Richard Wilkins celebrates 71st birthday in style with towering $150 chocolate cake adorned with strawberries
Channel Nine star Richard Wilkins celebrated his 71st birthday on Thursday.
And his devoted colleagues at Today took to Instagram to share a touching tribute to the media veteran, who has been with a brekkie show for over three decades.
Today posted a photo of Richard in a smart black suit posing alongside a lavish cake topped with strawberries, which included a message in chocolate icing, 'Happy Birthday Legend'.
The delicious looking dessert priced at $150 also included a decoration styled as an '80s TV set complete with V-shaped antennae.
And inserted into the television 'screen' was a throwback image of Richard sporting his trademark 'wave' haircut.
From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
The breakfast team from Nine also included a caption in the post, 'Happy birthday to the heart and soul of TODAY entertainment, our beloved Dickie!
'We hope your day is every bit as legendary as you are.'
It comes after the TV stalwart opened up earlier this year about his 38 years working in television.
And in a surprising twist the entertainment editor admitted he had a fair share of regrets.
The Nine star, who began working for the network in 1987, revealed in January he wishes he tried harder to become a pop star.
While he holds much pride in the TV work he has done over the years, the Weekend Today co-host told The Sunday Telegraph he regrets he stopped writing songs.
'I don't think I'd do too much differently, I was playing in bands and wanted to be an actor there for a while,' he said, when asked what he would change about his career.
'I wish I'd kept writing songs because I thought some of them were starting to get quite good and the comeback to that is, "Well it is never too late to stop."'
'But I had an opportunity that came along when television was in a great growth spurt and music television, MTV, came along and it was just a perfect combination of everything that I had done.'
Richard went on to say his first gig on MTV when it launched on Nine in the late '80s came at the 'right time, right place', and he would never take it back.
He said he 'worked really hard' and has 'enjoyed the majority' of his stint in television, even if it didn't shoot him to rock star status as he hoped it would.
Despite being just a few years off his 40th anniversary with Nine, Richard doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon.
The TV presenter said he doesn't know what he would do with himself if he wasn't working.
Richard has worked in breakfast television for many years and also hosts weekend radio on Smooth FM.
On the side, the media personality is producing a movie and has plans to write a second book following his 2011 memoir Black Ties, Red Carpets, Green Rooms.
He was an aspiring pop singer when he first started working in the entertainment industry while still living in New Zealand where he was born.
But Richard said working for MTV was 'a perfect combination of everything I have done' previously in showbusiness.
It seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as Richard's son Christian Wilkins landed the role of red carpet host for the prestigious ARIA Awards last November.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE New SAS series cast leaked as stars jet out to Morocco to film remake - but will Ant Middleton make a return to the reality show after he was cut from The Amazing Race?
The SAS franchise is in the midst of a major makeover, with a slew of stars now touching down in Morocco to begin filming the new season. Daily Mail Australia can reveal six 'Aussie celebrities' have secretly arrived in Marrakesh to film an 'all-new version' of the hit survival series. Dubbed SAS Hotel, the hush-hush series is said to be unlike anything fans have seen before. Described by insiders as part military boot camp, part luxury mind game, the series is slated to air in the UK first but could very well land on Channel Seven late next year. 'It's a wildcard version of SAS with a twist,' one well-placed source said. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'It's still brutal, still physically and mentally demanding but with an added psychological edge that really messes with the recruits. 'It's Who Dares Wins meets The White Lotus.' In a spicy twist, this elite showdown pits six Aussies against six Brits, with challenges designed to test national pride as much as endurance. Among the stars spotted arriving in Morocco are 'reality Queen' Jessika Power, singer and actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and Neighbours legend Ryan Maloney. All chosen for their recognisability in both the UK and Australia. 'There's a definite strategy here, everyone has to be a big name in both markets,' the insider reveals. 'It's all about building a format that can travel globally.' Jamie Marinos from this year's season of Married At First Sight was also reported to have turned down a spot on the show. She has confirmed the series would be outside the bounds of what her current contract with Channel Nine would allow. Questions have also swirled around the involvement of former SAS frontman Ant Middleton, who has helmed both the UK and Aussie versions of the show. While he was once the face of the franchise, his recent antics while filming The Amazing Race Australia may have tarnished his appeal. Brendan Fevola had Ant and his brother Dan disqualified from the Celebrity Edition of the show following an off-camera incident overseas. The drama unfolded during a day off from filming when Dan allegedly got into a heated argument with TikTok stars Luke and Scott O'Halloran. Dan reportedly yelled at the brothers and used inappropriate language late at night when most of the cast had already gone to bed. Ant was not directly involved in the incident but was disqualified along with his brother. Brendan, who was competing on the show with his daughter Leni, is reportedly said to have confronted Dan over the behaviour. He allegedly gave producers an ultimatum: remove the Middleton brothers or he and Leni would walk. Shortly after, Ant and Dan were sent home and cut from the series. SAS Hotel location sources say Ant has not appeared in Morocco and therefore it would be fair to say he is not a part of the project. Meanwhile, sightings of sports stars, TV personalities and actors from the UK have been seen coincidentally arriving on the same day. The official list will be announced in the coming weeks. Filming is expected to wrap in just four weeks, with stars returning home by August 2 – win or lose. And if SAS Hotel strikes a chord with British audiences, insiders say it could pave the way for a full SAS Australia revival - with a whole new look and feel. So, with the cat now officially out of the bag, the pressure is on for our Aussie celebs to fly the flag and survive whatever this mysterious SAS Hotel throws at them.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Cats review – Andrew Lloyd Webber's tired show has run out of lives
There are musicals, and then there's Cats. Andew Lloyd Webber's show is often the one held up as a bewildering example by non-believers. People dress as cats in leg-warmers and sing children's poems, and it's a hit? The baffling body horror of the 2019 film didn't do much for the show's image, either. It was the 80s, loyalists say, it was a different time! But Cats is back, and theatre producers would prefer we just buy a ticket and live in the past. Cats is perhaps best now as a fond memory, where you can forgive its wilted structure, stop-start pacing and tired stereotyping (don't even try to count how often a female cat is there to sigh and swoon over a male one). There, you can enjoy how the score is drenched in 80s synth and peppered with pastiche, with hints of jazz, music hall, rock and a little opera (one of Lloyd Webber's great loves); it is catchy as all get-out. Memory, the plaintive cri de coeur by fading glamour cat Grizabella, was a genuine chart hit, lingering in jewellery boxes and hold music. And Gillian Lynne's original choreography, oddly sexy and determinedly feline, lives on in plenty of giggly shared stories between friends of sexual awakenings and Rum Tum Tugger. To bring it back, unchanged – as is happening now in Sydney – feels like a return to the worst of the megamusicals craze: cashing in on a known quantity even after its cultural cachet has faded. The production now playing at Sydney's Theatre Royal is a 40th anniversary celebration of the first time the musical made it to Australia (featuring Debra Byrne, Marina Prior, and John Wood) and it's like time has stopped. There are no surprises. It's even back in the same theatre. There are a few joyful moments – the best of them featuring Axel Alvarez, who plays 'the magical' Mr Mistoffelees, the cat with a light-up coat who delivers his magic through ballet, including a dazzling number of fouettés. His astonishing ease and classical technique is the very best of what Cats can be. Mark Vincent is perhaps at his stage best as the beloved Jellicle leader Old Deuteronomy, Tom Davis is a joyful, all-in Skimbleshanks (that's the railway cat), Todd McKenney pleasingly hams it up Gus the Theatre Cat, and Gabriyel Thomas, tears in her eyes as she sang Memory, earned ringing cheers as Grizabella. The cast and creative team are producing beautiful work – those full-ensemble dance formations brought forth applause every time the cast found themselves moving together as one – but what a shame it's all in service to the same old Cats, which can't hide its flaws with novelty any more. Even worse is that you'd never know it in Australia, but internationally, Lloyd Webber – who the Pulitzer-winning critic Andrea Long Chu described as the force that 'set Broadway on its current path of chintzy commercial nihilism' – is facing a generational shift. Cats lasted in the West End for 21 years and Phantom on Broadway for 35 – and the artists who grew up with these silly, thrilling works are mining them for new meaning and contemporary beats, testing how much they can speak to this moment. In the UK, Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express (about trains – it is Cats on roller-skates) has returned in a completely new production – with the train Greaseball now played by a woman with queer undertones. An upcoming production of Phantom of the Opera is running a guerrilla marketing campaign that has theatre influencers breathlessly reporting on every incident. Jamie Lloyd brought a blood-soaked Nicole Scherzinger to a cool Sunset Boulevard, netting three Tonys in the process; he's now reimagining Evita with Rachel Zegler, who sings Don't Cry for Me Argentina on a balcony to crowds outside the theatre. And, heartbreakingly for those of us a world away, Cats has been revolutionised in New York, refashioned in the underground ballroom scene built by queer and trans people, where speaking those secret Jellicle names and claiming identities has a new, deeper resonance. It's hard not to feel left out. In Australia, nostalgia rules, and we've had a parade of paint-by-number Lloyd Webbers keeping our best employed but our creative cups empty. In the past year or two, we've had a faithful but tough-to-watch Sunset Boulevard starring a miscast Sarah Brightman; a straightforward Jesus Christ Superstar, and an outright offensive Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When it comes to plays, Australia is leagues ahead with new productions that interrogate, elevate, and subvert old works; with musicals, especially on main stages, we tend to defer to the tried-and-true. There are pockets brimming with ideas – the Hayes Theatre in Sydney has been home to some of the best – but we have to let old shows run their course if we want to give space to new artists and new perspectives – and bring in new audiences. Can't we give Cats a new life too? Cats is on at Theatre Royal, Sydney until 6 September; then touring to Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Swimmers' annual nude plunge into chilly Tasmanian river marks the winter solstice – and Dark Mofo's revival
Swimmers have stripped off and raced into chilly waters on the shortest day of the year. Wearing nothing but red swim caps, 3,000 courageous souls took the annual nude sunrise plunge into Hobart's River Derwent to mark the winter solstice. The air temperature was about 10C as the naked pack took to the water at 7.40am on Saturday, sparking shrieks and yells of anguish. Liz Cannard, who has been travelling around Tasmania for nearly four months with her husband, said she was petrified before taking the dip. 'I'm not a strong swimmer and I don't take my gear off for anybody ... so I've ticked off a couple of things today,' the Geelong resident said. Lizzy Nash from Sydney was also in the mood for a bit of carpe diem. 'It's about seizing the moment, seizing life and being inspired,' she said. 'This is the sort of thing that motivates you to want to do more and challenge yourself. It was awe-inspiring and I absolutely loved it.' The free swim is part of the Dark Mofo festival and started with just a few hundred participants in 2013. Melburnian Belinda Chambers said she had been watching people do it on television for years and decided to work remotely from Tasmania for the festival so she could stay and leave on a high. 'So exhilarating,' she said. 'I was nervous, but there was this almost primal moment of everyone being together that carries you along, and a sense of pure happiness.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Dark Mofo has returned to its full pomp in 2025, after running a reduced program in 2024 so it could find a more sustainable financial model. The festival's artistic director, Chris Twite, said the swim was a tremendous way to bring things to a close. 'The response in 2025 has been incredible,' he said. 'The streets of Hobart have come alive with locals and visitors celebrating winter and Dark Mofo again.' More than 103,000 tickets were sold to Dark Mofo events in 2025, generating $4.6m. The festival has made a name for itself by courting controversy and in 2018 drew the ire of some by installing inverted Christian crosses along Hobart's waterfront.
