The co-host of the cooking competition show “The Great Australian Bake Off” has recently passed away, saddening everyone in the local Australian media. New Zealander comedian Cal Wilson’s recent passing caught the local entertainment world by surprise; she was 53 years old.
Let’s take a look at some of the insights into her career and life as we look retrospectively into the trajectory of this beloved Kiwi performer who graced Australian television with her presence, antics, and talent with over two decades of work that were suddenly interrupted by a hospital visit and her untimely death.
What Happened To Cal Wilson Comedian?
Cal Wilson passed away on 11 October 2023 in Camperdown, Australia, after a hospital visit and a short illness diagnosis. She died surrounded by friends and family at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Her month-long hospital visit was reported by her manager and public relations handlers.
Though the exact cause of death hasn’t been released to the public, it is presumed to be an aggressive and rare form of malignant cancer that ended Cal Wilson’s life. Cal is survived by her widower husband, Chris Woods, and her son. Cal met Woods around the 2000s; they dated and got married in 2008.
Cal’s life was celebrated, and her death was mourned by people in the Australian and New Zealand entertainment world; she leaves behind a legacy of laughs and on-stage performances that are hilarious. Wherever you are, Cal, you will be missed; our thoughts, and prayers are with you, your friends, family, and colleagues.
Who Was Cal Wilson’s Comedian?
Cal Wilson was born in New Zealand on 5 October 1970. She graduated from Christchurch’s High School and then went to the University of Canterbury to pursue a Bachelor of Arts Degree. After that, she was the co-founder of the Court Jester’s improvisation performance acting group and won an award with her team for their performances in Los Angeles in 1994.
After a few gigs doing plays here and there, Cal Wilson moved from plays to stand-up comedy, where she really shone, taking it as a full-time job in 1997; that same year, she won the Billy T Award, a very highly respected and prestigious comedy award.
From there on, Cal Wilson became a regular for both Aussie and Kiwi television, appearing in TV3 and participating in several comedy festivals around Australia, including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, appearing a total of fourteen times across her career.
Then, in 2006, she got the chance to perform her own comedy show, “Up There, Cal Wilson”, which sold out at the comedy festivals where it was promoted.
Writer & TV Performer
To pay for the bills, Cal Wilson also wrote scripts for Willy Nilly, a sitcom that ran for a couple of years; then she became part of the cast of “The Wedge,” a show for which she also wrote several scripts that show. She also appeared as a dancer in the Aussie version of “Dancing with the Stars,” where she danced with Craig Monley.
After those shows, Cal got her own show, “Sleuth 101”, and also was seen as a regular in the Kiwi show 7 Days, all this up until 2018. Furthermore, Cal also got to be in the comedy show QI, then became captain of a team on “Slide Show.”
Cal’s talent wasn’t limited to comedy, because she also did voice performances, doing voice work for “Kitty is Not A Cat”, she did a Netflix special in which she represented her own country. And then worked on Radio at Nova FM in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide.
Which Was Cal Wilson’s Last Job?
Her last gig was as a co-host of the Australian version of the cooking competition “The Great Australian Bake Off,” and there were some very distasteful rumors that say that she collapsed on set during filming, but these aren’t true. What did happen is that she suffered a lot of back pain while shooting, and eventually received some medical attention on behalf of the on-stage medical team.
