Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian singer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the pop girl group Bardot, winners of the first season of Popstars Australia in 2000. After the group disbanded in 2002, Monk released her debut solo studio album, Calendar Girl (2003). She also ventured into acting with roles in the films Date Movie (2006), Click (2006), Sex and Death 101 (2007), The Hills Run Red (2009), and Spring Breakdown (2009).
On reality television, Monk was the winner of the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2015, and in 2016, she was a judge on Australia's Got Talent. In 2017, she starred on the third season of The Bachelorette Australia, and the following year, she became the host of Love Island Australia. In 2021, Monk hosted Beauty and the Geek Australia.
Sophie Monk was born in London, England to an English father and an Australian mother. In 1982 her parents moved to Australia's Gold Coast in Queensland when she was two years old. She attended Helensvale Primary School, St Hilda's, Somerset College, A.B. Paterson College and MacGregor State High School, where she graduated as school captain in 1997. She was trained in classical opera growing up. Following graduation, Monk worked as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast.
Monk's professional music career began in 1999 when she responded to an advertisement for the first Australian season of Popstars, a reality television series which aimed to create a successful new girl group. In one audition, she performed a rendition of Marilyn Monroe's famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President", working on her previous experience as a Monroe impersonator. After several elimination rounds, Monk was selected as a member of the group, which was named Bardot.
The program aired in early 2000 and became a massive ratings success. Bardot became the first Australian act to debut at number one with both its debut single, "Poison", and self-titled debut album. Further singles "I Should've Never Let You Go", "These Days", "ASAP", "I Need Somebody" and "Love Will Find A Way" all reached the Australian top 20. Several months following the release of their second album, Play It Like That, Bardot disbanded in May 2002.
Shortly following Bardot's disbandment, Monk signed a solo recording contract with Warner Music Australia. Her debut single "Inside Outside" was released in October 2002 and was produced by Grammy Award winning music producer Rob Davis. The track peaked at number five on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold for shipments of 35,000 copies. In May 2003 Monk released her debut album Calendar Girl which peaked at number 35 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It produced two further singles, "Get the Music On" and "One Breath Away", which peaked at number 10 and number 23 respectively. In 2004, Monk parted ways with Warner Music Group to focus on a Hollywood acting career.
In April 2017, Monk performed with country singer Kasey Chambers at Byron Bay Bluesfest. In September 2021, she briefly resumed her music career with the jazz-inspired single "Nice to Meet You".
In 2004, Monk made her acting debut in a bit role on the Nine Network made-for-television film The Mystery of Natalie Wood portraying the role of Marilyn Monroe. That same year, Monk appeared in the music video Always by Pop Punk band Blink-182. Monk has had small roles in films such as Click, Murder World and Spring Break '83.
In 2005, Monk relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in acting. Monk quickly landed her break-out role in the spoof comedy film Date Movie. In July 2007, Monk made her American television debut in the HBO Comedy series Entourage. That same year she appeared in the dark comedy Sex and Death 101.
Monk starred in the Warner Premiere comedy film Spring Breakdown alongside Parker Posey and Amy Poehler. Filming took place in South Padre in 2006. Monk portrayed the role of the film's antagonist a bimbo sorority girl named Mason. The film underwent a long post-production period suffering distribution problems. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to negative reviews. The film was released straight-to-DVD in June 2009.
In September 2008, Dark Castle Entertainment announced Monk was cast in the slasher horror film The Hills Run Red. Filming began at the start of 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria and premiered at UK Frightfest. The film was released straight-to-DVD in September 2009 to mixed reviews from critics with some praising Monk's performance. In September 2008, Monk announced she was developing her own reality television series titled Bigger Than Paris. Monk filmed the pilot in January 2010 in Los Angeles, California.
In April 2013, Monk was working on a sitcom with actor Sam Worthington. Monk talked about her struggles as an actress and revealed that she has produced five television pilots for major networks, but they haven't been picked up. "Shows that were meant to get the green light, didn't, and movies that were meant to be massive, weren't, but I just keep going and going," she said. In 2015, Monk was added to the cast for the remake movie of Blood Feast.
In April 2010, Nine Network announced Monk would be a special guest presenter on the travel television program Getaway. Following her first appearance, Nine announced Monk would continue appearing on the series in a recurring form from then on. As part of her role, she has visited Hawaii, Las Vegas, Mexico.
In May 2012, Monk was announced to be one of the celebrities to have signed up for the FOX dating-show The Choice. The series is a spin-off to The Voice and sees celebrity judges sitting with their backs turned to a pool of "sexy singles" hoping to score a date with a celebrity. The series premiered on 7 June 2012.
On 28 October 2015, it was confirmed that Monk would be a new judge on Australia's Got Talent replacing Geri Halliwell for its eighth season alongside Kelly Osbourne, Eddie Perfect and Ian "Dicko" Dickson.
In 2015, Monk was declared the winner of the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.
In April 2017, it was announced that Monk would star on The Bachelorette Australia. In December, she was announced as the host of a brand new reality series on the Nine Network called Love Island Australia, which aired on 27 May 2018 on 9Go!.
In 2020, Monk was revealed to be a participant on the second season of The Masked Singer Australia, performing as the "Dragonfly". She was the fifth contestant eliminated, placing 8th overall.