Merrick Watts (born 18 November 1973) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. He is best known for performing stand-up comedy and radio works as part of the comedy duo

Merrick and Rosso Merrick and Rosso were an Australian comedy duo, composed of Merrick Watts (Merrick) and Tim Ross (Rosso). The duo began in stand up comedy, and first came together when they teamed up for what was intended to be a one-off comedy show in 1996. T ...

with

Tim Ross Timothy Jonathon Ross (nicknamed Rosso) is an Australian comedian, radio host, writer and television presenter. He began his career performing stand-up comedy with Merrick Watts as part of the duo Merrick and Rosso. He is now better known as t ...

Career

Stand up

Watts began his career in comedy and first came together with Tim Ross when they teamed up for a one off comedy show in 1996. They had many stand up shows and comedy tours across Australia and appeared at many comedy festivals. They also published the comedy books ''Merrick and Rosso, The Book'' and ''Merrick and Rosso, The Book Volume 2''.

Radio

Watts began his radio career with

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

performing a weekly guest spot on the drive-time program on

radio in 1998 as

. They became full-time presenters and then in 2001 they moved to newly launched commercial radio station

Nova 96.9 Nova 96.9 (call sign: 2SYD) is a commercial radio station operating in Sydney, Australia. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 95.3 Audience In 2014 Nova had a 4% share of the Sydney audience on ...

for the breakfast radio shift. Co-hosts on the breakfast show included Katrina Blowers,

Sami Lukis Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

and

Kate Ritchie Katherine Leigh Ritchie is an Australian actress, radio presenter and children's author, she remains best known for her long-running role as original character Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera ''Home and Away'', for which she won tw ...

. Ross left the successful radio program in 2009. Merrick continued on the breakfast show in 2010 with new co-hosts

Scott Dooley Scott "Dools" Dooley (born 29 March 1980) is an Australian comedian and radio announcer best known for his tenure with state-owned national youth network, Triple J and Nova 96.9. Career Dooley began his career at Triple J as a work experienc ...

and

Ricki-Lee Coulter Ricki-Lee Dawn Coulter (born 10 November 1985), also known mononymously as Ricki-Lee, is a New Zealand-born Australian singer, songwriter, television, and radio presenter. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand, grew up on the Gold Coast, Qu ...

, although he announced on 24 August 2011 that he was leaving the show and the station on 2 September 2011.- In September 2011, Watts signed with

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back t ...

. He was the host of a drive & night show called ''

Merrick and the Highway Patrol ''Merrick and the Highway Patrol'' was an Australian radio show, presented by Merrick Watts, Julian Schiller and Rachel Corbett which aired on Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cro ...

'' with Rachel Corbett and Julian 'Jules' Schiller. The radio program was cancelled due to poor ratings and came to an end in November 2013. In late 2013, it was announced that Merrick would co-host the new Breakfast program on

2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radi ...

alongside

Jules Lund Jules Lund (born 24 April 1979) is an Australian television presenter from Melbourne and founder of TR, BE. Early life Lund was born in Melbourne in 1979, where he attended De La Salle College, Malvern. Lund studied Graphic Design, Photography ...

Sophie Monk Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian singer, actress, model, and television personality. She was a member of the Pop music, pop girl group Bardot (Australian band), Bardot, winners of the first season of ''Popstar ...

with

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

, replacing '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show''. In October 2014,

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio statio ...

announced that ''Jules, Merrick & Sophie'' on

would be axed due to poor ratings throughout the year and replaced by

The Dan & Maz Show ''The Dan & Maz Show'' was an Australian breakfast radio show with Dan Debuf and Maz Compton. The show aired on weekend mornings from 7am until 9am with music and daily topic discussions and special guests. It has previously aired as a breakfast ...

. In 2015, Watts returned to

to host his own drive show, ''Merrick and Australia'' which was later renamed ''Merrickville''. In 2019 he hosted the true crime podcast ''Police Tape.''

Television

The first television series hosted by Merrick and Rosso was ''Planet Merrick and Rosso'' (later known as ''Super Planet Merrick and Rosso'') on

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Ser ...

. They had a guest role on top rating Australian drama series '' All Saints'' in 2003. In 2003 their television show ''

Merrick and Rosso Unplanned ''Merrick and Rosso Unplanned'' was a free-form talk show hosted by Australian comedians Merrick Watts and Tim Ross, based on the UK talk show ''Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned''. Produced by Granada Australia, the series debuted on the Nine Net ...

'' debuted on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television ne ...

followed by ''

The B Team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together followin ...

'' on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

in 2005. In 2008, they returned to the Comedy Channel with an original format entitled ''The Merrick & Rosso Show''. Watts had a regular role in the 2008 television comedy series ''

The Hollowmen ''The Hollowmen'' is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Their brief is long-term vision; t ...

'' as Nick, a senior adviser to the prime minister. In 2009 he played the small but crucial part of

Marty Johnstone Christopher Martin "Marty" Johnstone (1951–1979) was a New Zealand drug trafficker born in Auckland. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the ''Auckland Star'' newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth. ...

in '' Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities''. Watts has made guest appearances on the television shows ''

Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on Network Ten on 5 April 2006, and aired for the first three seasons and on Seven for the fourth season. Ea ...

'', ''

Rove Live ''Rove'', also titled ''Rove Live'', was an Australian television variety show that featured live music performances and interviews with local and international celebrity guests. The program premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, bef ...

'', '' ADbc'', ''

Studio 10 ''Studio 10'' is an Australian morning talk show on Network 10. The show airs between 8:30am and noon on weekdays and a highlights show airs between 9:30am and noon on weekends. ''Studio 10'' is broadcast live from Network 10 Studios in Pyr ...

'', '' The Project'', ''

All Star Family Feud ''All Star Family Feud'' was an Australian game show which aired on Network Ten from 14 March 2016 until 6 May 2018. The series, which is a spin off of ''Family Feud'', sees celebrities compete in teams to raise money for their chosen charity. '' ...

'', '' Celebrity Name Game'', ''

Show Me the Movie! ''Show Me the Movie!'' was a weekly Australian television comedy panel show, which premiered on Network 10 on 22 March 2018 and ran until 28 March 2019. The program was hosted by Rove McManus who, with team captains Joel Creasey, Jane Harber ...

'', ''

Have You Been Paying Attention? ''Have You Been Paying Attention?'' (abbreviated on social media as HYBPA? and stylised on-screen as Have you been paying attention? in sentence case) is an Australian panel game television quiz show on Network 10. The series, which is produced ...

'' and ''

Hughesy, We Have a Problem ''Hughesy, We Have a Problem'' was an Australian comedy panel television series which premiered on Network 10 on 30 January 2018. The program was hosted by Dave Hughes, who along with a panel of comedians, attempted to solve problems of viewers ...

''. In 2013 Watts hosted the 8 part ''

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel a ...

'' TV show ''

Tractor Monkeys ''Tractor Monkeys'' is an Australian comedic television quiz show hosted by Merrick Watts. Seventeen episodes screened on ABC (Australian TV channel), ABC1 in 2013. Format The show features two teams of guest panellists, one led by comedian Da ...

''. In 2020, Watts participated the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

's reality program '' SAS Australia'', where he passed selection alongside two other contestants,

Sabrina Frederick Sabrina Frederick (formerly Frederick-Traub; born 23 November 1996) is an English-born Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was one of Brisbane's two marquee players for the ...

and Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins . In the same year, Merrick Watts appears in the series Operation Buffalo as Captain Jack Allen for one episode.

Other work

Merrick voiced a cartoon shark in the 2011

Movie Extra A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy stree ...

animated series " Shaaark".

Personal life

Watts married Georgie Sulzberger in 2006. They have a son and a daughter. He was educated at

Eltham High School Eltham High School is a secondary school in Victoria, Australia. It is located in Eltham, a suburb which is north-east from Melbourne. The school has 'free dress' policy and is the only non-uniform secondary school in the Eltham area. Elth ...

and

Diamond Valley College Diamond Valley College is a public co-educational school in Diamond Creek, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Location Diamond Valley College serves an area which stretches from the rural communities of Yarrambat, Arthurs Creek, St ...

Discography

Studio albums

Video albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, , ''Teenage Mullet Fury'' , , rowspan="3",

ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Comedy Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indu ...

, , , , rowspan="3", , - ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, , ''From Us to Youse'' , , , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, , ''Live and Totally Wrong!'' , ,

Other Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Merrick 1973 births Living people Nova (radio network) announcers Triple J announcers Australian stand-up comedians Australian television presenters Comedians from Melbourne