Fiona O'Loughlin (comedian)


Fiona Taheny, commonly known as Fiona O'Loughlin, is an Australian comedian living in Melbourne. O'Loughlin has made television performances on ABC TV's Spicks and Specks, and Network Ten's Rove Live, Good News Week, All Star Family Feud, The Project, Studio 10, Show Me the Movie! and Hughesy, We Have a Problem and a series of advertisements for Heinz soups. She has performed as a headline act in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe festival. In 2011 a book of her short stories, Me of the Never Never: The Life and Times of Fiona O'Loughlin was published by Hachette Australia.

Career

In the early 1990s O'Loughlin was writing a column for the Centralian Advocate, and emceeing cabaret shows at the Araluen Arts Centre. By 1994 she was doing a weekly radio segment on the ABC. In 2000 she appeared at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
In 2001, O'Loughlin won the award for Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her show Fiona and her sister .
In 2007, O'Loughlin was the "funny woman" in the Seven Network's Sunrise.
In 2009, O'Loughlin was a contestant on the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars.
In 2012, O'Loughlin was a candidate on the second series of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia; she was the first to be fired from the series.
In 2014 she appeared on the ABC TV’s Australian Story discussing her career and her alcoholism.
In 2018, O'Loughlin was a contestant on fourth season of the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. She won the series and donated the prize of $100,000 to her chosen charity, Angel Flight. O'Loughlin appeared as a guest quiz master on Have You Been Paying Attention?.

Personal life

O'Loughlin was born into an Irish-Australian family at Warooka, South Australia, and is herself a single mother of five children. She lived in Alice Springs for 27 years but relocated to Melbourne in 2012. O'Loughlin was married to Chris O'Loughlin from 1985-2012. Her family, and attitude towards children, make up a large component of her act. She is represented by Mark David Management, Australia.
In 2009, O'Loughlin collapsed during a performance in Brisbane. She subsequently announced that she suffers from alcoholism.
O'Loughlin is the older sister of Emily Taheny, also a comedian and formerly a regular cast member of Comedy Inc.
O'Loughlin's daughter Biddy O'Loughlin is also a comedian, and toured Ireland in 2011-2012.