Guess who? Aussie TV star and Gold Logie winner unrecognisable in '90s throwback photo

One of the most famous faces on Australian television is completely unrecognisable in a throwback snap from her very first on-camera job. 

Today, she hosts two tentpole reality TV competitions on Channel Seven, but the blonde beauty, 59, got her start on Channel Nine. 

In the sun-drenched throwback photo shared to social media on Thursday, she's seen looking fresh faced in a pair of blue denim jeans and white shirt, as she poses with another of Nine's biggest stars.

The photo was taken on the set of Wonder World, an Australian children's show that originally aired on Network Ten from 1979 until 1987, before it was relaunched on Nine in 1993. 

Wonder World was an entertainment and news focused program for young Australians, which also launched music videos of huge bands like INXS.

Can you guess who it is? 

It's Sonia Kruger! 

Sonia was a huge hit as a reporter on the revamped kids show, alongside Dave Kelly and Catriona Rowntree. 

Today she is one Channel Seven's biggest stars, and the host of Dancing With The Stars and The Voice Australia.

'My first job in television was on Wonder World, created by visionary Simon Townsend,' Sonia captioned the photo shared to her Instagram Stories. 

'May he rest in peace.' 

She finished the caption with a red love-heart emoji. 

The Australian journalist and television presenter died aged 79, and his death was announced on Wednesday. 

The TV star had recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

'In his final days, Simon was surrounded by his family and a mix of journalists, writers, actors, political activists and Italians,' his loved ones said in a statement. 

'The conversation to the last was loud, passionate and full of laughs.' 

The show was a smash hit of its time, landing five Logie Awards for Most Popular Children's Television series.

Townsend had a sidekick on the series, a bloodhound named Woodrow, who was a favourite among the young audience.

His family said Townsend was often fighting against Australian TV regulators to feature 'boundary-pushing' segments for his young audience. 

'Simon often found himself in a stoush with Australian children's television regulators, fighting to maintain his show's boundary-pushing ethos and preserve his children's TV rating,' they said.

'The edict to all involved in making the show was that they never talk down to children.'

Townsend was known for ending every episode of his show with a heartwarming farewell, saying: 'And remember, the world really is wonderful!'

Prior to his pioneering career in children's TV, Townsend was a newspaper reporter and conscientious objector against the Vietnam War.

He soon met and struck up a friendship with A Current Affair host and producer Mike Willesee at a dinner party, with whom he developed the idea for Wonder World. 

'Nine paid for a pilot, Seven paid for a pilot but no-one took it up,' Townsend once told TV Tonight.

'Then the law changed and the channels had to have a half hour of Australian quality television. So I was given a C rating and I had something to sell. The rest is history.'

At its height, Wonder World aired five afternoons a week, producing nearly 2,000 episodes from 1979 to 1987. 

'We travelled a lot, across the whole of Australia and internationally. We went to Hawaii, India, Bali, Hong Kong and other countries,' he said.

'I suppose the hallmark of the shows was that they always involved humour and popular music. That was how they came together.'

In 1993, Townsend also started hosting an ABC show called TVTV, where he interviewed famous celebrities about their own television projects.

He worked alongside fellow Wonder World star Edith Bliss on the show for three years, as well as with musician James Valentine.