Annual Salary $500k-750k
Age: 44
DOB: 20 May 1979 (age 44)
Birthplace: New South Wales, Australia
Through her hard work, natural talent and nous for the roles, Allison Langdon has become one of the most respected journalists in Australia.
Born in 1979, she is best known for being the present host of Channel Nine’s ‘A Current Affair’ – the country’s leading daily current affairs programme – which she joined in 2023.
As well as being a presenter, Langdon has an impressive track record as a reporter and journalist, while she is also an author too. Prior to getting the gig on A Current Affair, Allison was the co-Host of the Today Show with Karl Stefanovic, which aired on the breakfast slot. She has also been the co-Host of Weekend Today as well and has also presented localised broadcasts of 60 Minutes, the current affairs programme.
Still only 44, Langdon is reputed to command a salary between the range of AUS $500k to $700k. This is sure to increase as her profile does.
Early life and training
As a child and teenager, Langdon went to Wauchope High School, before later attending the MacKillop Senior College in Port Macquarie.
During her school years she demonstrated a passion for broadcasting by presenting radio programmes every Monday at 2WAY FM, a local radio community station based in Wauchope.
After graduating from senior college she enrolled at Charles Sturt University where she read journalism. In her spare time, she also filed stories and reports for the Australian Community Radio Network’s National Radio News service, which was operated by the CBAA.
Early Career
Having completed her degree in journalism – which included a stint as an intern in New York City with CBS – Langdon was hired by the Nine Network. She started her career in media with them on the Nightline show in 2001, for which she was the producer.
The following year, she took on the producer role for the National Nine News bulletin, which aired at 6pm. However, as she was keen to gain more experience in the field, she decided to move to Darwin to take up a position in Nine’s newsroom. This move clearly suited her as she ended up winning the David Marchbank Award, which is handed out to the person perceived to be best new journalist of the year, within her first 12 months in the Northern Territory.
Complimenting here role in the Top End as a political reporter, Langdon also did some work for the Sunday programme, which resulted in her travelling to East Timor and Mexico to cover certain news stories.
Growing Reputation
In 2004, after the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Langdon became one of the first Aussie journalists to cover the story from the ground. She reported on a daily basis on Nine’s bulletins while the story ran.
Three years later, she published a book titled ‘The Child Who Never Was’ after reporting on the inquest for the mysterious disappearance of the baby of Keli Lane, a former water polo champion. (She was later convicted of the murder of the baby in 2010 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Up until this point in her career, Langdon has been widely acclaimed for her work. However, she was roundly criticised in February 2009 for her involvement in the reporting of the Black Saturday bushfires in Marysville, Victoria, where 34 people perished. Despite the area being cordoned off as a crime scene and there being a police ban on entering it, Allison, along with here camera crew circled it via a helicopter.
The following year, Langdon was sent to South Africa to cover the FIFA World Cup. However, midway through the tournament, she was then required to go to Cameroon to cover the story of a plane crash that resulted in the death of six mining executives from Australia. She was the only Aussie journalist to cover the story on the ground.
After returning to Australia, Allison made a pivotal role in Channel Nine winning an award for covering the Australian federal election. She also hosted a documentary that aired on primetime called ‘A Royal Engagement’, which focused on the circumstances around Prince Williams proposal to Kate Middleton.
Around this time she also covered major stories like a return of the families of five Aussie reporters who were murdered in Balibo, East Timor in 1975 during an Indonesian invasion. She also went to Juarez in Mexico to cover a story on drug wars.
60 Minutes
In 2011, Langdon joined 60 Minutes on the Nine Network as a reporter, after a nine year stint in the Sydney newsroom.
During her time on this show she covered a range of stories including visiting one of the most dangerous and active volcanoes in the world, heading to the Canadian wilderness to be in direct contact with grizzly bears and filing stories on the ground about the civil war in Somalia.
At the same time, she also presented the Nine News bullet in Sydney at 6pm and filled in every now and then on the Today show, in the process co-anchoring the channels reporting of the flood disaster in Queensland and working on the subsequent telethon which raised over $10 million in donations for the victims.
The Today Show
After six years with 60 Minutes, Allison was given the role of co-host on the Weekend Today show in 2017, replacing the outgoing Deborah Knight and joining David Campbell. However, she continued to present the Today and Nine News Sydney shows every now and then and also did the odd job as a reporter for 60 Minutes.
In January 2020, the Nine Network appointed Langdon as the co-host of the Today Show alongside Karl Stefanovic. That year she presented a number of high profile stories including COVID-19, the Black Lives Matter protests, bushfires, the US election, the turmoil of American politics, the Beirut explosion and the struggling economies from around the world.
Other Shows
In recent years, Langdon has co-hosted Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight alongside David Campbell.
In 2021, she was announced as the host of a new Nine Network parenting program called Parental Guidance. The show was so successful that a second season was commissioned, which premiered in 2023.
In November 2022, the Nine Network announced that Langdon would replace Tracy Grimshaw as the host of A Current Affair. As a result, Langdon’s role on Today was taken over by Sarah Abo.
Personal life
Langdon lives in Sydney with her husband Michael, whom she married in 2008. They have two children together – a son and a daughter.
Allison is an Ambassador for the Mirabel Foundation, R U Ok? and Gidget Foundation. She once had to file a complaint against an admirer who along with stalking her also sent her ‘love’ letters that were sexually explicit. Despite pleading not guilty, the protagonist was later banned from coming within 500 metres of her or Sydney’s Channel Nine Studios.