Rosanna Alish “Rosie” Waterland is an Australian comedian, author, TV writer, and media personality whose work mixes humor with personal explorations of trauma, mental health, sexuality, and pop culture.
Rosie was born in New South Wales, Australia, and spent much of her childhood in foster care after experiencing abuse and neglect in her family. Her early experiences would become the foundation for much of her writing, especially in her memoirs, which examine the long-term effects of trauma with a combination of vulnerability and dark humor.
Her breakthrough came in 2013 when she began publishing funny recaps of the first season of The Bachelor Australia. Rather than just summarizing each episode, Rosie used the series to riff off various topics like gender roles, relationships, and general Australian pop culture. The recaps became a viral sensation, attracting millions of views.
Capitalizing on that success, she published her first book, The Anti Cool Girl, in 2015. The book was a blend of autobiographical essays with comments and observations about feminism, celebrity culture, and modern relationships. It became a national bestseller and won the Australian Book Industry Awards.
In 2016, Rosie published her memoir The Trauma Cleaner, chronicling the extraordinary life of Sandra Pankhurst, a trauma cleaner whose experiences of abuse, gender transition, sex work, and homelessness shaped her work. The book received widespread critical acclaim and won multiple awards, including the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. She followed that book with Every Lie I’ve Ever Told in 2018, which examines her own experiences with mental illness, addiction, and recovery.
Alongside her writing career, Rosie has worked in TV, podcasting, and live performances. She has also co-hosted the popular relationship podcast Just the Gist, where she combined humor with history, crime, and pop culture.
In December of 2016, Rosie came out as bi in a Facebook post, explaining that she had spent years questioning whether she should speak out about her sexuality before ultimately deciding that visibility and representation mattered. The post was covered by various media outlets, which noted that Rosie hoped her openness would help normalize bisexuality and encourage others who might still be struggling with their own identities.
