Jessica Rowe

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Jessica Rowe in the 2006 version of Nine Network's Still The One promotion

Jessica Rowe (born 1971) is an Australian television journalist and presenter. Rowe attended Sydney Girls High School in Sydney, and completed a communications degree at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.

At 22 years old, Rowe started her career at Channel Nine as a receptionist for Wide World of Sports. She made her on-air debut as a weather presenter on Prime Television in Canberra. She was later spotted by Network Ten executives, and was made a main newsreader. She read Ten Sydney's flagship 5PM Ten News bulletin with Ron Wilson for almost eleven years, from the beginning of 1995 until the end of 2005.

After a courtship that began secretly in mid-2001, Rowe married Nine's 60 Minutes reporter Peter Overton on January 12 2004.

In 2005 Rowe signed a contract valued at $500,000 to host the Nine Network's Today Show, which she has co-hosted with Karl Stefanovic since late January 2006. Ten took Rowe to court over her defection, claiming that a clause in their contract with Rowe prevented her from starting at Nine until June 2006. The case was dismissed on December 30 2005["Court clears Rowe's move to Nine" ABC News Online, Dec 30, 2005], allowing Rowe to debut on the show January 30 2006.

Rowe's early tenure with the Nine Network's Today Show has not been without its problems. There has been public criticism of her presentation style on this breakfast television show, a style which has been perceived by many as "annoying"["Jessica's annoying" The Austrailan, June 11, 2006]. Additionally, Rowe was embarrassed on May 30 2006 by a gaffe in which Australian Brigadier Michael Slater revealed during a live cross that the interview from Dili, East Timor was being stage managed["Brigadier tells it like it is" The Age, May 31, 2006] ["Brigadier catches Nine off guard" May 30, 2006 - 12:47PM]. Nine Network CEO Eddie McGuire made a public statement in June 2006 stating the claims Rowe was to be "sacked" were part of a "a malicious and unprecedented vilification campaign"["McGuire forced to back star" The Australian, Jun 29, 2006].

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