If you've been fortunate enough to encounter Brendan Irving's sculpted form here in Sydney, it would probably have been overhead. The talented aerialist has performed regularly at Slide Lounge's El' Circo and at major events.

Now you can see him at ground level, playing the buff Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show musical opening at the Lyric Theatre this Wednesday. He's been with the production for its entire tour through Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne – and is delighted to at last be doing The Time Warp in his home city.

"I couldn't be happier to be back home," says the Darlinghurst-based singer, actor and acrobat. "It feels like it's really time to bring the show here. We're at our best yet, and Sydney deserves the very best."

The John Frost production has been a hit with audiences and critics alike on its nationwide journey and the cast, led by Craig McLachlan as Frank N. Furter, was able to spend time withRocky Horror creator Richard O'Brien when he did a stint as the Narrator in the 40th anniversary production in Adelaide last year.

"It was extraordinary to be around Richard," says Irving. "At first I was afraid of what he'd think of us. He was the guy who dreamed up this entire baby. What if he didn't like it?"

Thankfully O'Brien loved it. "He gave his stamp of approval," says Irving. 'In fact, in his pep-talk at the pre-opening show he told us we knew what we were doing, so we could sing or say anything we liked!" (To director Christopher Luscombe's relief, they stuck to the script).

At just 29, Irving's no stranger to megastars; during a two-year drama scholarship in Washington DC just after his NIDA training, he rubbed shoulders with Liza Minnelli, Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz.

"Every day I met someone incredible. So many dreams were coming true," he said.

Performing in Rocky Horror is another one. "What a blessing to be part of something that's been so enduringly successful," he says. "Every night you get to have a party on stage." 

Jamie Durie goes wild in the backyard

Step aside, Bear Grylls – our own Jamie Durie has turned TV adventurer, and he's taking the genre a step further. Rather than simply surviving wild terrains, the Aussie gardening guru is taming them, too.

In his new US TV show Outback Nation, Durie tackles America's most overgrown and unkempt backyards. In these spaces that once were gardens, wild animals roam and dangers lurk as Durie dives in with a machete to transform inhospitable jungles into designer outdoor rooms.

"This was the toughest show I've ever worked on," he told S. "I suffered multiple injuries; I encountered over 10 snakes, including an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, which is the largest venomous snake in the US, and I nearly got bitten by an alligator and a snapping turtle."

Outback Nation's eight episodes, which start airing tomorrow on the US FYI Network, feature backyards that have been neglected for a decade or more.

"Some of the owners are injured, others inherit them and can't cope, others don't have the funds," says Durie. "They all suffer from what I call 'nature deficit disorder' or a 'backyard divorce.' I force them to confront it."

He starts by camping out with each family in their wild backyard. "Unlike the traditional renovation show, Outback Nation involves the families in the transformation process from the start," he says. "I force them to camp out with me for the whole duration of the transformation. Some of the most compelling viewing is when the lights go out and we sit around the campfire, and talk about their hopes and dreams. It's an emotional journey. Out of all the families there wasn't one who didn't break down in tears during the process."

Durie could have been forgiven for shedding a few too. During filming he suffered two strained elbows and a strained shoulder, broke two fingers and was continually bruised and scratched.

"I fell off two roofs and three trees and down a 20-foot ravine into a river," he says.

And then there were the animals. "One family had a 13-foot alligator living in their swimming pool,' Says Durie. "They live on a riverbank where alligators were coming up all the time. Another garden was riddled with bears. A large part of the work was relocating the animals to somewhere safe, and avoiding being bitten or attacked."

The end result of all that work is signature Durie: fabulous designer spaces where nature and man can happily co-exist. The human stories behind the makeovers are moving, too, with broke, sick or down-on-their-luck families' lives transformed.

Durie, in Sydney briefly last week, has just flown back to the US to appear on The Today Show tomorrow to promote Outback Nation, before its debut in a primetime slot. "It's the best timeslot I've had in five years," he says. "But the show is worthy. The before and afters are amazing. These were massive projects and on a scale I had never done before for a TV series. But it was worth it and the audience is in for an amazing ride!" 

Deborah Hutton's love affair with food

After more than 30 years working in magazines, TV and entertainment, plus celebrating her 50thbirthday on the cover ofWomen's Weekly, Deborah Hutton had ticked most career boxes – but one remained.

The much-loved Aussie media personality has brought an idea she's nurtured for 25 years to life in the form of My Love Affair with Food, her first book.

"I've wanted to do a cookbook since forever," Hutton told S, "But life gets in the way. "All those years ago I had an idea for a cookbook called Stolen Recipes, as I had amassed such an enormous collection of them, all piled up in various folders."

My Love Affair with Food blends the best of those recipes from Hutton's friends, family and cooking mentors with food memories from over the years, in an approachable, informal style that emphasises the easy fun of home entertaining.

"I thought it would look best in the style of a scrapbook, so that's how it's presented," says Hutton. "It looks like the sort of book you could write on, and it's very me. I'm the cook that drinks the wine while I stir the risotto and there's always a bit of spillage."

Highlights of Hutton's impressive recipe collection include Greg Doyle's "utterly foolproof" banana souffle and a delicious chicken curry from Maggie Tabberer. Hutton's mum, Dell, also features prominently in the book.

"My best memories all come from being round the table together, eating, drinking and enjoying each other's good company," says Hutton. "Nothing makes me happier than inviting a bunch of friends round and cooking up a feast in the kitchen, and I want everyone to know it's not that hard.

"Your friends don't want perfection. They just want to be comfortable, eat well and eat big, and have fun with you."

Penelope Benson is one tough cover girl

Scoring a major cosmetics campaign is a pretty big deal, but Penelope Benson's new gig as the face of CoverGirl is especially thrilling for the Sydney-born model. The success comes after a two-year battle with cancer that halted her life in its tracks. Now Benson's back, and with a vengeance.

The stunning campaign, with make-up by Madonna and Lady Gaga's favourite artist, Kabuki, was shot in New York by renowned beauty photographer Koichiro Doi shortly after Benson returned to work.

Just months before, she'd been undergoing intensive chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, back home in Sydney.

She was 25, and starting to make an international name as a sought-after plus-size model, with numerous magazine covers, fashion campaigns and catwalk shows under her belt.

"I'd been in NYC for 12 months and everything was really starting to take off for me there," she told S. "Then I started having strange pains and night sweats. I was told I had Hodgkin's lymphoma. I was at the peak of my career and thought I was healthy. It floored me."

Benson moved back home to Sydney and underwent a year of intensive chemotherapy, then a year of recovery.

"I had left home when I was 18 and have always been fiercely independent," she says. "Being looked after was really hard for me."

Once in the clear, Benson found herself more determined than ever to succeed at modelling. And she found her struggle for survival had changed her profoundly – for the better.

"It was a terrible thing that happened, but a blessing in disguise," she says. "I prefer the person I am now. I took a lot for granted before I was sick. I expected things to fall in my lap. Now I understand that you have to fight for the things you really want."

Benson says the physical side-effects of the illness and treatment – including losing all her hair – taught her to look within herself more. "It made me realise I had been banking on my looks and hadn't developed other areas of my life. Successful models are interesting, determined, hard-working. There's a lot more to them than beauty."

Although slighter after her illness, Benson is still considered a curvy model. But she has little time for the term "plus-sized". "It's becoming redundant as things change in modelling and the spectrum of sizes grows broader," she says. "The fact I even got to cast for CoverGirl is a feat in itself. It wouldn't have happened 10 years ago."

Benson is certain there will be more successes. "I'm never satisfied. This is a dream come true, but now I always say to myself, 'What's next?'," she says.