Moira McLean will never forget the day she was live to air, enthusiastically hyping a new fragrance-enhanced jewellery range, only to see Oscar-winning movie star Dustin Hoffman smiling back from behind the camera!
“For the first time in my near 50 years on television, I was nearly lost for words,” Moira confesses in an exclusive interview with New Idea from her Sydney beachside home.
“I was chatting on camera with Lisa Hoffman’s brand ambassador on TVSN, mindful that Lisa had flown in from Los Angeles to watch us spruik her range. But I had no idea she’d brought her husband along too.
“Dustin was so warm and lovely. He came over and said ‘I don’t know how you do it,’ meaning talking, unscripted and live to air, for almost an hour at a stretch,” Moira adds in her honeyed tones.
Her surreal career
That’s just one of many brushes with fame Moira has enjoyed throughout her stellar career.
She currently appears on the TVSN shopping channel, where she spends around eight hours a week live and off the cuff, smoothly talking up everything from kaftans and diamonds to face creams and health tonics.
“During my 20 years on TVSN I’ve worked alongside Dame Joan Collins, Jane Seymour, Katherine Kelly Lang and was even serenaded by Human Nature.
“It’s been really quite surreal,” Moira, 65, says with a laugh.
In the beginning
Moira’s career began in 1980 at Sydney’s Network 10. She worked in direct advertising as a copywriter. The following year she made her TV debut – “in a commercial for Waratah Park, the home of Skippy,” Moria explains.
“It was unintended. We were filming koalas, and the director wanted some people in shot.
“So, he asked if I could hop in along with the lighting assistant, and we made for a dreamy couple admiring the wildlife. My hair was crimped, I wore a hand-crocheted top and had no idea I’d wind up on TV!
“In 1983 I became the host of a new kids’ TV program, The Harry and Ralph Show. Marilyn Mayo was the producer. I loved her on the Super Flying Fun Show as a kid, so to say I was a little starstruck was an understatement.”
Moira then hosted another kids’ show, Moira’s Morning which led into the original Good Morning Australia, then hosted by Gordon Elliott and Kerri-Anne Kennerley.
“Working as a reporter on Simon Townsend’s Wonder World! was a dream come true,” Moira recalls. “A highlight was flying in a Mirage fighter jet.
Simon was so generous and nurturing.
“Sadly, it wasn’t to last more than nine months, as Wonder World! was axed in 1987.”
Special bond with Bert
Moira regards her 12 years working alongside the late, great Bert Newton as a career pinnacle.
“He coined the catchphrase ‘here’s Moira!’, which people still say whenever they see me,” she says smiling.
“Bert was incredible. He had that genuinely relaxed knack that few in the biz possess. Impeccable timing, a brilliant sense of humour, and one of the nicest people.
“And, much like Marilyn Mayo and Simon Townsend before him, Bert became a mentor. His death [in 2021] hit hard. It sounds corny, but when you work on TV shows, it can be like a family.”
A dream run in TV
Moira feels Bert is like an angel on her shoulder.
“If I’m working out the best way to do something TV-related, I’ll say ‘what would Bert do?’ and bingo, the answer appears. It’s like magic,” she says.
“I learnt so much from Bert, like always being prepared, making guests feel totally at ease and having fun.”
Nearly five decades into her career, Moira says she’s still having a ball!
“I’ve had a dream run during my time in TV,” she says.
“I’m no spring chicken, but I’m still always smiling – because I love what I do.”
