Date with Kate: Kate Peck

The career of model and MTV personality Kate Peck continues to expand. Recently appointed as Myer’s national youth ambassador, Peck hit the catwalk this week alongside Jennifer Hawkins as part of the Myer Autumn/Winter 2014 fashion launch. This year, Peck will present and co-produce a new TV series called A Model’s Adventure, to be aired on the National Geographic channel. I caught up with the 26-year-old to chat about taking the leap from modelling to TV presenting, her love of motorbikes and her awkward moment with Daniel Craig.

You seem to be everywhere and have become quite the ”it girl” lately!

Oh that’s nice, I don’t know if I am an ”it girl”. I don’t get stopped on the street unless people think I’m P!nk [laughs]. I get that a lot, it happens fortnightly. People genuinely ask me whether I’m P!nk. It’s like, ”Are you serious?” and people are dead serious.

What was your first big break?

I did [the TV series] Search for a Supermodel when I was about 15, then got a Vivien’s modelling contract out of that … I travelled to New York and built my [portfolio]. And then came back to audition for the ambassador role for the [formula one Australian] Grand Prix and got that, which was out of control because I’m really into motorcycles and cars and it was right up my alley. And then MTV saw me in a magazine, hanging off some kind of go-kart and they were like, ”Oh! She looks like she could be fun, let’s get her in for an audition”, because Erin McNaught was leaving.

What happened next?

They got me in and I went through the most gruelling processes to get the job. Since then I have been all over the world, I’ve got to interview Stevie Wonder, will.i.am and Alicia Keys … But fashion is my background so I got in touch with [Myer] and we did a few gigs and I have managed to get a contract with them, which I am really excited about. I’m pretty much living my dream at the moment: I have got music, I have got fashion and I have got this venture series. It just shows if you work hard and you’re persistent, then the sky is no limit and you can just keep going and going.

MTV has kick-started so many people’s TV careers, including Jason Dundas, Erin McNaught, Ruby Rose. It seems to be a great platform.

Yeah it’s a really good platform to work with. It’s a really good training ground for fresh people like me on the scene and I was very green when I first started … I just can’t believe how far I have come from a year ago. [MTV] made me work really hard for that and they were very critical but I’m so glad that they did that … There is just so much to learn and there is always going to be someone else out there who wants the job, so the pressure was always on. It was a real challenge and they just kept pushing me until I got as good as I am today. I am happy even though it was really hard to start with, and it was a definite struggle, but you know you have to go through the lows to experience the highs.

Who is your favourite person you’ve interviewed?

Well I don’t think that you could possibly top Stevie Wonder. I got to hug Stevie Wonder and he gives good hugs, let me tell you! He had such a beautiful, calming presence; he was just this wealth of knowledge and just really down to earth. He had no ego. That’s one thing I do hate about my industry is ego, it’s just so unnecessary. It’s intimidating and I don’t think you need to have a huge ego, and you’re not better than anybody else, so no one should pretend to be.

Who has been your worst interview?

I had a pretty awkward one with Daniel Craig. I was a given a really long question to ask, and I stumbled on my words and it just came out like I was some kind of hopeless, just terrible VJ, and I think that he was expecting someone a little bit more professional. I really didn’t step up my game and I think he was just a little bit like, ”Who are you, and I don’t really want to answer this question” … It was not my best moment.

Is TV something you want to pursue or is modelling still your No. 1 focus?

TV is definitely the focus. Modelling I love doing because it’s my background, it comes naturally to me, but TV I feel has longevity and there are many more doors that are opening now. I get a lot of satisfaction out of TV and being able to, you know, go my own direction and tell people my thoughts and have an opinion, and asking them to value what I have to say as well, which you don’t get in modelling.

A Model’s Adventure has an extreme-sport focus. Have you always been an adventure seeker?

I have, I’m very into motorcycles. I have an ambassador role sponsorship with Harley-Davidson. My dad and step-mum travel around the world all year on their motorcycles and I sometimes join them. We did Sri Lanka; we did three months in South Africa. We just did Mexico.

Were you the cool kid at school?

I don’t know … sure. I’m certainly not going to give you one of those sob stories and I was bullied and blah, blah, blah – you know. Yeah school was OK, it was what it was.

Guys must be impressed when you turn up on a date on a Harley-Davidson.

You know what, that’s probably why I’m single [laughs], because most boys feel, like, a little de-masculine by the fact that I have a motorcycle far larger than one they could ever dream of.

What do you look for in a guy?

Probably too much! [Laughs] I do like them to ride a motorcycle, I do like them to be taller than me and I have a real thing for guys with long hair, which is really bizarre.

 

BITE SIZE

WE WENT TO Nomad Restaurant, Surry Hills.

WE ATE Jersey milk haloumi with barbecue zucchini, pine nuts and raisins; goat’s cheese churros; barbecue wagyu tongue with mojo verde; Daintree Estate chocolate cake with Iranian apricot and creme fraiche.

WE DRANK Sparkling mineral water and Between Five Bells 2012 pinot gris, riesling, chardonnay.

KATE PECK WORE A Yeojin Bae Leopard Print Pant Suit.

I WORE A Scanlan & Theodore peach dress and a Gold and Turquoise Necklace.

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