Michael "Wippa" Wipfli (born 29 September 1979) is an Australian radio presenter and comedian who is a co-host on the Nova 96.9 breakfast show ''

Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie ''Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie'' is an Australian breakfast radio show on Nova 96.9 in Sydney, Australia. It is hosted by Ryan Fitzgerald, Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald, Wippa, Michael "Wippa" Wipfli, and Kate Ritchie. The show airs in Sydney from ...

'' alongside

Ryan Fitzgerald Ryan James Fitzgerald (born 16 October 1976) is an Australian radio personality, television presenter, comedian and former Australian rules footballer. After being drafted from the South Adelaide Football Club, he made his Australian Football ...

and

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

Early life

Wippa is the son of John and Christine Wipfli. He has two sisters: Louise and Kate. Wippa completed building management certificate at TAFE and was part of a freelance building crew, which gave him the freedom to do some casual work in entertainment. Wippa married Lisa Robertson in 2013. They have three children named Theodore, Jack and Francesca.

Career

After completing a short radio course, Wippa worked in Port Augusta. He returned to Melbourne and become a regular on the "

Hamish and Andy Hamish & Andy are an Australian comedy duo formed in 2003 by Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. Best known for their various drive time radio programmes on the Hit Network, which aired in multiple formats until 2017, their shows gained consistently ...

" Saturday morning show. Wippa got his headlining start on the Em, ''Wippa and Ollie'' breakfast show on

92.9 (Perth radio station) Triple M Perth (official callsign: 6MMM) is a commercial radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Triple M network. The station is broadcast to Perth, Western Australia from studios in Subiaco. The station comm ...

in 2005. In 2009, Wippa joined Nova FM's drive show ''Ryan, Monty and Wippa''. During an on-air stunt seeing Wippa eat 12 'whopper' burgers over the course of a show, he gained the alternative nickname 'Whopper'.

Ryan Shelton Ryan Shelton is an Australian comedian, actor, radio presenter, television personality, host and writer. Biography He attended St Leonards College for some of his schooling, where he met Hamish Blake. He started his media career in Melbourne ...

left at the end of 2010 to focus on television, and Monty moved to Nova Sydney's '' Merrick, Dools and Monty'' breakfast show. In November 2010, it was announced that Wippa would be joining

to host ''

Fitzy and Wippa ''Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie'' is an Australian breakfast radio show on Nova 96.9 in Sydney, Australia. It is hosted by Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald, Michael "Wippa" Wipfli, and Kate Ritchie. The show airs in Sydney from 6 am to 9 a ...

'' in 2011. Fitzy and Wippa were nominated for the 2011 Australian Commercial Radio Awards in the best on-air team, Metro FM category. Wippa appeared as a celebrity contestant on the

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 quiz show ''

Millionaire Hot Seat ''Millionaire Hot Seat'', also known as ''Hot Seat'', is an Australian television quiz show. The show was a spin-off of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' and began airing on the Nine Network on 20 April 2009. As with the original Australian v ...

'' in 2012 where he became the first contestant to go home without reaching the $1000 question after he famously answered " tropical bird" to the simple $500 question "What is a

pecan The pecan ( , , ; ''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the Southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed primarily in the U.S. states of Georgia ( ...

?". On 27 November 2015, Wippa joined radio co-host Fitzy to host a one-off special ''Up Reasonably Late with Fitzy and Wippa'' on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

. In 2016, Fitzy and Wippa were team captains on '' All Star Family Feud''. Wippa's mother, sister and grandmother Norma were on his team. They also appeared in ''

Shark Tank Australia Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

'' to spruik Wippa's product the "Mup", a mint in the bottom of a coffee cup. Fitzy and Wippa also hosted the

show ''

20 to 1 ''20 to One'' (known as ''20 to 1'' before 2016) is an Australian television series on the Nine Network from 2005, that counts down an undefined "top 20" of elements or events of popular culture, such as films, songs, or sporting scandals. The ...

'' for one season. In September 2020, Wipfli was announced as a celebrity contestant on the revived new season of ''

The Celebrity Apprentice Australia ''The Celebrity Apprentice Australia'' is an Australian reality television series which aired on the Nine Network. Based on NBC's '' The Apprentice'', it first aired on 24 October 2011 and originally featured Mark Bouris, the founder and chair ...

'' in 2021. In 2024, Wipfli appeared with

Shaun Micallef Shaun Patrick Micallef (; born 18 July 1962) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, television presenter, and formerly a lawyer. He was the host of the satirical news comedy series '' Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell'' on the ABC. He also hoste ...

on the show Origin Odyssey exploring Wipfli’s Swiss ancestry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wippa Living people Nova (radio network) announcers 1979 births