WEEKENDER Whatever happened to Gretel Kileen? Fans go wild for resurfaced footage of the Big Brother host and call her ‘the original Karen’

She was the controversial presenter of one of the biggest shows on Australian television.

Fans are now going wild for Big Brother icon Gretel Killeen, 61, and are calling for her to return to the spotlight after a famous clip of her from 2006 surfaced on Instagram this week.

The video, shared by nostalgic TV account korporatekarina, sees Gretel displaying her trademark sass during a “condescending” interview with Michael McCoy.

Gretel was known for her witty remarks and took no crap from the Big Brother contestant after he was sent packing, denying his claims that he had ‘edited’ the show.

Michael claimed his infamous ‘kiss’ with Big Brother housemate David Graham was edited, but later admitted they staged the moment for the cameras.

Host Gretel did not believe his claims about the ‘editing’ and interrupted the TV star repeatedly. In a famous interview he threw cold water on his claims, shocking viewers.

How do you know that? [the kissing video] “It was a great edit, if you haven’t seen it,” she argued at one point.

“I go on rumors,” Michael admitted, to which Gretel replied passionately, “Well, that’s always a good basis.”

The iconic interview moment was reshared on Instagram with the caption, “That boss who doesn’t listen,” and fans went wild in the comments.

Nostalgic Big Brother fans shared their memories of Gretel, who hosted every season of Big Brother from 2001 to 2007, and wondered where the famous presenter is now.

“One of the original Karens,” one follower commented on the post, while another praised Gretel’s style as “condescending at its finest.”

Another praised her as “lovely,” while another added: “I thought she was the smartest tool in the shed. Where is she now?”

Shortly after she rose to fame on Big Brother, Gretel explained why she enjoyed taking part in the series so much.

“I love doing Big Brother because there’s an element of surprise,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2002.

“I have no idea what anyone is going to say because no one knows how to deal with a house that is being watched all the time.”

Gretel also said that when she looks back on her career, in which she never had a nine-to-five job, she thinks it’s “cool” and there’s been “a lot of color and movement.”

Gretel was replaced as Big Brother presenter in 2008 by duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.

Although Gretel left her prominent TV role when the franchise was at its peak, the media veteran has since built a prominent career as a commentator and author.

The mother of two is no stranger to viewers, having regularly appeared as a panellist on Network 10’s The Project and Seven’s Sunrise.

She is also a regular guest as an opinion maker on Today.

Gretel began her daytime television career in the late 1980s, co-starring with another media veteran, Ray Martin.

Gretel was known as a comedienne at the time and gained cult status as the ‘star’ of the soap opera A Town Like Dallas, which became a regular feature on Martin’s Midday Show for Channel Nine.

In 1990, she landed a short-term role as a presenter on the late night news program Coast to Coast.

After reaching new heights of fame with Big Brother, Gretel memorably hosted the Logie Awards in 2009.

She also starred opposite comedian Matt Okine in the reality series How Not to Behave, which aired on ABC in 2015.

Gretel, who often speaks out on issues such as social justice, shocked fans in 2018 when she appeared in the SBS series Go back to where you came from.

Before appearing on the series, she described the treatment of refugees in Australia as “barbaric”.

For the show, Gretel traveled to Turkey and joined a Red Cross team to deliver food to war victims on the Syrian border.

Shortly after that heartbreaking experience, Gretel returned to her reality TV roots and joined the cast of the singer’s The Masked in 2019.

However, she failed to impress as Octopus and was shown the door in the very first episode.

Gretel returned to the spotlight when it was widely rumored that she would return for the Big Brother reboot in 2020.

Ultimately, however, the role went to 59-year-old Sonia Kruger, who previously presented the show in 2012.

That same year, Gretel was a guest on the comedy podcast Handsome and Gretel.

Gretel is a prolific author, having published 30 books, including a series for children and two “fictional memoirs”: The Night My Bum Dropped and Jimmy and Gret Don’t Do Sex.

Gretel is notoriously private, as she has two adult children with her ex, Mark Morgan.

The couple divorced in 1993 after tying the knot in 1987. She raised her children, Ezekial Morrgan, 34, and Epiphany Morgan, 30, as a single mother.

Both children appear in Gretel’s My Sister book series.