‘Who knew ACP magazine editor Neale Whitaker would be this good on TV? He’s emerged as the star of the show with his appearances on the judging panel’ wrote Media Week on June 3 2009 about Nine’s interior design reality series homeMADE.  With his stern and occasionally challenging demeanour Neale Whitaker was a TV natural, but his honest, encouraging and constructive comments to each of the young designers revealed he was no made-for-TV ‘bad cop’ but an industry professional with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Neale is one of Australia’s most respected lifestyle magazine editors, with two decades and two continents of experience. Currently editor-in-chief of interior design bible Belle, he also has a dual role as associate publisher at ACP Magazines, keeping a watchful eye on some of our best-read magazines including Australian House & Garden, Good Food, Real Living and Gourmet Traveller.

It was these impeccable publishing credentials that led to Neale being asked to head the judging panel on homeMADE early in 2009, putting young Australian interior designers through their paces. Shortly after the show aired he was invited by US cable network Sundance to feature in the Sydney episode of Man Shops Globe, a series following the global design odyssey of US retail guru Keith Johnson. While Neale’s career may have been largely about the written word, since his appearance in homeMADE he is enjoying a new profile as a public speaker and industry commentator.  

An offer from Australian publisher Matt Handbury brought London-born Neale to Sydney ten years ago. His first role – as editor of the innovative magazine marie claire Lifestyle – led to regular columns in The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Living section, a two-year stint as a reviewer for the Good Food Guide and a longstanding role as the Australian correspondent for US Gourmet magazine. Neale also spent five years with FPC Living (now News Magazines), during which time he edited Vogue Entertaining + Travel, Australian Coastal Style and Interiors, and was launch editor of the best-selling food magazine delicious - one of the most successful magazine launches in Australian publishing history. Neale’s association with that particular magazine prompted Sydney social columnist William Petley to dub him ‘Mr Delicious’!
In 2005, Neale’s first book, The Accidental Foodie, was published in Australia and the UK by Murdoch Books. Selling in excess of 20,000 copies, it profiles 23 food personalities – his personal food heroes - including Jamie Oliver, Sir Terence Conran, Donna Hay, Bill Granger, Neil Perry and Nigel Slater.

After completing his university studies in the UK, Neale first worked in the offices of British PR guru Lynne Franks, on whom the character of Eddi Monsoon in AbFab was based. Several years as both fashion publicist and stylist eventually led Neale to publishing, editing magazines for high-profile retailers Marks & Spencer and IKEA. While working for boutique publisher John Brown in 1998, he was given the opportunity to launch Food Illustrated (now published as Waitrose Food Illustrated) a prestige food magazine that swiftly gathered an international audience and set a new benchmark for food publishing in the UK. During this time Neale was the weekly food and restaurant correspondent on London’s Jazz FM radio.

photo credits:
Yianni Asparadakis, courtesy of Channel Nine
Steve Baccon, courtesy of Belle