and commerce at Bond University, though did not complete it. Career At the age of 19, Joseph dropped out of University after getting the part of Cassie Barsby in the soap opera Paradise Beach. Like many of the cast, she had no formal acting training, though she turned this to her advantage with "exuberance and energy". Joseph gained acting experience and friendships with Raelee Hill, Megan Connolly, and Isla Fisher, though the series was cancelled after only 18 months. After Paradise Beach ended, she began appearing in the Nine Network variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday. Joseph had no contract with Nine, and was making the appearances as a favor to her friend, host Daryl Somers. Nine Network executives wanted to make her a regular on the show and began using her in publicity material. However, rival network Seven offered her a contract to co-host Gladiators before Nine could make her Hey Hey contract permanent. Her defection to Seven in 1995 caused a small scandal. She described hosting Gladiators as "tough and scary" on account of the live audience. She appeared for three seasons and some international specials before taking the role of Joanne Brennan in Home and Away in an effort to get away from presenting. The character, a secretary who dealt drugs to school children, appeared from 1995 to 1996. She left the soap with the possibility of returning to the character later. Alongside her role in Home and Away, she appeared in a play with Geoffrey Hughes. Until 1999, she continued working as a "jobbing actress", making appearances in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Sale of the Century, and Tales of the South Seas. Eager to move away from soap opera acting, Joseph moved to the United States to study acting with the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she spent 18 months living off her savings trying to get auditions. In those 18 months, her only jobs were a single commercial and a job interviewing LA-based film actors for Australian television. In 2001, her lawyer informed her that she would have to travel to Sydney, Australia to be interviewed for her green card. On the day she was due to fly back to Australia, her agent informed her of an audition for the British television series Cold Feet, whose producer was looking for an Australian actress to become