Lisa Millar: ABC Journalist, Partner, Weight Loss & Career

When ABC audiences tune into Back Roads, they see a relaxed, curious host—but Lisa Millar’s path there involved covering terror attacks in Europe and a decade as a foreign correspondent. She’s now engaged to Simon Carless, founder of GameDiscoverCo, and has become a fixture of Australian lifestyle television.

Born: 19 February 1969 · Occupation: Television news presenter, journalist · Known for: Host of ABC’s Back Roads, narrator of Muster Dogs · Awards: Walkley Award winner · Previous roles: ABC bureau chief in London and Washington DC

Six key facts at a glance: from full name to Walkley Award, here’s the verified data.

Who is Lisa Millar’s new partner?

Simon Carless background

• Simon Carless is the founder of GameDiscoverCo, a company that helps video game publishers discover and market games (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).
• He has spent years in the video game industry as a writer, consultant, and event organizer (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).

How they met

Millar publicly announced her engagement to Carless in 2024 via social media, though the exact details of their first meeting remain private. She has described him as a supportive partner.

The pattern: a foreign correspondent with global experience finds a partner whose career in gaming is equally specialized but worlds apart from television news. The trade-off: public curiosity about their life together runs high, but both keep personal details guarded.

How did Lisa Millar lose weight?

Diet and exercise routine

• Millar is an avid parkrun participant, often sharing her weekly 5 km runs on social media (Women in Media Australia, industry group).
• She follows a consistent fitness regimen that includes running and healthy eating, though she hasn’t released a specific “method” (Women in Media Australia, industry group).

parkrun involvement

Millar has completed dozens of parkruns and occasionally posts her times. This public commitment to regular exercise is the main verifiable insight into her weight management. No fad diets or commercial programs are associated with her name.

What is Lisa Millar’s background?

Early life and education

• Born 19 February 1969 in Australia (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).
• Began her journalism career in country Queensland, specifically Gympie (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).
• Worked at The Sun newspaper in Brisbane and WIN TV in Townsville before joining the ABC (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).

Career at ABC

The implication: Millar’s ABC trajectory—from regional correspondent to bureau chief in global capitals—demonstrates unusual breadth.

Walkley Award

Millar is a winner of the Walkley Award, one of Australia’s highest journalism honors, recognizing her work as a correspondent (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).

The implication: few ABC personalities combine hard-news credibility with warm lifestyle television. Millar’s trajectory—from covering 9/11 aftermath and European terror attacks to showcasing rural Australia—reflects unusual versatility.

What does Simon Carless do?

Founder of GameDiscoverCo

• Simon Carless founded GameDiscoverCo, which provides data and insights to video game developers and publishers (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).
• The company is known for its “How to Market a Game” newsletter and the Game Discoverability Summit (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).

Previous roles

Before founding his own company, Carless worked as a game journalist (including at Gamasutra), ran the Independent Games Festival, and consulted for major publishers (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).

Why did Ant split with Lisa?

Ant McPartlin’s admission

• Ant McPartlin publicly expressed regret over his divorce from Lisa Armstrong (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau).
• This is entirely unrelated to Lisa Millar; the name coincidence creates confusion in search results.

Timeline of split

McPartlin and Armstrong separated in 2018 and divorced in 2021. McPartlin has since remarried. None of this involves Lisa Millar.

The catch: online queries around “Ant split Lisa” frequently land on Lisa Millar’s pages, but the two stories are separate. We clarify here to avoid misattribution.

Timeline

• 1969: Born in Australia (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• 1990s: Began journalism career; joined ABC as North Queensland correspondent around 1993 (IMDb, entertainment database)
• 2000s: ABC bureau chief in London (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• 2010s: ABC bureau chief in Washington DC (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• 2020: Became host of Back Roads (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• 2024: Announced engagement to Simon Carless (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)

Clarity check

Confirmed facts

• Lisa Millar is an ABC journalist and broadcaster (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• She is engaged to Simon Carless (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• She hosts Back Roads and narrates Muster Dogs (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• She won a Walkley Award (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• She wrote a memoir called Daring to Fly (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)

What’s unclear

• Exact date of birth not fully confirmed in public records (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)
• Specific weight loss method details not documented (Women in Media Australia, industry group)
• Full financial details (net worth) not publicly available (Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)

“I’ve always loved telling stories about people and places that don’t usually make the headlines.”

Lisa Millar, ABC profile (cited by Claxton Speakers, speaker bureau)

“Returning to the Pilbara to work with Indigenous communities felt like coming home.”

Lisa Millar, Women in Media Australia interview (Women in Media Australia, industry group)

Summary

Lisa Millar built a career that bridges hard news and heartland storytelling—covering terror attacks abroad, then showcasing rural Australia on Back Roads. Her personal life, including her engagement to Simon Carless and her commitment to fitness through parkrun, draws curiosity but stays grounded in substance. For the Australian audience that has followed her journey, the choice is clear: watch her evolve, or miss one of the ABC’s most versatile talents.

Frequently asked questions