Elyse Knowles (born 30 September 1992) is an Australian model best known for winning the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series The Block in 2017. She is a

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person paid by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embody the ...

for

Myer Myer (stylised MYER) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products across women's, men's, and child ...

Early life

Knowles was born and raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to Stuart and Kim on 30 September 1992. She has two younger siblings: a sister, Tahlea, and a brother, Brayden. Knowles started modelling when she was 10 years old. Throughout primary school she worked for a group of family brands like

Target Australia Target Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Lindsay's and Lindsay's Target, formerly stylised as Target. and doing business as Target and Target Australia) is a department store chain owned by Australian retail conglomerate Wesfarmers. Target stocks ...

, until she was chosen for a Jay Jays campaign. When she turned 16, she travelled to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to model internationally.

Career

In 2015, she became a fitness model for

Billabong In Australian English, a billabong ( ) is a small body of water, usually permanent. It is usually an oxbow lake caused by a change in course of a river or creek, but other types of small lakes, ponds or waterholes are also called billabongs ...

and also designated as an ambassador for the Formula 1 Rolex

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...

as well as the Melbourne Spring Racing ambassador. Elyse also launched her own fashion label, "Evrryday". In 2016, Knowles was the face of ulta3 and the Caulfield Cup Carnival, an ambassador for ATC Longines Golden Slipper alongside

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born 1968) is an Australian actress. List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Griffiths, Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, three AACTA Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award and four Primetime Em ...

, and an ambassador for

DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...

's "Safer Beaches" campaign. Knowles and her boyfriend Josh Barker were one of five couples competing in

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

's thirteenth season of The Block, premiered on 30 July 2017. They won when their renovated house was sold at auction to comedian

Dave Hughes David William Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter. He is known for his larrikin personality, drawling Australian accent, and deadpan comedic delivery. Hughes has previously been co-host of '' Hughesy & K ...

for $3.067 million AUD. This allowed the couple to pay off their mortgage. In the same year, Elyse became

WaterAid WaterAid is an international non-governmental organization, focused on water, sanitation and hygiene. It was set up in 1981 as a response to the UN International Drinking Water decade (1981–1990). As of 2025, it was operating in 30 countries. ...

's event ambassador, in her first charity ambassador role. The publicity boost from Knowles' win in The Block helped her book more modelling gigs and had contributed to a busy 2018. During this year, she was designated as an ambassador for Aveda Haircare, Australian swimwear brand Seafoll

Davidoff Parfum ‘Cool Water' Fragrance, and the Australian department store chain Myer. Knowles succeeded fellow Aussie model

Jennifer Hawkins Jennifer Hawkins-Wall (née Hawkins; born 22 December 1983) is an Australian TV host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2004. She had previously been crowned Miss Universe Australia 2004. She was the host of '' Australia's ...

as an ambassador of Myer, after the latter stepped down from the role after 12 years.

Personal life

Knowles met her fiancé Josh Barker in his hometown,

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah'') is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of New South Wales, Australia (in Bundjalung Country). It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjac ...

, in 2013. They moved from Melbourne together and have a son named Sunny. After winning the 13th season of The Block, the couple founded J&E projects in 2018, a building and design company that handles projects in Melbourne and Byron Bay.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Elyse 1992 births Australian female models Living people Models from Melbourne Participants in Australian reality television series