Elliott was born in Everton, Liverpool, England, but grew up in Lewisham, New South Wales, Australia. He was educated at Christian Brothers’ High School, Lewisham and attended the University of Sydney for a law degree. While studying as a Sydney student, Elliott worked part-time on a radio show and ended up on Good Morning Australia He also appeared as the Australian anchorman for the 1984 Olympic Concert Gala. The gala marked his third trip to Los Angeles, as he had earlier flown to Los Angeles to fill in as host of American Top 40 first in 1979 and again in 1980. At the time of his first AT40 appearance, which introduced him to American audiences, he was the youngest substitute host in the program’s history.

After several jobs hosting morning news programs and landing work as the feature reporter on the Fox Television show A Current Affair (produced by New York’s WNYW) in 1987, Elliott appeared as the house-entering feature reporter on WNYW’s morning news program Good Day New York.

The 1990s had him take turns hosting game and talk shows, including The Gordon Elliott Show from 1994–1997. In 1990, Elliott also hosted To Tell the Truth for two months before being replaced by Lynn Swann. In 1991 he was the presenter for the Australian TV show, Hard Copy. In 2000, he hosted It’s Your Chance of a Lifetime.

Recently he has hosted the TV Food Network’s programs Doorknock Dinners , Follow That Food and the Fine Living network’s The Genuine Article, and was the TV pitchman for Campbell’s Soup in the early 2000s. He had a recurring role on Oz as the host of a game show that was popular with the inmates. He formed his own production company, Follow Productions, in 1999. This company produces Paula Deen’s Home Cooking, Paula’s Best Dishes, and Paula’s Party for Food Network. In 2007, he won a daytime Emmy for Best Lifestyle Series for his work on Paula Deen’s Home Cooking.

In 2010, he began producing Spice & Easy for Food Network. He was also the executive producer and off-screen announcer for the lifestyle show The Chew, which aired from 2011 to 2018 as a part of ABC’s daytime lineup.