Casey Donovan

Casey Donovan's Biography

Casey Donovan is one of Australia’s most versatile Entertainers.

After a meteoric rise to fame at the age of 16, Casey became the youngest ever winner of Australian Idol in 2004. Over the last seventeen years, Donovan has made her mark not only as a musician, but also in the areas of stage, screen, presenting and writing. Casey is a multi-Award winner & nominee, including an ARIA No #1 Award for ‘Listen with Your Heart’ and Deadly Awards for Best Album, Best Single and Most Promising New Talent.

After taking a break from music, in 2009 under the direction of Rhoda Roberts, Casey made her theatrical debut in Miracle In Brisbane for the Brisbane Festival.  This was to be the first of many acclaimed theatrical performances thus far in Casey’s career, including The Sapphires (2010), As You Like It (2011), Opera Yarrabah (2012), The Flowerchildren (2013), RENT(2015), We Will Rock You (2016) as Killer Queen, and Chicago as Mamma Morton (2019).  Casey’s stage credits earned her a nomination for ‘Best Newcomer’ and ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical’ in the Sydney Theatre Awards.

In 2010 Casey also returned to music with the release of the single Big, Beautiful & Sexy, along with a sell-out tour and major festival performances plus opening for the legendary Cyndi Lauper on her 2011 Australian National Tour. This led to Casey penning her autobiography of the same title in 2014, making her mark in the plus size fashion market, events and as a writer for international publications such as Pink Blitz and Plus Model Magazine.  Musically, Casey then released her highly anticipated EP, Off The Grid & Somewhere in Between hitting the Top 30 chart and in 2019 was invited to participate in Eurovision – Australia Decides performing and releasing the original song ‘Proud’ in the national final, February 8, 2021 placing second.

Over the span of her illustrious career, Casey has appeared on all major daily and weekly Network television programs and has presented her own indigenous music themed show Fusion on SBS/NITV during 2012 and 2013.   In 2017 Casey was crowned Queen of the Jungle by public vote in the third season of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, winning $100,000 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, followed by a standing ovation and rave review performance of the David Bowie song ‘Heroes’ at the 2017 Logie Awards.  Casey made her scripted television debut in 2018 on Network Ten’s comedy series Streetsmart and in 2021 was cast in the hit TV show How To Stay Married, alongside Peter Helliar and Lisa McCune. Followed by the hosting role alongside Noni Hazelhurst and Kurt Fearnley of SBS’s TV’s What Does Australian Really Think?

In 2020, on invitation from national broadcaster, Nova Entertainment, Casey became a podcast host on ‘The Space’, a mindfulness podcast of 3–4-minute mini-episodes with cringe-free meditations, motivations, and tops on how to improve your day which continues to this day.

Casey has become a must-see and hear performer at the annual Carols By Candlelight in Melbourne and New Year’s Eve Gala and Australia Day broadcast events on the foreshore of the Sydney Opera House.  Casey has performed in many coveted events such as Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin Festivals, The Rocks Festival of the Voice, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute’s Spirit Festival and Yabun Festival.

Casey supports a number of charitable and non-profit organisations in her roles as Ambassador for RU OK, MMAD and Camp Quality and Advocate for the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Starlight Children’s Foundation, and as one of the founding members of the New South Wales Indigenous Chamber of Commerce.

Throughout 2022, Casey will take her hit Facebook Live event ‘Bluesday Tuesday’ on tour around the country as well as releasing exciting new music.

Speaking Topics Include

Casey’s story of success and the challenges along the way

Solo performance plus inspiring keynote of success

Positive body image, culture, social acceptance and breaking down stereotypes

Big, Beautiful & Sexy

The challenges of depression, anxiety & domestic violence