Rove McManus

John Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, producer, and media personality. Born on 21 January 1974, he is best known as the host of the eponymous Australian variety show Rove and the comedy talk show Rove LA. He is also the co-owner of the production company Roving Enterprises alongside his business partner Craig Campbell.

McManus was born in Perth, Western Australia, to parents John and Coralie McManus. He attended Orana Catholic Primary School in Willetton before completing grades eight through twelve at Corpus Christi College in Bateman. He received the nickname "Rove" from his sister during his childhood, which he later adopted as a stage name to prevent former high school peers from attending his comedy shows.

Beginning his performing career in stand-up comedy, McManus has performed nationally and internationally at events such as the 2010 Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. His early television work included an appearance as a child actor in the series Kaboodle and voice work for Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers. In 1997, he began hosting The Loft Live on community television station Channel 31, where he met long-time co-host Peter Helliar. Following a brief run hosting a variety show on the Nine Network in 1999, McManus launched Rove Live on Network Ten in 2000, which featured guest celebrities, comedy acts, and musical performances.

The program, later renamed Rove, ran through 2009 and became a prominent series for Network Ten. Beyond his signature show, McManus hosted the Australian edition of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? and co-hosted the tsunami relief special Reach Out in 2005, which led to him co-hosting the Logie Awards. Expanding his career to the United States, he appeared regularly on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, hosted the ABC special The List in 2008, and relocated to Los Angeles in 2011 to host Rove LA. His subsequent international hosting roles included Riot on FOX and Lie Detectors on the Game Show Network.

In Australian television, McManus later presented the Doctor Who companion panel show Whovians for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as the Network Ten panel program Show Me the Movie! and Saturday Night Rove. In addition to hosting, he has performed extensive voice acting, including roles in the animated feature Finding Nemo, television series such as Exchange Student Zero and Kitty Is Not a Cat, and a guest role in the Bluey episode "The Sign". His later screen appearances include competing on Taskmaster Australia and appearing on Big Backyard Quiz.

Parallel to his television work, McManus established a radio career. He regularly appeared on Triple J's breakfast show in 1999, presented Rove Live Radio across Austereo networks in the early 2000s, and co-hosted the 2Day FM breakfast show Rove and Sam starting in 2016. Through Roving Enterprises, McManus has produced and co-produced numerous broadcasts, including the sports comedy panel show Before the Game, the program The Project, sketch shows such as Skithouse, and the annual ARIA Music Awards broadcasts between 2000 and 2004.