From Bardot To Bachelorette: The Definitive History Of Sophie Monk’s Musical Career

Channel Ten have made our wildest dreams a reality by confirming Sophie Monk as the next Bachelorette.

Whatever your opinion of the singer/actress/model/songwriter/TV personality, you can’t deny it’s an inspired choice by the show’s producers, purely because we already have so many opinions about it. Monk has been a part of our cultural landscape for nearly two decades now, so to make her the face of a flailing reality show is a pretty smart idea.

And what wonderful 20 years they have been. From her stint on Popstars, to the legendary Bardot period, to appearing in a Blink-182 video (more below), to that time she awkwardly covered Salt-n-Pepa’s ‘Push It’ – Monk’s contribution to Australian pop music is not insignificant.

Oh My God, It Happened: Sophie Monk Is The Next Bachelorette And Fans Are Freaking Out

Let’s Dial It Back To 1999

Monk was working as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast – that’s actually true, I promise you – when she auditioned for the reality show Popstars. Staying thoroughly on brand, she performed Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday’ as her audition piece, which may just be the most bizarre audition choice of all time. Nevertheless, she got in, and made it all the way to the end to become part of Bardot.

Bardot were ridiculously successful. Their debut single ‘Poison’ hit #1 on the ARIA charts, as did their debut self-titled album. They were the first Australian act to have both their debut single and album hit #1. But then again, given how much of a banger ‘Poison’ is, it’s not altogether surprising.

Equally great singles “I Should’ve Never Let You Go” and “These Days” followed, along with a national tour. Hell, they even performed at the 2000 ARIA Awards.

Their second record Play It Like That hit #16 on the charts and spawned singles like ‘A.S.A.P’ and ‘I Need Somebody’. Despite another national tour and a Gold-certified record in the bag, the group decided to call it quits in May 2002.

Bardot were done, but Sophie Monk would rise again.

So What Was Sophie To Do?

Monk then did was any self-respecting member of a pop group does – she went solo. She signed a contract with Warner Music Australia and set about releasing her debut album, Calendar Girl. You may remember it from such singles as ‘Inside Outside’. Or maybe not.

During the usual press rigmarole for the album, Monk appeared on the short-lived program Greeks On The Roof, hosted by Effie. What happened on that show will go down as one of the best moments in Australian television history…

Yes, that is Sophie Monk playing two recorders with her nose. You’re welcome. While it arguably doesn’t impact that much on her career in the macro sense, there was no way I wasn’t going to include it here.

Anyway, back to it. 2003s Calendar Girl was mildly successful, only peaking at #35 while its lead single ‘One Breath Away’ came in at #23. By the time 2004 rolled around Monk was moving away from music and making serious headway into her acting career. She parted ways with Warner Music, and her solo career effectively ended.

That Definitely Was Not All There Was

Later in 2004, Monk appeared in Blink-182 video for their track ‘Always’. Then in 2007, she went and recorded a cover of Salt-n-Pepa’s ‘Push It’, to promote (you guessed it) a range of bras. It was, um, not the best…

Curiously enough, the video was produced by her then-boyfriend Benji Madden of Good Charlotte fame. Thankfully, they broke up and didn’t film any more videos together.

In a further case of Reality Stars Will Always Return To The Scene Of Their Crimes, Monk became a judge on Australia’s Got Talent in late 2015. She also won Celebrity Apprentice in that same year, because of course she did.

If you’re still not convinced that Sophie Monk will be the best Bachelorette we’ve ever had, I honestly don’t know what I can do to change your mind apart from making you listen to ‘Poison’ on repeat. So go do that right now.

The Bachelorette will air on Channel Ten later this year.