on her own demos: songs with an acoustic-rock sound and, late that year, she was recruited as the lead singer for Australian electro-pop band, Rogue Traders.

30. Rogue Traders had formed in 2002 with James Ash on keyboards and Steve Davis on guitars, the group had used a variety of guest vocalists and issued a debut album before seeking a permanent singer. After being presented with the band's music, Bassingthwaighte auditioned for Ash and Davis. The pair had auditioned 15 to 20 candidates, and after she performed their song "Voodoo Child", she became the band's front woman.

31. While Bassingthwaighte was still a member of Rogue Traders, she also made solo appearances and releases. In December 2006 she performed a duet with label mate Shannon Noll on their cover version of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's "Don't Give Up", for the various artists' album Home: Songs of Hope & Journey. Noll and Bassingthwaighte's version reached number two on the ARIA Singles Chart.

32. She recorded "O Holy Night" for the album The Spirit of Christmas 2006, a Christmas compilation album for which all proceeds go to The Salvation Army in Australia.

33. In 2007 Bassingthwaighte and Noll teamed up again for "Please Come Home for Christmas" on the album, The Spirit of Christmas 2007.

34. In June 2008, Bassingthwaighte left the group to pursue her solo career. She had signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia in 2006 to embark on a solo career

35. In June 2008, Bassingthwaighte began working on her debut solo album, 1000 Stars. In October 2008, the album's lead single, "Alive", was released; it peaked at number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart and gained a platinum certificate.

36. In January 2011, Bassingthwaighte returned to theatre, performing at the Sydney Opera House, in Love, Loss and What I Wore, a play "about women, their relationships and memories", where she co-starred with Judi Farr, Mirrah Foulkes, Amanda Muggleton and Magda Szubanski.

37. In February 2012, Bassingthwaighte was announced as a Moomba Monarch alongside Harry Kewell, the Australian socceroo.

38. In December 2014, Bassingthwaighte and other Australian singers recorded a cover version of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" under the name "Hope for Isla and Jude", and released it as a charity single to help raise funds for two siblings who suffer from the rare disease Sanfilippo syndrome.

39. In March-April 2012, Bassingthwaighte travelled to Bangladesh as an ambassador for Vicks Australia and Save the Children's project, Breathe for Life, which highlighted pneumonia-infected children and their parents' inability to afford health care.

40. Natalie Bassingthwaighte encouraged fellow Australians to support the project to train health workers, village doctors and caregivers and reduce the impact of pneumonia.

41. In March 2015, Bassingthwaighte launched her own children's clothing label, Chi Khi. The collection features natural bamboo cotton fabrics and clothing for both boys and girls aged zero to four. It was made available to buy online from 2 March.

42. Bassingthwaighte's first television role as an actress was in a 1998 episode of the hospital-based drama series All Saints.

43. She gained greater popular acclaim on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, playing the role of Izzy Hoyland from 2003 to 2006. This was her first full-time television role.

44. Bassingthwaighte was nominated for a Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality and a Silver Logie Award for Most Popular Actress in 2006, for her role on the show.

45. Natalie Bassingthwaighte is often referred to as Nat Bass in the media and by fans.

46. At 161 cm (5 ft 3 in), she is described as "pint-sized" and "tiny".

47. During adolescence, Bassingthwaighte was bullied at school about her body shape and lack of development.

48. In late 1998, she married Graham Wilmott, a chef from Wollongong, the couple were together for two years.

49. In April 2008, Bassingthwaighte released her first book, Sistahood: A Journal of Self-Discovery. It was co-written, over two years, with her younger sister Nicole Moore, and is aimed at boosting teen and pre-teen girls' self-esteem. The book features activities and is filled with pictures of Bassingthwaighte's life with her three sisters: Moore, Lisa Fogarty and Melinda Sheldrick.

50. In August 2010, Bassingwaighte and her long-time boyfriend Cameron McGlinchey, welcomed the birth of their daughter Harper Rain Sinclair McGlinchey, weighing 3.22 kg at a private Melbourne hospital. Bassingthwaighte and McGlinchey were married on 4 December 2011. In May 2013, she gave birth to their second child, a son named Hendrix John Hickson McGlinchey.

Source: Wikipedia.org