Rebecca Louise Wilson (22 December 1961 – 7 October 2016) was an Australian sports journalist, radio and television broadcaster and personality, known for the comic television talk sports show '' The Fat'', in which she appeared regularly with host Tony Squires. She was a panellist on numerous television programs including ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...

'', ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology ...

'' and '' The Footy Show''. She worked in both the newspaper and television industries for over 20 years and won a Kennedy Award in 2013.

Biography

Early life

Wilson was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in 1961. She recollected that she could not remember a time when newspapers were not in her life – her grandfather was a newsagent and her father a journalist. She attended the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = ...

and began to study a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, however she was offered a four-year cadetship with the Brisbane ''Courier-Mail'' and abandoned her studies in order to take the position. After four years of general reporting at the ''Courier-Mail'', Wilson moved into television. She worked for Channel 10 Brisbane, where she reported on the Brisbane Commonwealth Games, the Seoul Olympics and rugby league. She also worked for ABC Television as a host and reporter on the show Saturday Afternoon Sports, and was later Media Manager for

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

for four years, a role which she later described as "the most interesting time in my career". Following this, she moved to

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

as General Manager of their Sydney Olympics Division and then Project Manager for the agency's Rugby World Cup coverage. Wilson continued her newspaper work and a hatred of Rugby League with a sports column in the ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph'', also published by the Telegraph ...

'' and also co-wrote a sports blog called ''Bec and Buzz'' with Phillip Rothfield in the Daily Telegraph. Wilson's opinion pieces regarding the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

have been controversial and faced significant criticism. She leaked the names and faces of 198 individuals who were banned from entering football stadiums by the

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only estab ...

. As a result, Wilson received death threats from the public and the Football Federation issued a statement urging football fans to refrain from threatening her. She was a co-host on the Vega 95.3 breakfast show with Tony Squires and

Mikey Robins Mikel Mason "Mikey" Robins (born 8 December 1961) is an Australian media personality, comedian and writer. He is best known for the satirical game show '' Good News Week'', which ran on the ABC and Network Ten between 1996 and 2000, and return ...

. In early 2009, Wilson announced that she was leaving Vega and in October it was announced that Vega would no longer continue with the breakfast show. Wilson was a regular panellist on '' SportsNight with James Bracey'' on

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

Awards

In 2013, Wilson was a joint finalist in the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism in the Print/Text News Report category. The same year, she was a joint finalist in the Kennedy Awards For Excellence in New South Wales Journalism in the Outstanding Investigative Reporting category and the Splash of the Year category. Her team won the Splash of the Year category. She was awarded 2016 Australian Sports Commission Media Award for Lifetime Achievement, and later that year, a Walkley Award for Journalistic Leadership.

Television career

Personal life

Wilson was the daughter of former News Limited foreign correspondent Bruce Wilson, and the sister of sports reporter Jim Wilson. She was married to television producer Howard Sacre from 1990 to 2003, with whom she had two children. Her second marriage, in 2012, was to former

chief executive, John Hartigan. Wilson was a repeat offender on driving charges including

drink driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

and driving without a licence.

Death

Wilson died at her family home in Sydney on 7 October 2016 from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

. Her death was announced that morning by her friend and radio broadcaster Alan Jones who subsequently wrote an obituary in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

''. Her death came as a shock to many people around her because she had kept her diagnosis a secret. Her funeral was held at

St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney St Andrew's Cathedral (also known as St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral) is a cathedral church (building), church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney ...

on 14 October 2016. Wilson is survived by her husband John and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Rebecca 1961 births 2016 deaths Australian radio personalities Australian women radio presenters Australian television personalities Women television personalities People from Brisbane Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in New South Wales