Media redundancies are happening left, right and centre at the moment – but one particular television layoff has everyone talking.
Brisbane-based Channel 10 publicist Lorraine Monforte, known as one of the best industry liaisons in Queensland, was let go last week after more than a decade handling press out of the network’s Mt Coot-tha headquarters.
Monforte, 41, signed off last Thursday with a gracious and light-hearted farewell on Instagram. But as she said goodbye to her colleagues, she made no mention of the famous boyfriend she met while doing publicity for I’m a Celebrity: Dr Chris Brown.
‘After 13 glorious years at @channel10au, my role of a lifetime has not been renewed for another season,’ she began.
‘My series finale will air next week, and I’m taking suggestions for what music should play over my slow-motion exit montage.’
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Brisbane-based Channel Ten publicist Lorraine Monforte (left) was made redundant last week. She has been quietly dating former Ten star Dr Chris Brown since they met on I’m a Celebrity
Monforte, 41, signed off last Thursday with a gracious and light-hearted farewell on Instagram
Monforte joked that she now planned to spend ‘Redundancy Era’ with ‘long lunches’ and ‘reckless spending’.
‘Then I’ll enter the inevitable existential panic about what to do next,’ she continued.
‘But until then, cheers to Channel 10 and the very best friends I’ve made along the way. It’s been an honour and a privilege.’
Daily Mail understands the couple divides their time between Brisbane and Bondi, where Brown lives and made a name for himself as a vet.
‘They are very happy together,’ a source previously said.
Interestingly, Monforte revealed she would be in Sydney soon when replying to a comment from Brown’s former Living Room co-host Miguel Maestre.
Brown left I’m a Celeb – and Channel Ten – in 2023 to move to rival network Seven, and was replaced as host by Robert Irwin.
It’s unclear when he and Monforte became a couple, but the veterinarian has always kept his romantic life under wraps, wary that publicity might jinx things.
As she said goodbye to her colleagues, she made no mention of the famous boyfriend she met while handling publicity for I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
In March, Monforte and Brown posted photos on Instagram from the same snowy location in Norway. They did not show or tag each other, but social media sleuths joined the dots
‘It’s hard to meet the right person,’ Brown told Stellar magazine last year when asked about his dating life.
‘That extra layer of speculation and interest…once you’re actually in a relationship, it’s easy, but it’s meeting that person at the start that’s really hard. You could potentially be on your first date, and you get photographed.’
What we do know is that Monforte is a mother to a 10-year-old son and at least one other child, though she keeps her family out of the public eye.
She once used the double-barrelled Monforte-Guy, which suggests she was married at one point but has since divorced.
Social media posts indicate she has a passion for fishing, a habit she picked up from a late family member.
Whether this clashes with Brown’s well-documented passion for conservation and marine welfare remains to be seen.
Back in February, Monforte hinted she’d met someone special when she posted a video online of herself lip-syncing to the song Cuff It by Beyoncé.
‘Cuff it’ is a slang term for getting into a committed relationship.
A month later, she shared a photo – taken by someone else – of herself standing in the snow, gazing at the northern lights in Tromsø, Norway.
Brown didn’t appear, but his voice could be heard in the background of another video she posted.
The Dancing with the Stars host also uploaded photos from the same location at about the same time.
After their secret holiday was rumbled by sleuths, the pair have gone to ground again. They are keeping their relationship offline for now, despite it being an open secret.
However, this may change this coming weekend.
Monforte is a mother to a 10-year-old son and at least one other child, though she keeps her family out of the public eye
There are whispers Brown and Monforte will walk the red carpet together at the Logie Awards in Sydney on Sunday – now they are free of the awkwardness that came with working for rival networks.
If they do make their debut at TV’s night of nights, Monforte will be Brown’s first public relationship since he split from model Brooke Meredith in 2022 after two years of dating.
Before this, Brown dated former Ten presenter Liv Phyland for about a year. They were papped together but never walked a red carpet.
Prior to Phyland, he was in a relationship with Channel Nine producer Kendall Bora from 2016 to 2018. Bora is now married to former Weekend Sunrise star Matt Doran.
His other exes include Bondi project manager Hannah Thomas and Home and Away actress Kassandra Clementi.
Ten was contacted for comment.
