Sophie Monk’s job as host of Love Island Australia is to put the contestants’ romantic bonds to the test. It’s something she can relate to, admitting the early days of her relationship with her husband Joshua Gross were a challenge.
“When I met him in 2018, Josh was living in America,” tells Sophie, 44, who found fame in the Popstars-created girl group Bardot. “We had to do a year apart. The time difference between the US and Australia made it tricky, but we cared about each other, so we put in the effort and made it work.”
The Love Island team has decided to shake things up this year, with Sophie declaring the sixth season is all about “tough love, temptation and tests”. The ultimate trial is the introduction of “Hotel Amor”, something that’s never been done on any Love Island series before.
“We’re sending the islanders away to a hotel for one night, but not in their couples – with different people,” tells Sophie. “It caused way more drama than I could have imagined.”
While other versions of the show introduce “Casa Amor” halfway through the season as a way to split up the couples and see if they can withstand temptation, Hotel Amor will be more frequent and is set to cause much more mayhem.
Sophie – who has been the leading single lady on The Bachelorette Australia and hosted Beauty And The Geek – says Love Island is the reality show that’s most reliable for finding a “genuine connection”.
She explains, “On Love Island, you have the choice of who you want to be with. It’s not like other shows where there’s just one person to choose from. Plenty of people come in and out, and if they’re not for you, you can go. You’ve got freedom.”
After years of being unlucky in love, Sophie found her own genuine connection on a business-class flight to Los Angeles. Striking up a conversation with Josh – a marketing executive and fellow Aussie – one thing led to another after a few drinks. She leant in for a kiss and the pair have been together since, marrying in secret in 2022.
When they aren’t jetting around the world for their respective careers, Sophie shares the thing they love to do together most while relaxing at home – and it’s very different to her glamorous lifestyle we all see on screen.
“We’re hardcore gamers – we game a lot,” she laughs. “We love Xbox and we built the Home Alone Lego set the other day. We’re real geeks. There are way too many pairs of tracksuit pants in my house!
“We love sitting on the couch playing The X-Files and Call Of Duty, ordering in food, watching reality shows… Oh, and we love true crime!”
It sounds like a relaxing, fun life for the woman who’s something of an Aussie national treasure. But for Sophie, who lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales, it hasn’t come without hardship. The star shares she suffers from premenstrual dysphoric disorder. “It’s similar to endometriosis,” she explains. “It really affects your moods and it’s very painful.”
Despite more than 20 ambulance trips to the emergency room, no doctor was able to offer a diagnosis until 2018. That meant that Sophie had to suffer for most of her career.
“I’ve thrown myself out of the hospital, gone to work and not told anyone,” she reveals. “Because it used to happen so often, I’d be embarrassed to tell anyone. The doctors did so many tests and couldn’t find what it was. But then I started realising it would happen once a month, and that the pain and my periods were synced.
“Growing up, I just assumed everyone had the same thing. I didn’t realise their pain was far less than mine. Women kind of just put up with it, don’t they?”
Now Sophie knows what to ready herself for each month. Through spreading the word about menstrual disorders, she has also inspired other women going through similar situations to get a second opinion.
Meanwhile, having starred in Hollywood films like Click, Date Movie and Spring Breakdown, as well as the music video for Blick-182’s hit Always, Sophie has friends in high places and has attended some very swanky soirées.
“Adam Sandler throws the best party,” she says. “His wrap party for Click was like Dream World. His catering on set was insane too. It was like a wedding every day. I’ve worked on some big-budget stuff, but he was by far the best. And the way he treats people was so nice, which isn’t super-common there.”
Love Island Australia is now streaming on TVNZ+.
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