Andrew Mercado is a writer/producer/presenter who specialises in Film and TV, particularly with soaps and queer content, via his regular media appearances, YouTube channel TV Icons, and the TV Gold podcast.
Andrew was one of the first openly gay people to be seen on Australian TV when he began appearing on music network Channel [V] from 1999. He was regularly seen on Mornings With Kerrie-Anne, Studio 10, A Current Affair and SBS World Movies, while also hosting Foxtel shows like The Buzz, The Know and The Playlist.
As a TV Historian, he curates and produces material for Umbrella Entertainment and Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive.
As a writer, he has been published in The Australian Women’s Weekly, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian and written regular columns for Sydney Star Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, TV Week and TV Soap.
He currently pens a monthly column for gay magazine DNA, and talks about TV on multiple ABC radio stations.
His first book Super Aussie Soaps, a history of Australian TV dramas, was published in 2004. Since then he has contributed chapters to the books The 100 Greatest Films of Australian Cinema, and Very Special Episodes: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious.
His latest project is Outrageous: The Queer History of Australian TV. This documentary premiered during World Pride at the 2023 Mardi Gras Film Festival. It has since screened at the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival, where it won Best Feature Film, and The Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival .
Outrageous will soon be released as a book through Australian Scholarly Publishing.
Andrew also owned and operated the South West Roxy Cinema in Northern NSW, and he hosts Trivia Nights in Newcastle at Lowlands Bowling Club on Wednesdays and Music Bingo at the same location every Thursday.
