a day ago
'Nepo baby' Billi FitzSimons follows in her mother Lisa Wilkinson's footsteps and lands a spot on breakfast TV
Billi FitzSimons is continuing to follow in her mother Lisa Wilkinson 's footsteps.
The 25-year-old has already began to chart a similar course to parents Lisa, 65, and Peter FitzSimons, 63, in the world of print journalism and now, like her mother, has dipped her toe into the waters of breakfast television.
In her capacity as editor-in-chief of online publication The Daily Aus, Billi appeared on ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday morning.
She was tasked with providing a round-up of the morning's headlines - a job she handled with aplomb.
Billi spoke about the protests currently raging in Los Angeles over president Donald Trump's immigration laws.
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The 25-year-old has already began to chart a similar course to parents Lisa, 65, and Peter FitzSimons , 63, in the world of print journalism and now, like her mother, has dipped her toe into the waters of breakfast television
She also spoke about the lawsuits brought by Justin Baldoni against Blake Lively and the New York Times being dismissed overnight.
Showing no nervousness over her debut national television appearance, Billi even had a 'fun fact' to offer viewers about the news.
'The fun fact of the day is that the New York Times has not lost a defamation lawsuit in more than 50 years, which for a media organisation of that size, is quite extraordinary,' she said.
Billi rounded out her appearance with news that Aussie actress Sarah Snook won the best performance by a leading actress Tony for her turn in A Picture of Dorian Gray.
'Does this mean that she could be on track for an EGOT?' Billi opined.
'She has won an Emmy now the Tony. Could she also win a Grammy and an Oscar to get that coveted final big award? I mean, it's not one award - it's four awards but that status, I guess.'
Billi's foray into breakfast television comes after she was promoted to editor-in-chief of The Daily Aus in 2024.
'I'm looking forward to growing our diverse content offerings, including podcasting, polling, video and newsletters,' she said when she announced her new role.
Her mother got Billi her first job as a writer on news website Mamamia when she was still at university by calling in a favour with her old protégé Mia Freedman
'We have big plans this year, and I can't wait for you to see what we have in store.'
The Daily Aus is a social media-based news aggregator with over 600,000 followers on Instagram.
It targets Gen Z and Millennials with easy-to-digest news stories and explainer articles.
'RAHHH!', her father Peter FitzSimons - the former rugby international turned writer - posted in response to the news.
Billi's mother started editing women's magazine Dolly at the age of 21, where she reportedly tripled the circulation.
After this impressive feat, she was personally approached by billionaire news magnate Kerry Packer to head up women's lifestyle magazine, Cleo.
Lisa went on to forge a successful career in television journalism, hosting the Today show and later becoming a panellist on The Project.
However, her career has stalled amidst the ongoing fallout of her controversial interview with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, and has not been seen on TV in over a year.
Her mother got Billi her first job as a writer on news website Mamamia when she was still at university by calling in a favour with her old protégé Mia Freedman.
She worked for Mamamia throughout university before landing a job as a political writer at the Daily Aus straight after graduating.
She gained a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications), Government and International Relations, Digital Cultures from the University of Sydney in 2019.
While she's reaching the heights of Australian media, Billi started her working life spent her teenage years working in fast food before following in the footsteps of her successful parents.
Back in 2023, her author father Peter revealed that Billi worked at Domino's Pizza during her teenage years.
In response to a tweet, Peter, an author and journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, revealed his daughter's first job.
'Billi had a job after school taking orders at Dominos Pizza for about four years from 14 or so, so she took pocket money as a bonus!' he said.
