Tara Rushton

Australian sports presenter (born 1984)

Cooper Cronk
​
(m. 2017)​

Tara Rushton (born 2 July 1984[citation needed]) is an Australian sports presenter and journalist. Rushton previously presented the association football series Kick Off and Sunday Shootout on Fox Sports Australia as well as appearing on Fox Sports News.[1]

Early life

Born in Perth, Rushton grew up on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, before moving to Sydney where she attended school at Oakhill College. She then completed a Diploma in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts at Macleay College,[2] majoring in Media and Communications. She moved to London at the age of 18.[3]

Career

In 2010, Rushton moved to Singapore and took on a television presenting role on Singtel TV's Mio Stadium channel. She hosted the English Premier League-focused Tiger Goals on Sunday series.[3]

In 2013, Rushton moved home to Australia and replaced the departing Mel McLaughlin on Fox Sports.[4] As well as presenting match broadcasts of the A-League, English Premier League and Socceroos matches, she also began presenting the network's weekly A-League wrap show, Sunday Shootout, alongside, as of 2016, Mark Bosnich, John Kosmina and Ned Zelic.[1] When not hosting from the studio, she is also often used as a sideline reporter in matches that Fox Sports presents.

In 2015, Rushton was nominated for an ASTRA award, for Most Outstanding Female Presenter.[5]

According to The Daily Telegraph Rushton is set to co-anchor a UFC Tonight style show for Fox Sports on Australian pay television network Foxtel[6] called UFC Fight Week that premiered on Thursday, 16 April 2015[7]

In October 2021 Rushton join Network 10 Sport Football Commentary Team for All the A-Leagues, Matildas, Socceroos and FFA Cup matches as a sports presenter.[8]

Personal life

Rushton is mixed-race, being half-Anglo-Celtic Australian (through her father) and her late mother Hillary being a member of the Anglo-Burmese community in Western Australia. She is an avid Arsenal F.C. fan, having previously lived in Islington in North London, near Arsenal's home ground.[3] Her favourite player is Thierry Henry.[3] She has also played local football herself, for Lindfield F.C. on Sydney's North Shore. In January 2016, she started dating former National Rugby League player Cooper Cronk.[9] They married on 14 December 2017. They have two sons, born in 2018 and 2021.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  2. ^ Smith, Kira. "Meet Tara Rushton". www.macleay.edu.au. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "10 questions with TV's sexiest football babe Tara Rushton". sg.sports.yahoo.com. 5 December 2012.
  4. ^ Harris, Amy (19 August 2013) Tara Rushton named the new face of football at Fox Sports, replacing Mel McLaughlin, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
  5. ^ "Wentworth and Devil's Playground dominate nominations for 2015 ASTRA Awards". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  6. ^ Ultimate Fighting Column Ufc Fighters Set To Get Nrl Treatment In 2015 With New Tv Show The Daily Telegraph [dead link]
  7. ^ "Fox Sports Australia launches dedicated weekly UFC show". 14 April 2015.
  8. ^ "A-Leagues". Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  9. ^ Phelps, James (2 January 2016) Cooper Cronk could quit final year of Storm contract to be closer to new flame Tara Rushton, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
  10. ^ Sullivan, Rebecca (14 December 2017). "Cooper Cronk and Tara Rushton wedding pics". news. Retrieved 13 May 2023.