Mel Buttle

BEd, PostGradDipMarketing

At St Margaret’s 1995-1999

Mel Buttle is a comedian, television and radio presenter and writer. She currently co-hosts Foxtel’s The Great Australian Bake Off alongside Matt Moran, Maggie Beer and fellow comedian Claire Hooper and has also recently filmed a few episodes of Network Ten’s Celebrity Name Game. Bake Off has just been nominated for an AACTA award for Best Lifestyle program and in 2018 Mel herself was AACTA nominated for Best Subscription TV female presenter.  Mel also writes a weekly column for The Courier Mail in the QWeekend Magazine.

Mel graduated from St Margaret's in 1999 and went on to complete a Bachelor of Secondary Education (Drama) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing before making the shift to pursue her hobby of stand-up comedy. In 2010, Mel made her debut at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Brisbane Comedy Festival and was nominated for Best Newcomer. In 2012 she performed at the Sydney Fringe Festival and won Best Comedy. She later returned to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival winning a Directors Choice Award.

Since then, Mel has toured all over the world with stand-up comedy, being asked to perform in India, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, New York and Hong Kong. She recalls her live performance at the Sydney Opera House alongside Bake Off cohost Claire Hooper as one of her most special shows.

Mel has appeared on television shows including The Project, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering and Hughesy, We Have a Problem, to name a few.

Of her St Margaret’s journey Mel said: “I loved being a St Margaret’s girl. It was at school that the message of ‘girls can do anything’ got into my psyche and it’s something I still embody today, with comedy traditionally being a male dominated industry. St Margaret’s taught me to create my own luck, and to believe in myself. My path here wasn’t linear; I had to work hard and be a creative problem solver.  St Margaret’s prepared me well for my career – if I can get up at 4:30am three times a week to get to rowing training, I can do anything! St Margaret’s also instilled in me the importance of charity, so I’m also busy as an ambassador for the RSPCA helping out with their events and using my profile to help spread the word about their good work with animal welfare.”