Why Sophie Monk would never relive her 20s

The Love Island host discusses life in the spotlight, her career and why her 30s are rocking.

A household name since she was a teenager on television in reality singing show Popstars, Sophie Monk has lived most of her life in the spotlight.

Yet the down-to-earth and bubbly TV personality admits in The House of Wellness winter magazine it’s only been in her 30s that she’s really found her feet.

“I kind of missed out on my 20s,” Sophie, 38, says.

“When everyone else was going out and finding themselves and going to nightclubs, I could never do that because of work and paparazzi. People are following you and waiting for stories, so you’re looking over your shoulder.”  

She also spent part of the decade living and working in Los Angeles, which had its ups and downs.

 

Sophie Monk

“It was very competitive over in Los Angeles and everyone wants to be on television so you feel consumed by it, and there’s not that balance,” Sophie says.

“It’s very superficial. Unless you grow up there, it’s very tough.”

I wouldn’t go back to when I was insecure and young

Instead, Sophie has found her 30s and being back home on the Gold Coast to be a lot more fun.

“Way better,” she exclaims. “I love it. I wouldn’t go back to when I was insecure and young.”

“I think coming home was a good thing for me – to be able to be myself and relax and enjoy the things I enjoy doing.”

She’s also focusing on only taking on work projects she’s passionate about.

After working in Majorca on Australia’s first season of Love Island, she and her good friend Oscar Gordon will head to Italy to film a travel TV series.

“I just prefer to go with the flow and be happy,” she says.

On looking for love …

Nearly a year on from her role as The Bachelorette, Sophie adds she isn’t looking for love at the moment.

“Everyone says when you least expect it, it comes,” she says. “So I’m not going to look.”

When asked whether she had any words of advice for the next Bachelorette, Ali Oetjen, Sophie said it’s important to keep it real.

“I’d just say be yourself, and that’s all you can do,” she says.

“If you’re trying to find love, you can’t pretend to be someone else.”

For more from our interview with Sophie Monk, pick up the winter issue of The House of Wellness magazine, out now.

Words by Erin Miller

SHARE THIS

RELATED ARTICLES