Since hosting Deal or no Deal for 10, Grant Denyer has been surprised by the reasons some contestants have signed up to compete.
Yes there is the cash prize, but he has learned of deeper motivations too.
“I thought people would be frivolous with their aspirations for the money. I thought they’d be coming on to pay for a sleeve of tattoos, or some Botox, or a golden Lamborghini, or just stupid stuff,” he tells TV Tonight.
“We had a 22 year old who was born without a hand. She wanted to win enough money so she could have some prosthetics …. we’ve got people who are coming on to win money to be able to afford IVF… we had 96 year old Jack, the oldest contestant in Australian history who just wanted to win enough money to afford a push lawn mower so he can mow the lawns of the ladies houses in the retirement village!
“This has got far more heart, humour and humanity than I expected it to have.”
“So whilst some game shows work when they just hurry up and push through the mechanism, this has got far more heart, humour and humanity than I expected it to have.”
A gentler, kinder Deal -if such a beast exists- has also afforded Denyer time to reflect on his own television trajectory, from regional TV reporting to weather presenter, variety then game show host. It wasn’t all perfect, nor smooth for the boy from Hallam, Victoria.
“I was not a very authentic host. I didn’t have a lot of self confidence. I had a lot of fear and doubt that kind of ran my operating system. I didn’t believe I was enough. So I would only ever make myself parts of other presenters that I saw on television, and I would copy their best bits, because I think that’s what people wanted to see. Going on to win the Gold Logie I thought, ‘Maybe I am enough. Maybe I’ve done enough, maybe it is okay to be me.’ But that took 46 years to happen,” he reveals.
“I didn’t think I had much to offer the world. I knew I wasn’t very smart. I was not going to be able to make my way into the industry through the front door, like everyone else….. I had terrible self confidence, and very little love for myself. Which is only something that I’ve been able to work on recently.”
But there were others who offered great opportunity for advancement, and saw something in the young reporter, even where he didn’t.
“Blokes like the News Director at Prime TV Wagga, Doug Hogan, folks like (Sunrise producer) Adam Boland, thankfully saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself and they were the forks in the road that led me to where I am today. So I’m pretty grateful for a couple of those people in my life.”
“I used to be terrified of bad stories”
There were dark days, health injuries, tabloid rumours and failed television projects.
“I used to be terrified of bad stories, because you had no control over when they were going to come out and what they were going to be. And we weren’t able to fight back. A network needs those magazines on board to help promote their shows and make them successful,” Denyer continues.
“But you didn’t know what was going to be said about you next or where it was going to come from. You lived your life in fear of when that was going to be. But doing the podcast gave us a right of reply, and we could correct at least the narratives and tell the truth to our stories and that, thankfully, kind of shut most of the made-up media down. We took control back of our own story which was nice.”
Now at the age of 46, the father of three acknowledges failures along the way have contributed to his success, including all the way the industry ‘pinnacle’ the coveted Gold Logie.
“I’m showing my girls now, the greatest thing that happened to me were my failures, because they redirect you back into a much better purpose,” he admits.
“I think being the father of three little girls, you don’t want them to have to endure the same way you had to. So I’m trying to rewire myself and show them a better way forward than than how I suffered. Because I ultimately wasn’t very happy for a very long time. I just didn’t think I was worth anything.”
“Trying to turn around the six o’clock timeslot is one of the toughest challenges, if not the toughest challenge, in television.”
Deal or No Deal has lifted 10’s 6pm timeslot and now ventures into a series of Celebrity Jackpot Specials, as Tom Gleeson, Judges Andy Allen, Sofia Levin, Skye Wheatley, Collingwood Captain Darcy Moore, Matildas champion Kyah Simon, and Gogglebox cast compete for charity.
“We added three extra cases to open, because it’s a slightly elongated format. It allows more room to play and muck around and it exposes us to a different time slot as well. As you know, trying to turn around the six o’clock timeslot is one of the toughest challenges, if not the toughest challenge, in television,” he notes.
“People are still only discovering us. It’s early days, whilst we’ve doubled the time slot already, and on the way to tripling it, it’s the long game we’re playing.”
If he sounds content with his lot, hopefully it shows on screen too, making all the work worth the effort.
“I think everyone looks at my life and goes, ‘He’s got it made he’s got an easy ride.’ It wasn’t an easy ride. It mentally took a lot to overcome, because I didn’t think I had anything to offer anyone. That kind of mental attitude is pretty crippling. I feel like I did it despite the odds.”
Deal or No Deal Celebrity: Jackpot Specials begin 7:30pm Monday July 22 on 10.
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