Yvonne Sampson
Sampson currently works for Fox Sports. She has previously worked for Nine's Wide World of Sports and was weekend sports presenter for Nine News Sydney.
Early and personal life
Sampson grew up on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia on a farm near Palmwoods.
Sampson is of Indigenous Australian heritage, with her paternal grandmother being indigenous.
In April 2017, Sampson announced that she was engaged to Nine News reporter Chris O'Keefe.
Television career
With a little help of a chance encounter between her taxi-driving father and former NRL player Wendell Sailor, Sampson began her career as a cadet reporter at the Seven Network's regional news service, Seven Local News on the Sunshine Coast working one day a week, while juggling her studies at the Queensland University of Technology and employment with the Eagle Farm Equine Hospital.
Upon completion of her studies, Sampson joined the network permanently as a sports reporter, working throughout the state in cities such as Maryborough, Mackay and Townsville before returning to the Sunshine Coast to also becoming a studio presenter.
In 2012, Sampson returned to Queensland, joining the Nine Network in Brisbane. In January 2014, Sampson was offered the opportunity to return to Sydney to be more extensively involved with Nine's Wide World of Sports coverage including presenting the sport on Nine News Sydney.
In 2015, she co-commentated the NRL grand final between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Brisbane Broncos. She is quoted saying that this was the greatest and most challenging assignment she’d had on a football field, due to the emotion and excitement of the ending.
While Sampson was at Nine she hosted Nine's Friday Night Rugby League coverage and was also a sideline commentator for Thursday Night Football and Sunday Football. In September 2015, she hosted Nine's new NRL talk show Footy Classified NRL Finals.
In 2016, she became the host of the Sunday Footy Show, replacing long time host Peter Sterling. The same year, Sampson also became the first woman to anchor the network's State of Origin coverage.
In December 2016, she signed a multi-year deal with Fox Sports. It was announced that she would host the network's Thursday and Saturday night rugby league coverage and also host a new weekly show called League Life.
In June 2021, she joined the panel as the new host of Fox League show, NRL 360, after Ben Ikin moved to the Brisbane Broncos.
References
- ^ "Yvonne Sampson - 9news.com.au". Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
- ^ SteveZ (5 March 2013). "Yvonne set to talk the talk on NRL with league greats". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Yvonne Sampson reveals Aboriginal ancestry in heartbreaking story". News.com.au. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Amy Price (4 April 2017). "Yvonne Sampson and Chris O'Keefe announce their engagement on the Sunshine Coast". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Daniel Colasimone (29 May 2013). "Two Minutes with Yvonne Sampson". www.theurbanlist.com. The Urban List. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Nathanael Cooper and Mark Chapman (23 January 2008). "Australian TVs Top Hottest Women - part 2". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Coast's stars came out". Sunshine Coast Daily. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "League's leading lady". My Weekly Preview. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Stories with Yvonne Sampson by Sports BFs: Rugby League Social Club • A podcast on Anchor". Anchor. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ Phil Rothfield (28 May 2016). "Yvonne Sampson becomes the first female broadcaster to anchor State of Origin in Australia". The Daily Telegraph (AU). Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Rebecca Wilson, Dean Ritchie, Christian Nicolussi (2 June 2016). "Sport Confidential: Yvonne Sampson's nerves before dazzling State of Origin debut for Channel 9". The Daily Telegraph (AU). Retrieved 8 June 2017.
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