Remote buzz for Bartholomew
Edwina Bartholomew could be the hardest-working person in TV today.
The Sunrise weather presenter has been travelling around Australia on a gruelling schedule called Eddy’s Lap of the Map which will see her notch up more than 14,000km in nine months.
“I am like Dora the Explorer without the Spanish,” she laughed.
This week Bartholomew and her small team have been up in the Kimberley visiting such picturesque locations as Faraway Bay, Windjana Gorge and Horizontal Falls, which she said was the most “epic live cross” she had done so far.
“We did a live cross from the Horizontal Falls, in the falls, above the falls. It was magic,” she said.
“We had broadcast all week from some of the most remote locations we have ever broadcast from, really pushing the edges of live TV which we love to do. But, even for us, that was amazing.”
On Thursday night Bartholomew managed to take a break and enjoy the Matt Moran-helmed Durack Homestead dinner in the East Kimberley along with actor Lincoln Lewis, who was on a junket with WA Tourism.
But being on the road means Bartholomew can go weeks without seeing her long-term partner Neil Varcoe.
“He is incredibly understanding and patient,” she said.
“He knows it is a once-in-a- lifetime job at a time in our lives when we can do it. It is not something you can do when you have kids or responsibilities back at home.”
Even once she completes her mammoth trek things won’t slow down for Bartholomew, who will return as co-host of Seven’s Dancing with the Stars later this year.
AAA Weekend hears casting is already under way with names such as Samantha Jade, Rebecca Gibney and Sophie Monk being rumoured.
While Bartholomew can’t reveal who will take to the stage, she said it could possibly be the most star-studded series to date.
“There are always a few surprises. I have heard there are some big stars, definitely some household names,” she said.
