July 20, 2024 • 29 mins
Hi Guys, welcome back to TV Reload. Thank you for clicking or downloading on today’s episode Grant Denyer. Who is taking his little Deal or No Deal show to prime time this week… with some celebrity editions of the hit game show.
Lining up for the chance to win $250,000 for their chosen charity is Gold Logie winning comedian Tom Gleeson, MasterChef Australia Judges Andy Allen and Sofia Levin, the stars of Gogglebox Australia and some of the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here alumni! Including this years winner Skye Wheatley.
It’s funny I was super self conscious of having a cold this week and after talking to Grant I fund out he in fact had a cold while filming these TV special we are talking about today… Now that I knew this I went and watched a few of the preview episodes and now all I can see and hear is the cold in his voice.
- We will unpack Grant relationship with Tom Gleeson from Gold Logie’s drama’s to what their relationship is really like behind the scenes?
- I will find out what the big differences are between having celebrities play Deal or No Deal over the general public and what Grant thought may have been a big issue with celebrities not playing for the price they get to keep
- We will talk about why Grant is actually the most comfortable he has ever been in his skin and which reality show was the turning point!
- We will dive deep into why he isn’t on the Paramount + reboot of Top gear Australia with juicy details as to what actually happened
There is so much to unpack with Grant. So sit back and relax as we unpack his life and love of Television in the midst of these Deal or No Deal Special Editions.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload, the podcast last Deep Thereby. Hey guys, welcome
back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for
clicking and downloading on today's episode with Grant Daniel, who
is taking his Little Deal or No Deal show to
primetime this week, with some celebrity editions of the hit
game show lining up for the chance to win two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars for their chosen charity. Is
(00:22):
Gold Logie winning comedian Tom Gleeson, MASTERSHEF Australian judges Andy
Allen and Sophie Levin, The Stars a Gogglebox Australia, and
some of the I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out if
You're alumni, including this year's winner Sky Wheatley. It is funny.
I was super self conscious about having a cold this week,
and after talking to Grant I found out that in fact,
(00:42):
he had a cold while filming all of these TV specials.
Now that I know that he had a cold, I
actually went back and watched a few of the preview
episodes I had. As a genius of television, he manages
to hide it completely and I think most audiences unless
they're listening to this podcast will have any idea that
he had a cold. We will unpack Grant's relationship with
(01:02):
Tom Gleeson from gold Logi's drama to what their relationship
is really like behind the scenes. I will find out
what the big differences are between having celebrities play Deal
on No Deal over the general public and what Grant
thought may have been a big issue with the celebrities
not playing for a prize that they get to keep.
We will talk about why Grant is actually the most
(01:23):
comfortable he has ever been in his skin and which
reality show was where the turning point was. We will
dive deep into why he isn't on the Paramount plus
reboot of Top Care Australia with some juicy details as
to what actually happened, which I think is going to
surprise some people. There is so much to unpack with Grant,
so sit back and relax as we unpack his life
(01:46):
and his love of television in the midst of these
Deal or No Deal celebrity additions. This is quite surreal
because I've just been sitting here all morning watching Deal
on No Deal, watching as many episodes as I can.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Too much.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Danie is never an that's a policy. We've got a
T shirt of that at my house. How are you,
mister Grant Danny?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
That's really really good. What do you think?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I'm obsessed? But can I just be really really honest
because I noticed a couple of times through this celebrity
edition that you call people out for maybe not watching
the show. So I just want you to know it
is often on in our house because it is one
of my partner's favorite shows, so he is watching it
all the time. But I've only ever been sort of
like coming in and out of the room where I've
(02:26):
now been plowing through episodes. It's kind of like scratches
from down at the news agency. Once you've scratched one,
you just want to keep scratching them all.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That's amazing. That's so good to hear. I really appreciate that. Look,
we haven't been on air that long, right, it's sort
of it's a new return to Delhi, and it's still
making waves and people are starting to find it now,
which is really nice. So the rating driw coming up.
But more importantly, it's so much fun that I thought
it would be.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
When game shows came back around. For you, did you
make a conscious decision to try and do anything differently.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, yeah, see, look, I obviously didn't hoste it in
the past. You know, I was aware of it back
in the day. And that's kind of like the most
nerve wrecking thing about doing this is, you know, can
I make it my own? How do I evolve it?
How can I make it more fun? Is that even possible?
So I kind of really felt the pressure about taking
it on. But I'm also I'm a pretty competitive guy,
(03:18):
and I'm up for a challenge. And I knew that
six pm was a bit of a troubled slot for ten,
and you know, I take great pride in kind of
help driving its return. I think the show is so
much more fun than I expected. It's way more dramatic
than I gave it credit for, and it's just funnier
and it's got more heart than I ever anticipated. So
I think it's a perfect alternative to the News at
(03:40):
six and I'm so glad that families have fallen in
love with it.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
As I'm watching these episodes, I think to myself, do
you ever turn up and not have that energy? I've
got a cold. At the moment, I was thinking, what
does Grant and you do when you turn up and
you have a cold, or is there just like an
energizer like Tesla charger thing that you plug yourself into.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, I'll let you a little thigret. I had a
cold doing those special I was starting to lose my voice.
But I think the cool part is is that you
don't have to fake anything. The jeopardy is real. The
stakes are high because the money is genuine, but the
moment that it produces of filliness and laughter coming thick
and fast, right, So it's not like you're having to pretend.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
The vibe is.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So high in the room, like it blows the roof off,
you know, the crowd they go nuts like a rock
constant in there because you got to remember, in normal
episode they all have the chance of playing next, so
everyone's really invested in how the game is going for
the player. And yeah, when you're staring down the barrel
of winning one hundred grand I don't need to pretend.
(04:38):
All the ingredients are red hot. And it is such
an entertaining watch. So it's a pleasure to turn up
to work, and that energy of mine is genuine. I'm
not a great actor. I'm not a great pretender. So
what you're seeing is me just having the time of
my life. I genuinely love this so much more than
I anticipated. It's a beautiful surprise.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Being in your audience for as long as I have
been and enjoying you on television for many years, I
I've noticed something about you though. You have an ability
to make people feel special. And I don't know whether
that's been on the ship the whole way or whether
that's something that you learned. I can imagine little grand
Daniel like making people feel special, like it's it's always
been a part of you. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
It's very gorgeous thing to say, and I really appreciate that. Yeah,
I was always trying to make people smile, you know,
as a little kid, you know, a really happy, very
sensitive little kid, and when life is difficult, I always
wanted to put a smile on your face and make
you feel better again. And that's I still have that
in me as an adult. Right So I look at
(05:41):
television and go, Okay, life hard. We're struggling to put
food on the table and pay for a roof over
our head. So television can be a great form of escape.
It can take you a million miles away from your troubles.
I love that about television, and so I feel like
it's my duty that if you have been there your
half hour and chosen to watch my show, it's my
(06:03):
duty to give you the best time possible. That's how
I reward you for choosing to spend your time with us.
That's my only role, that's my number one job. And
I like making people feel good, you know, and I
think TV is a pretty unusual experience to someone who
hast done it before. So with a contestant, if you
can make it feel like a safe, fun space, and
(06:24):
then the hero, they shine, and then the TV show saws.
So I want them to be comfortable, you know, I
want them to share their funniest stories, you know, they're
saddest heartbreaks or I wanted to see what the money
means to them. So I think it's very important to
make the contestant the hero. Not everyone does that, no,
you know.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
They really don't. It's also I think you've got a
very good, active listening face, like you're genuinely interested in
what people have to say, whether they're celebrities or their
every day punters.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
You know, yeah, I really appreciate what you're saying. You know,
not everyone has noticed that or says that back to me,
and that really means a lot. I want them to
have a good time, you know. That's all that it's about.
If the contestant has a great time, the audience really
loves watching it, and that's when I know, you know,
I've done my job. So I take it really seriously.
You know, I'm deeply passionate about making television. I adore
(07:17):
doing it. It's my twenty seventh year of working in Telli,
and you know, I'm still refining how I do it.
You know, I feel like I'm at my best at
the moment, you know, and I've done a lot of
great stuff. I'm also a bit more of an evolved
person now and gone through hardships and I've reshaped myself
and rebuilt myself and worked on myself until you know,
(07:39):
I feel like I'm a better person. So yeah, it's
you come from a place of security and evolution, and
I feel like I'm giving the most that I've ever
given and it's probably the first time in my life
where I'm really truly me. I think as a kid
growing up, I had pretty poor self confidence, you know,
no self worth and smart. But yeah, to make it,
(08:03):
I didn't think that I was enough, so I would
pretend to be other people or pieces of other successful people,
you know. I would take a bit of what Rod
was doing, or Darryl someone was doing, or but you
were doing, or Larry imd or whatever. Right, I'd just
be pieces of them because I didn't feel like I
could be myself, because I didn't think I was worth anything.
(08:24):
But now I'm kind of I feel like this is
the first time I've truly been one hundred percent me.
It feels good.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I think you collect your stories, you know, and I
think it's interesting when you talk about some of those
legends of television that you've probably borrowed from. It's hard
not to let sort of that wash over you. And
I think it's important sometimes to watch other people's work
and borrow certain things that suits you, and then it
still is quite authentic.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I think we all do it. We all do
it no matter what job you do. We turn up
and we put on a version of ourselves, the best
version of ourselves. But when you don't feel like you
are very good, or if you're driven by fear, that
I'm going to fail, or I'm not enough, or they're
going to hate me, or I'm not smart enough. You
tend to put on a manufactured facade, and I was
(09:12):
just I was just wearing a patchwork coat of all
these other personalities, and I'd wear it like a suit
of armor because I just didn't think I had what
it takes to be able to do it authentically. Until
now it's kind of nice, you know. Maybe it was
a gold LOGI I don't know. I think that gave
me permission to relax, that maybe I was enough, maybe
(09:34):
I didn't have to be anyone else, And so it
gave me the kind of permission and the comfort to
just be me. And it was relieving because it had
been exhausting.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It was funny. I went to a friend's place for lunch,
actually someone that you know, Evie Jones, and she had
a friend there.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Gorgeous woman.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, she was lovely. She said to say hello. She
rang me before, but we were at her place and
she brought over a girlfriend who read my cards. The
interesting thing that this person told me was that I
was exhausted by trying to be what I thought other
people wanted me to be.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Uh, huh.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And that really resonated with me, and I just it
was almost like she gave me permission at that point
to stop having to try and lift my energy, to
try and impress other people, and to just sit back
and be myself. And it was just it has been
a relief just to want to be me.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
What a beautiful gift. Yeah, And sometimes it takes someone
else to point that out or say that to you
for your body to believe it. Yeah, I agree, and
you let that set in and it changes your life.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, I couldn't have kept functioning, you know, back in
the early day the way I was. I've reached chronic
fatigue before, and I think that was because I was
exhausted from the act that I was playing, you know.
I remember Jim Grey, one of his famous sayings is
depression is you need deep rest from the character that
you've been playing, and that you don't want to do
that anymore, or you kind of the energy to do
(10:53):
that anymore. And I think I've been guilty of that.
And that's just that little little boy again, at little
seven year old, who was just trying to make everyone
happy and if someone was hurting or feeling down, that
you know, he would try and entertain them better. If
that takes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Yeah, I mean is very interesting because I think he
grew up from a broken family and he wanted to
make both of his parents I think laugh. I think
he had a complicated relationship with them both. I think
I believe I'm grabbing that fact, but I just think
that there's sometimes there's that within us. I think more
more sensitive boys, and we're growing up in those environments.
(11:30):
We learn that it's a currency to make people laugh,
and it's important currency.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, a hundredercent agree. I completely agree with you, And
I think that's why I put such value and importance
on giving everyone who watches your show the best possible
half hour of their lives. Because what a great gift
if you can put a smile on someone's face or
take them away from thinking about, you know, the issues
that they've got going on in their life, give them
(11:58):
some relief from that, even if it was just half
an hour. And what a beautiful privilege to have to
be a part of Deal or no Deal has reached
celebrity status now, I think every star it's out.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
That's the plus. Yes, you've got a big budget here.
Maybe they can get your milk crape. That would be
good deals prime Time Celebrity Specials.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I know how to host showst with the look that
you've got. I think you're going to open the briefcase
and drugs are going to fall out.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Deal or No Deal.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Celebrity Specials starts Monday, July twenty two, fin Tenants and Play.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I wanted to ask you a really cheeky question about
this show though, what's the difference. Did you notice the
difference between talking to the celebrities in this format versus
having your everyday punters on the show? Was there a
tifferent level of energy?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, obviously some of them are entertainers, so that you know,
that gives you a pretty easy and instant dynamic to
have fun with. I thought that because the money doesn't
go to them, it goes to charity, that maybe they
might not be he as invested as a regular everyday contentive.
But that wasn't the case. I was surprised at how
(13:07):
they felt the drama, Like even like Tom Gleason, right,
he can stuff around a lot, like his act is
obviously could be you know, he lampoons everyone. You know,
he insults everyone. He's an asshole. That he's made a
great living out of playing that character.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Right, so on his shirt, hard quiz.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
You know you only get insults and a twenty dollars
plastic cup at the end if you win. Here we
had quarter of a million dollars, And so I wasn't
sure if he would buy into the intensity of this,
but it's obviously he felt it. And then to see
nice qualities come out of him and kind of feel
the obligation to win big and do the right thing
(13:48):
and have a soul, have some heart. It was kind
of really refreshing to see him in a slightly different light.
I think he's just used to slinging mud around everywhere,
but this was kind of it was really playful, you know,
he was he was in my house this time, and
it was nice to see him squirm, but also nice
to see him, you know, do something nice and pull
(14:08):
off a big win for a great cause. And I
think it surprised him how much fun he had, and
it surprised him how much he felt for it.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
The banter between the two of you is phenomenal. Some
people might take offense to some of what he says
to people, but you were very quick and you came
back with things. That also is a really hard thing
to do because by nature, when someone throws us something sassy,
you can easily say something sassy back that can land badly.
Where with you you continue to throw things back and
(14:38):
forth between the two of you in a way that
it was still funny. There was nothing mean about what
the two of you were really saying.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
And that's a skilling's a rival game show host hate
one another. And he took a lot to get to
know because he doesn't let his guard down very much.
And you can tell all the rest of the comedians
were afraid of him because no one would pile oft right.
They all had their guns in the holster like no
one was. No one wants to take him out with
something neat because it's hard to out.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Me the bad guy, right the course, the biggest and
baddest of them all.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
But he and I have history and respect for one another,
and it was playful and it was fun. I didn't
want to I didn't want to hit too hard because
you know I also you want to create the space
so he can perform and he can shine, because when
he shines, then the whole show wins, right, So I
wanted him to come in own the space just and
(15:33):
just be Tom. So yeah, I knew he was going
to take a few hits, and I wanted afraid to
take a few shots in return.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
You know, is that your normal relationship is that the
banter that you guys would normally have. Is that kind
of what gets thrown back and forward when you guys
run into each other at your industry events.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It is It is now like I have a complicated
relationship with Tom because like back in twenty eighteen, it's
very last minute. He jumped on my gold Logi band
and sort of hijacked the campaign and there's something I
could do or say, and whilst he just used it
as a pr opportunity, you know, for himself, I didn't
(16:12):
really want him to do that, to be honest, I
thought if I won, well, then people would just think
that it was just because he won it for me,
and so I was I was got a little shirty
at the time. I could see what he was doing.
He was just maximizing the moment, you know, for himself.
But it sort of made my LOGI win a bit
complicated because it just there were too many questions and
it was sort of sort of made a little bit
(16:32):
of a mockery of the win, which was sort of,
you know, if you gotta win, I want to win
on my own terms. I don't want to I don't
want or need any help. And then if if if
I did win, you know, everyone would just say it
was only just because he he jumped on board. And
so I got over that pretty quick, and we have
a really great relationship now because he's although he looks
(16:54):
very mean spirited, there's a really sweet person deep deep,
deep down underneath. You have to almost get to the
center of the onion defied that. But he's actually quite
a sweet person in real life. So he gets me,
I get him. We both go about our world very differently,
but we just happened to do the same job.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Do you think it kind of changed the way the
logis were seen in a way? I think that there
was sort of a bit of a jump the shark
moment in some of that. And do you think that
there's still the same respect for the logis, I guess
in some ways. Or do you think it's returned back like.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
It's just it's an industry award and you can't expect
the rest of the country to value it, that it's
just an industry patting itself on the back. You're not
saving lives, You're just holding a little gold trophy. But
when Tom said the following year when he wanted, he said,
if you want one of these, then you are a wanker.
And I just wanted a previous year. And it meant
(17:49):
the world to me because I've been in television. I
sixteen and I love it with all my heart and
it's given wonderful life. And because I was such a
pretender my whole life, pretending you know that I knew
what I was doing, that I was good enough to
do the job, you know, and I finally want it
didn't mean a lot to me, you know. It you know,
brought me to tears, and it was beautiful culmination, you know,
(18:12):
of a career I'm very proud of. So it really
hurt my feelings when he said, if you want one
of these, yere awanka, And I know he was just
telling jokes and.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Hard to know that though you know, with him, you know,
like that's his brand, and I give you were to
really sit down and talk to him about that, he
liked the rest of Australia would have been so happy
for you for winning that award. I think he would
have been so happy about that as we all were,
and he would be in your audience. But it's hard
to decipher when he's being Tom Gleason and when he's
(18:40):
being Tom Gleason, if that makes anything.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
What I know now is that's not what he meant,
and that's not who he is. And that's when I
really got to know Time and really got to like him.
I love watching him sway on stage. You know, I
think you know. My job has been for me to
be successful in doing what I do, I have to
have the least amount of people hate me as possible.
(19:03):
That's the number one key focus for trying to have
a longevity in a career. He's gone there completely out
of the way where he's made himself. He's made an
unlikable character lovable, which is bold and courageous and funny
and daring and naughty, and that's ball the ads because
(19:25):
Australian audiences are very judgmental. They know what they like
and they don't tolerate much. And by saying everything, by
saying what everyone is thinking but refuses to say, he's
made this incredible mark on the industry and I couldn't
do that. I couldn't walk that pass. It wouldn't work
(19:46):
for me. But it's so exciting that he does it
because it just feels risky and fun.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Do We all have our superpower though? And I always
think for you, your superpower is your vulnerability on television. I
always think of you being like the selling Field of
Australian television. I remember a review for Sally Field was
when Sally Field cries, America cries when Grant ten Your cries,
whether it's on Dancing with the Stars, I'm telling you
cried on a lot of things. And I remember this
(20:14):
because I cried with you, my friend. I felt like,
it's such an amazing thing to be vulnerable on television
with these platforms, and whenever you've done it, the sincerity
of the whole thing and the fact that we're all
rooting for you makes it such a big and emotional,
celebrated moment of television.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Oh thank you. Yeah. I think it's because I was
afraid of all of those emotions for most of my life.
I thought being sad or lonely or upset or like
your failure was a sign of weakness, right, and it
should be hidden at all costs. And I also feel
(20:54):
like I'm sort of part of the problem, right I'm
in pretending to be the TV present that I thought
everyone wanted to watch, and you know, smiling and all
day and pretending everything's perfect. I felt like I was
kind of part of the problem that everyone's supposed to
portray the perfect version of themselves. So once iok it
to a point where I was kind of, you know,
(21:15):
I'd worked on a shit, you know, I've done a
lot of therapy and different forms of health treatments to
kind of, you know, work on my less favorable aspects
of my personality. You know, then I thought, well and
started in the Jungle show. To be honest, it started
it I'm a celebrity where I'm like, I'm just going
(21:36):
to go with whatever comes up, and I'm going to
try not to filter it out. And everything comes up
pretty raw and real and fast in there, and I
just was like, normally I would joke my way out
of it, I would avoid those feelings at all costs,
I would run the other direction. And I was like,
I'm going to sit with this, And it allowed me
(21:56):
to kind of identify things that I didn't like that
weren't working for me, and aspects of my character that
I wasn't particularly proud of. And I kind of took
a stock take of all of those and had so
much time to burn in there in the jungle that
you just were able to work on them and slowly
kind of rebuild yourself. And that's when I sort of
(22:17):
found the courage kind of just let those emotions be.
And I sort of haven't hidden the fact, you know,
on television sort of since, and so it wasn't a
deliberate act. But yeah, I'm really glad I found the
courage to do it because it's sort of it's made
a better me.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
It's happy to me, but it's funny. You can also
adopt these things that you you know when you're growing up.
But I remember, for me, people used to make fun
of my voice and I was like, yeah, I do
have a weird voice to sound a cross between Kermit
the Frog and Rove after too many drinks. And I
didn't like it, you know, and I really pushed against
that for so long, and then I realized that that
actually the things that I hated about myself were actually
(22:56):
my superpowers. And the minute that I stopped trying to
push these things away which were inherent in me. I
couldn't get rid of them. The moment that I started
to appreciate them was the moment that success started to
come in.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
The eristure of war with yourself right, and the universe
is not going If you're not operating from a place
of gratitude, the universe might give you more. So I think, yeah,
I would either. I completely agree with what you're what
you're saying there, Yeah, it's yeah, it's I'm trying to
teach my girls that, you know you failure is a
(23:28):
gift because you learn more from failure than you do
your successes. You don't learn anything from your successes. To
be honest, the best things that have ever happened in
my life have been the things that were the hardest
and the things that went wrong, because they're also they're roadblocks.
A failure is a roadblock that gets you to turn
around and go in a different direction, the direction you're
probably supposed to go in the first place. Right their
life correction. There there's signposts to push you onto the
(23:53):
course you're supposed to be on. Whereas I was afraid
of failure, I have massive perfectionism syndrome where it it's
almost it's crippling, like it's paralyzing, and it wasn't serving me.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
So yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Once you embrace the things that you originally didn't like,
you soften and you allow great things into your life
because you're not so closed off. You know, you're not
trying to hide everything from everyone, and you're right, gifts
start flowing your way. Of course, when I was a kid,
you know, I hated being short. You know, I was
really sensitive about my height, you know, so eighty percent
(24:27):
of my life. And now it's not an issue because
I've kind of worked on all the other emotional reasons
as to why that was problematic for me, you know,
low self esteem, you know, poor confidence and little self worth,
and now you know my height, I don't feel anything
about it anymore. It's not an issue.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
I like the idea of rejections being gifts, you know,
the rejections that we've had along the way. Kind of
what you were saying before was sort of guiding us,
and the moment we can sort of accept that. And
I know that when you talk about your height, you
talk about these things that you said to yourself wasn't
good enough. You know, in some ways that's just your
lesson to learn. And then when you look at what
you're doing now, Grant, like you, my friend, have leveled up.
(25:05):
It is so much fun to watch. It's inspiring. It's
great television. And I had like a thousand questions to
ask you today about you know, how many episodes you
film in a day, all of these things that are
sort of like kitch questions that you're going to ask
someone when you have them on a podcast. But here
we are. You've given me the raw, Grant, Daniel, and
it is amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
It's nice, I know, and these are It's not like
I'm there's any language of it's learned.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
For most of my lists, I didn't have the words
to describe these things that we're talking about now. I'm
so glad I've got the vocabulary now through hard work
and self searching. But yeah, it's you know, my job
now is to ensure that the things that I've learned
at say forty six, you know, my kids hopefully get
at fifteen. My personality failures as a kid with the
driving factors to create the person and the career that
(25:51):
I've got now. You know. I wanted to be seen
and heard and validated, you know, and loved. And I
think I used all those those ingreeted and to forge
this television careerause it came from a place of emptiness
that I needed feeling. And Yeah, I don't want my
daughters to spend their whole life searching, you know, to
fill the gap, you know, to fill the hole that's
(26:12):
inside them, you know. I want them to know that
they are enough from the start.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I have to let you go because I've run out
of time. I honestly could talk to you forever, and
I feel like this has been a really interesting counseling
session that I didn't think I needed today, but I've
definitely I feel like I've learned a lot out of this.
I've finished the podcast by asking a question about something
from behind the scenes, and I thought maybe I should
ask you what everyone was thinking this year when they
brought back top Gear Australia on Paramount Plus. It just
(26:39):
seemed to me like that show was yours. Did they
call you for that show? Did you audition for that show?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I want to know, I'm a surprised as you are.
To be honest, I felt like.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
My whole life was leading up to this role.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, being a multi championship winning race car driver who's
still racing cars and a television host, I thought, I
thought maybe it might have been enough. But I think
perhaps what might have got in the way is I
think Channel ten might have known that deal or no
deal was around the corner, and I wasn't aware of
it at that particular point. So I think they knew
(27:11):
that maybe both shows could be filming at the same time,
and that ruled me out. But I'm a massive fan
of the format, So yeah, I'm super jealous of those
guys getting one of them gets big.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
You got to go there, that's your job.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Oh man, I've been seeing the promos and then he
makes me cry quickly, like.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Have you been able to watch it?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
I can't bring myself to watch your full episode because
it would have been unreal. But I'm not sure in
fact that they did ring me. Okay, And but what
happened was Dany gave me a few days notice and
they said, oh, we're going to do a chemistry test
with a couple of other potential hosts. Can you come down?
And I was racing in the Bathurst twelve hour race
(27:51):
for Lamborghini and I was like, I can't make it.
I'm racing this weekend. And they're like, oh, if you
can't make it to the chemistry test, well then you
don't get the gig. And I was like, are you
listen to me? I said, I'm actually racing, and you're
saying that that's the only time that we could do this.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
They said yep.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'm like, okay, well, yes that's me.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
At least the call came through. As long as you
know that most of Australia was thinking, where's great, Dan,
You're on this show right now?
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Because even way back way back in iore when it
break my back, I was lying still for like four months,
you know, recovering from that, and I just watched Endless
episode after episode after episode of Top Year.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
So all my family bought me all the box at DBDs.
So it was part of my recovery in therapy. So
I'm deeply kind of connected to the show as well
as a massive car fan, right, So yeah, it's it
was the one that got away.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
You can't win them all.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I guess it'll happen. I'm putting it out there. I'm
putting it the head into the universe. I swear that
that's going to happen at some point, and they won't
need three. You've got enough personality to just do that
one by yourself. I just want to say thank you
so much for you being so generous with your time
and for what you shared today. I've had such a
good fine talking to you. I always do. You're a
genius amongst geniuses of television, and I'm in your audience.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Oh bless you. This has been so much fun. I
didn't think we were going to go to the places
that we went to.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We hadn't, but I'm glad.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I'm really go we did. It was it was gorgeous,
warm and safe and and good for the soul.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Absolutely, I think there's something in that for all of us.
Look After will give some love to Evie Jaines for me,
I will do. We'll do great to chat
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload, the podcast last Deep Thereby. Hey guys, welcome
back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for
clicking and downloading on today's episode with Grant Daniel, who
is taking his Little Deal or No Deal show to
primetime this week, with some celebrity editions of the hit
game show lining up for the chance to win two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars for their chosen charity. Is
(00:22):
Gold Logie winning comedian Tom Gleeson, MASTERSHEF Australian judges Andy
Allen and Sophie Levin, The Stars a Gogglebox Australia, and
some of the I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out if
You're alumni, including this year's winner Sky Wheatley. It is funny.
I was super self conscious about having a cold this week,
and after talking to Grant I found out that in fact,
(00:42):
he had a cold while filming all of these TV specials.
Now that I know that he had a cold, I
actually went back and watched a few of the preview
episodes I had. As a genius of television, he manages
to hide it completely and I think most audiences unless
they're listening to this podcast will have any idea that
he had a cold. We will unpack Grant's relationship with
(01:02):
Tom Gleeson from gold Logi's drama to what their relationship
is really like behind the scenes. I will find out
what the big differences are between having celebrities play Deal
on No Deal over the general public and what Grant
thought may have been a big issue with the celebrities
not playing for a prize that they get to keep.
We will talk about why Grant is actually the most
(01:23):
comfortable he has ever been in his skin and which
reality show was where the turning point was. We will
dive deep into why he isn't on the Paramount plus
reboot of Top Care Australia with some juicy details as
to what actually happened, which I think is going to
surprise some people. There is so much to unpack with Grant,
so sit back and relax as we unpack his life
(01:46):
and his love of television in the midst of these
Deal or No Deal celebrity additions. This is quite surreal
because I've just been sitting here all morning watching Deal
on No Deal, watching as many episodes as I can.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Too much.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Danie is never an that's a policy. We've got a
T shirt of that at my house. How are you,
mister Grant Danny?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
That's really really good. What do you think?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I'm obsessed? But can I just be really really honest
because I noticed a couple of times through this celebrity
edition that you call people out for maybe not watching
the show. So I just want you to know it
is often on in our house because it is one
of my partner's favorite shows, so he is watching it
all the time. But I've only ever been sort of
like coming in and out of the room where I've
(02:26):
now been plowing through episodes. It's kind of like scratches
from down at the news agency. Once you've scratched one,
you just want to keep scratching them all.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That's amazing. That's so good to hear. I really appreciate that. Look,
we haven't been on air that long, right, it's sort
of it's a new return to Delhi, and it's still
making waves and people are starting to find it now,
which is really nice. So the rating driw coming up.
But more importantly, it's so much fun that I thought
it would be.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
When game shows came back around. For you, did you
make a conscious decision to try and do anything differently.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, yeah, see, look, I obviously didn't hoste it in
the past. You know, I was aware of it back
in the day. And that's kind of like the most
nerve wrecking thing about doing this is, you know, can
I make it my own? How do I evolve it?
How can I make it more fun? Is that even possible?
So I kind of really felt the pressure about taking
it on. But I'm also I'm a pretty competitive guy,
(03:18):
and I'm up for a challenge. And I knew that
six pm was a bit of a troubled slot for ten,
and you know, I take great pride in kind of
help driving its return. I think the show is so
much more fun than I expected. It's way more dramatic
than I gave it credit for, and it's just funnier
and it's got more heart than I ever anticipated. So
I think it's a perfect alternative to the News at
(03:40):
six and I'm so glad that families have fallen in
love with it.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
As I'm watching these episodes, I think to myself, do
you ever turn up and not have that energy? I've
got a cold. At the moment, I was thinking, what
does Grant and you do when you turn up and
you have a cold, or is there just like an
energizer like Tesla charger thing that you plug yourself into.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, I'll let you a little thigret. I had a
cold doing those special I was starting to lose my voice.
But I think the cool part is is that you
don't have to fake anything. The jeopardy is real. The
stakes are high because the money is genuine, but the
moment that it produces of filliness and laughter coming thick
and fast, right, So it's not like you're having to pretend.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
The vibe is.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So high in the room, like it blows the roof off,
you know, the crowd they go nuts like a rock
constant in there because you got to remember, in normal
episode they all have the chance of playing next, so
everyone's really invested in how the game is going for
the player. And yeah, when you're staring down the barrel
of winning one hundred grand I don't need to pretend.
(04:38):
All the ingredients are red hot. And it is such
an entertaining watch. So it's a pleasure to turn up
to work, and that energy of mine is genuine. I'm
not a great actor. I'm not a great pretender. So
what you're seeing is me just having the time of
my life. I genuinely love this so much more than
I anticipated. It's a beautiful surprise.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Being in your audience for as long as I have
been and enjoying you on television for many years, I
I've noticed something about you though. You have an ability
to make people feel special. And I don't know whether
that's been on the ship the whole way or whether
that's something that you learned. I can imagine little grand
Daniel like making people feel special, like it's it's always
been a part of you. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
It's very gorgeous thing to say, and I really appreciate that. Yeah,
I was always trying to make people smile, you know,
as a little kid, you know, a really happy, very
sensitive little kid, and when life is difficult, I always
wanted to put a smile on your face and make
you feel better again. And that's I still have that
in me as an adult. Right So I look at
(05:41):
television and go, Okay, life hard. We're struggling to put
food on the table and pay for a roof over
our head. So television can be a great form of escape.
It can take you a million miles away from your troubles.
I love that about television, and so I feel like
it's my duty that if you have been there your
half hour and chosen to watch my show, it's my
(06:03):
duty to give you the best time possible. That's how
I reward you for choosing to spend your time with us.
That's my only role, that's my number one job. And
I like making people feel good, you know, and I
think TV is a pretty unusual experience to someone who
hast done it before. So with a contestant, if you
can make it feel like a safe, fun space, and
(06:24):
then the hero, they shine, and then the TV show saws.
So I want them to be comfortable, you know, I
want them to share their funniest stories, you know, they're
saddest heartbreaks or I wanted to see what the money
means to them. So I think it's very important to
make the contestant the hero. Not everyone does that, no,
you know.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
They really don't. It's also I think you've got a
very good, active listening face, like you're genuinely interested in
what people have to say, whether they're celebrities or their
every day punters.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
You know, yeah, I really appreciate what you're saying. You know,
not everyone has noticed that or says that back to me,
and that really means a lot. I want them to
have a good time, you know. That's all that it's about.
If the contestant has a great time, the audience really
loves watching it, and that's when I know, you know,
I've done my job. So I take it really seriously.
You know, I'm deeply passionate about making television. I adore
(07:17):
doing it. It's my twenty seventh year of working in Telli,
and you know, I'm still refining how I do it.
You know, I feel like I'm at my best at
the moment, you know, and I've done a lot of
great stuff. I'm also a bit more of an evolved
person now and gone through hardships and I've reshaped myself
and rebuilt myself and worked on myself until you know,
(07:39):
I feel like I'm a better person. So yeah, it's
you come from a place of security and evolution, and
I feel like I'm giving the most that I've ever
given and it's probably the first time in my life
where I'm really truly me. I think as a kid
growing up, I had pretty poor self confidence, you know,
no self worth and smart. But yeah, to make it,
(08:03):
I didn't think that I was enough, so I would
pretend to be other people or pieces of other successful people,
you know. I would take a bit of what Rod
was doing, or Darryl someone was doing, or but you
were doing, or Larry imd or whatever. Right, I'd just
be pieces of them because I didn't feel like I
could be myself, because I didn't think I was worth anything.
(08:24):
But now I'm kind of I feel like this is
the first time I've truly been one hundred percent me.
It feels good.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I think you collect your stories, you know, and I
think it's interesting when you talk about some of those
legends of television that you've probably borrowed from. It's hard
not to let sort of that wash over you. And
I think it's important sometimes to watch other people's work
and borrow certain things that suits you, and then it
still is quite authentic.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I think we all do it. We all do
it no matter what job you do. We turn up
and we put on a version of ourselves, the best
version of ourselves. But when you don't feel like you
are very good, or if you're driven by fear, that
I'm going to fail, or I'm not enough, or they're
going to hate me, or I'm not smart enough. You
tend to put on a manufactured facade, and I was
(09:12):
just I was just wearing a patchwork coat of all
these other personalities, and I'd wear it like a suit
of armor because I just didn't think I had what
it takes to be able to do it authentically. Until
now it's kind of nice, you know. Maybe it was
a gold LOGI I don't know. I think that gave
me permission to relax, that maybe I was enough, maybe
(09:34):
I didn't have to be anyone else, And so it
gave me the kind of permission and the comfort to
just be me. And it was relieving because it had
been exhausting.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It was funny. I went to a friend's place for lunch,
actually someone that you know, Evie Jones, and she had
a friend there.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Gorgeous woman.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, she was lovely. She said to say hello. She
rang me before, but we were at her place and
she brought over a girlfriend who read my cards. The
interesting thing that this person told me was that I
was exhausted by trying to be what I thought other
people wanted me to be.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Uh, huh.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And that really resonated with me, and I just it
was almost like she gave me permission at that point
to stop having to try and lift my energy, to
try and impress other people, and to just sit back
and be myself. And it was just it has been
a relief just to want to be me.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
What a beautiful gift. Yeah, And sometimes it takes someone
else to point that out or say that to you
for your body to believe it. Yeah, I agree, and
you let that set in and it changes your life.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, I couldn't have kept functioning, you know, back in
the early day the way I was. I've reached chronic
fatigue before, and I think that was because I was
exhausted from the act that I was playing, you know.
I remember Jim Grey, one of his famous sayings is
depression is you need deep rest from the character that
you've been playing, and that you don't want to do
that anymore, or you kind of the energy to do
(10:53):
that anymore. And I think I've been guilty of that.
And that's just that little little boy again, at little
seven year old, who was just trying to make everyone
happy and if someone was hurting or feeling down, that
you know, he would try and entertain them better. If
that takes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Yeah, I mean is very interesting because I think he
grew up from a broken family and he wanted to
make both of his parents I think laugh. I think
he had a complicated relationship with them both. I think
I believe I'm grabbing that fact, but I just think
that there's sometimes there's that within us. I think more
more sensitive boys, and we're growing up in those environments.
(11:30):
We learn that it's a currency to make people laugh,
and it's important currency.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, a hundredercent agree. I completely agree with you, And
I think that's why I put such value and importance
on giving everyone who watches your show the best possible
half hour of their lives. Because what a great gift
if you can put a smile on someone's face or
take them away from thinking about, you know, the issues
that they've got going on in their life, give them
(11:58):
some relief from that, even if it was just half
an hour. And what a beautiful privilege to have to
be a part of Deal or no Deal has reached
celebrity status now, I think every star it's out.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
That's the plus. Yes, you've got a big budget here.
Maybe they can get your milk crape. That would be
good deals prime Time Celebrity Specials.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I know how to host showst with the look that
you've got. I think you're going to open the briefcase
and drugs are going to fall out.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Deal or No Deal.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Celebrity Specials starts Monday, July twenty two, fin Tenants and Play.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I wanted to ask you a really cheeky question about
this show though, what's the difference. Did you notice the
difference between talking to the celebrities in this format versus
having your everyday punters on the show? Was there a
tifferent level of energy?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, obviously some of them are entertainers, so that you know,
that gives you a pretty easy and instant dynamic to
have fun with. I thought that because the money doesn't
go to them, it goes to charity, that maybe they
might not be he as invested as a regular everyday contentive.
But that wasn't the case. I was surprised at how
(13:07):
they felt the drama, Like even like Tom Gleason, right,
he can stuff around a lot, like his act is
obviously could be you know, he lampoons everyone. You know,
he insults everyone. He's an asshole. That he's made a
great living out of playing that character.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Right, so on his shirt, hard quiz.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
You know you only get insults and a twenty dollars
plastic cup at the end if you win. Here we
had quarter of a million dollars, And so I wasn't
sure if he would buy into the intensity of this,
but it's obviously he felt it. And then to see
nice qualities come out of him and kind of feel
the obligation to win big and do the right thing
(13:48):
and have a soul, have some heart. It was kind
of really refreshing to see him in a slightly different light.
I think he's just used to slinging mud around everywhere,
but this was kind of it was really playful, you know,
he was he was in my house this time, and
it was nice to see him squirm, but also nice
to see him, you know, do something nice and pull
(14:08):
off a big win for a great cause. And I
think it surprised him how much fun he had, and
it surprised him how much he felt for it.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
The banter between the two of you is phenomenal. Some
people might take offense to some of what he says
to people, but you were very quick and you came
back with things. That also is a really hard thing
to do because by nature, when someone throws us something sassy,
you can easily say something sassy back that can land badly.
Where with you you continue to throw things back and
(14:38):
forth between the two of you in a way that
it was still funny. There was nothing mean about what
the two of you were really saying.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
And that's a skilling's a rival game show host hate
one another. And he took a lot to get to
know because he doesn't let his guard down very much.
And you can tell all the rest of the comedians
were afraid of him because no one would pile oft right.
They all had their guns in the holster like no
one was. No one wants to take him out with
something neat because it's hard to out.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Me the bad guy, right the course, the biggest and
baddest of them all.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
But he and I have history and respect for one another,
and it was playful and it was fun. I didn't
want to I didn't want to hit too hard because
you know I also you want to create the space
so he can perform and he can shine, because when
he shines, then the whole show wins, right, So I
wanted him to come in own the space just and
(15:33):
just be Tom. So yeah, I knew he was going
to take a few hits, and I wanted afraid to
take a few shots in return.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
You know, is that your normal relationship is that the
banter that you guys would normally have. Is that kind
of what gets thrown back and forward when you guys
run into each other at your industry events.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It is It is now like I have a complicated
relationship with Tom because like back in twenty eighteen, it's
very last minute. He jumped on my gold Logi band
and sort of hijacked the campaign and there's something I
could do or say, and whilst he just used it
as a pr opportunity, you know, for himself, I didn't
(16:12):
really want him to do that, to be honest, I
thought if I won, well, then people would just think
that it was just because he won it for me,
and so I was I was got a little shirty
at the time. I could see what he was doing.
He was just maximizing the moment, you know, for himself.
But it sort of made my LOGI win a bit
complicated because it just there were too many questions and
it was sort of sort of made a little bit
(16:32):
of a mockery of the win, which was sort of,
you know, if you gotta win, I want to win
on my own terms. I don't want to I don't
want or need any help. And then if if if
I did win, you know, everyone would just say it
was only just because he he jumped on board. And
so I got over that pretty quick, and we have
a really great relationship now because he's although he looks
(16:54):
very mean spirited, there's a really sweet person deep deep,
deep down underneath. You have to almost get to the
center of the onion defied that. But he's actually quite
a sweet person in real life. So he gets me,
I get him. We both go about our world very differently,
but we just happened to do the same job.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Do you think it kind of changed the way the
logis were seen in a way? I think that there
was sort of a bit of a jump the shark
moment in some of that. And do you think that
there's still the same respect for the logis, I guess
in some ways. Or do you think it's returned back like.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
It's just it's an industry award and you can't expect
the rest of the country to value it, that it's
just an industry patting itself on the back. You're not
saving lives, You're just holding a little gold trophy. But
when Tom said the following year when he wanted, he said,
if you want one of these, then you are a wanker.
And I just wanted a previous year. And it meant
(17:49):
the world to me because I've been in television. I
sixteen and I love it with all my heart and
it's given wonderful life. And because I was such a
pretender my whole life, pretending you know that I knew
what I was doing, that I was good enough to
do the job, you know, and I finally want it
didn't mean a lot to me, you know. It you know,
brought me to tears, and it was beautiful culmination, you know,
(18:12):
of a career I'm very proud of. So it really
hurt my feelings when he said, if you want one
of these, yere awanka, And I know he was just
telling jokes and.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Hard to know that though you know, with him, you know,
like that's his brand, and I give you were to
really sit down and talk to him about that, he
liked the rest of Australia would have been so happy
for you for winning that award. I think he would
have been so happy about that as we all were,
and he would be in your audience. But it's hard
to decipher when he's being Tom Gleason and when he's
(18:40):
being Tom Gleason, if that makes anything.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
What I know now is that's not what he meant,
and that's not who he is. And that's when I
really got to know Time and really got to like him.
I love watching him sway on stage. You know, I
think you know. My job has been for me to
be successful in doing what I do, I have to
have the least amount of people hate me as possible.
(19:03):
That's the number one key focus for trying to have
a longevity in a career. He's gone there completely out
of the way where he's made himself. He's made an
unlikable character lovable, which is bold and courageous and funny
and daring and naughty, and that's ball the ads because
(19:25):
Australian audiences are very judgmental. They know what they like
and they don't tolerate much. And by saying everything, by
saying what everyone is thinking but refuses to say, he's
made this incredible mark on the industry and I couldn't
do that. I couldn't walk that pass. It wouldn't work
(19:46):
for me. But it's so exciting that he does it
because it just feels risky and fun.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Do We all have our superpower though? And I always
think for you, your superpower is your vulnerability on television. I
always think of you being like the selling Field of
Australian television. I remember a review for Sally Field was
when Sally Field cries, America cries when Grant ten Your cries,
whether it's on Dancing with the Stars, I'm telling you
cried on a lot of things. And I remember this
(20:14):
because I cried with you, my friend. I felt like,
it's such an amazing thing to be vulnerable on television
with these platforms, and whenever you've done it, the sincerity
of the whole thing and the fact that we're all
rooting for you makes it such a big and emotional,
celebrated moment of television.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Oh thank you. Yeah. I think it's because I was
afraid of all of those emotions for most of my life.
I thought being sad or lonely or upset or like
your failure was a sign of weakness, right, and it
should be hidden at all costs. And I also feel
(20:54):
like I'm sort of part of the problem, right I'm
in pretending to be the TV present that I thought
everyone wanted to watch, and you know, smiling and all
day and pretending everything's perfect. I felt like I was
kind of part of the problem that everyone's supposed to
portray the perfect version of themselves. So once iok it
to a point where I was kind of, you know,
(21:15):
I'd worked on a shit, you know, I've done a
lot of therapy and different forms of health treatments to
kind of, you know, work on my less favorable aspects
of my personality. You know, then I thought, well and
started in the Jungle show. To be honest, it started
it I'm a celebrity where I'm like, I'm just going
(21:36):
to go with whatever comes up, and I'm going to
try not to filter it out. And everything comes up
pretty raw and real and fast in there, and I
just was like, normally I would joke my way out
of it, I would avoid those feelings at all costs,
I would run the other direction. And I was like,
I'm going to sit with this, And it allowed me
(21:56):
to kind of identify things that I didn't like that
weren't working for me, and aspects of my character that
I wasn't particularly proud of. And I kind of took
a stock take of all of those and had so
much time to burn in there in the jungle that
you just were able to work on them and slowly
kind of rebuild yourself. And that's when I sort of
(22:17):
found the courage kind of just let those emotions be.
And I sort of haven't hidden the fact, you know,
on television sort of since, and so it wasn't a
deliberate act. But yeah, I'm really glad I found the
courage to do it because it's sort of it's made
a better me.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
It's happy to me, but it's funny. You can also
adopt these things that you you know when you're growing up.
But I remember, for me, people used to make fun
of my voice and I was like, yeah, I do
have a weird voice to sound a cross between Kermit
the Frog and Rove after too many drinks. And I
didn't like it, you know, and I really pushed against
that for so long, and then I realized that that
actually the things that I hated about myself were actually
(22:56):
my superpowers. And the minute that I stopped trying to
push these things away which were inherent in me. I
couldn't get rid of them. The moment that I started
to appreciate them was the moment that success started to
come in.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
The eristure of war with yourself right, and the universe
is not going If you're not operating from a place
of gratitude, the universe might give you more. So I think, yeah,
I would either. I completely agree with what you're what
you're saying there, Yeah, it's yeah, it's I'm trying to
teach my girls that, you know you failure is a
(23:28):
gift because you learn more from failure than you do
your successes. You don't learn anything from your successes. To
be honest, the best things that have ever happened in
my life have been the things that were the hardest
and the things that went wrong, because they're also they're roadblocks.
A failure is a roadblock that gets you to turn
around and go in a different direction, the direction you're
probably supposed to go in the first place. Right their
life correction. There there's signposts to push you onto the
(23:53):
course you're supposed to be on. Whereas I was afraid
of failure, I have massive perfectionism syndrome where it it's
almost it's crippling, like it's paralyzing, and it wasn't serving me.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
So yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Once you embrace the things that you originally didn't like,
you soften and you allow great things into your life
because you're not so closed off. You know, you're not
trying to hide everything from everyone, and you're right, gifts
start flowing your way. Of course, when I was a kid,
you know, I hated being short. You know, I was
really sensitive about my height, you know, so eighty percent
(24:27):
of my life. And now it's not an issue because
I've kind of worked on all the other emotional reasons
as to why that was problematic for me, you know,
low self esteem, you know, poor confidence and little self worth,
and now you know my height, I don't feel anything
about it anymore. It's not an issue.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
I like the idea of rejections being gifts, you know,
the rejections that we've had along the way. Kind of
what you were saying before was sort of guiding us,
and the moment we can sort of accept that. And
I know that when you talk about your height, you
talk about these things that you said to yourself wasn't
good enough. You know, in some ways that's just your
lesson to learn. And then when you look at what
you're doing now, Grant, like you, my friend, have leveled up.
(25:05):
It is so much fun to watch. It's inspiring. It's
great television. And I had like a thousand questions to
ask you today about you know, how many episodes you
film in a day, all of these things that are
sort of like kitch questions that you're going to ask
someone when you have them on a podcast. But here
we are. You've given me the raw, Grant, Daniel, and
it is amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
It's nice, I know, and these are It's not like
I'm there's any language of it's learned.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
For most of my lists, I didn't have the words
to describe these things that we're talking about now. I'm
so glad I've got the vocabulary now through hard work
and self searching. But yeah, it's you know, my job
now is to ensure that the things that I've learned
at say forty six, you know, my kids hopefully get
at fifteen. My personality failures as a kid with the
driving factors to create the person and the career that
(25:51):
I've got now. You know. I wanted to be seen
and heard and validated, you know, and loved. And I
think I used all those those ingreeted and to forge
this television careerause it came from a place of emptiness
that I needed feeling. And Yeah, I don't want my
daughters to spend their whole life searching, you know, to
fill the gap, you know, to fill the hole that's
(26:12):
inside them, you know. I want them to know that
they are enough from the start.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I have to let you go because I've run out
of time. I honestly could talk to you forever, and
I feel like this has been a really interesting counseling
session that I didn't think I needed today, but I've
definitely I feel like I've learned a lot out of this.
I've finished the podcast by asking a question about something
from behind the scenes, and I thought maybe I should
ask you what everyone was thinking this year when they
brought back top Gear Australia on Paramount Plus. It just
(26:39):
seemed to me like that show was yours. Did they
call you for that show? Did you audition for that show?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I want to know, I'm a surprised as you are.
To be honest, I felt like.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
My whole life was leading up to this role.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, being a multi championship winning race car driver who's
still racing cars and a television host, I thought, I
thought maybe it might have been enough. But I think
perhaps what might have got in the way is I
think Channel ten might have known that deal or no
deal was around the corner, and I wasn't aware of
it at that particular point. So I think they knew
(27:11):
that maybe both shows could be filming at the same time,
and that ruled me out. But I'm a massive fan
of the format, So yeah, I'm super jealous of those
guys getting one of them gets big.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
You got to go there, that's your job.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Oh man, I've been seeing the promos and then he
makes me cry quickly, like.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Have you been able to watch it?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
I can't bring myself to watch your full episode because
it would have been unreal. But I'm not sure in
fact that they did ring me. Okay, And but what
happened was Dany gave me a few days notice and
they said, oh, we're going to do a chemistry test
with a couple of other potential hosts. Can you come down?
And I was racing in the Bathurst twelve hour race
(27:51):
for Lamborghini and I was like, I can't make it.
I'm racing this weekend. And they're like, oh, if you
can't make it to the chemistry test, well then you
don't get the gig. And I was like, are you
listen to me? I said, I'm actually racing, and you're
saying that that's the only time that we could do this.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
They said yep.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'm like, okay, well, yes that's me.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
At least the call came through. As long as you
know that most of Australia was thinking, where's great, Dan,
You're on this show right now?
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Because even way back way back in iore when it
break my back, I was lying still for like four months,
you know, recovering from that, and I just watched Endless
episode after episode after episode of Top Year.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
So all my family bought me all the box at DBDs.
So it was part of my recovery in therapy. So
I'm deeply kind of connected to the show as well
as a massive car fan, right, So yeah, it's it
was the one that got away.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
You can't win them all.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I guess it'll happen. I'm putting it out there. I'm
putting it the head into the universe. I swear that
that's going to happen at some point, and they won't
need three. You've got enough personality to just do that
one by yourself. I just want to say thank you
so much for you being so generous with your time
and for what you shared today. I've had such a
good fine talking to you. I always do. You're a
genius amongst geniuses of television, and I'm in your audience.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Oh bless you. This has been so much fun. I
didn't think we were going to go to the places
that we went to.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We hadn't, but I'm glad.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I'm really go we did. It was it was gorgeous,
warm and safe and and good for the soul.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Absolutely, I think there's something in that for all of us.
Look After will give some love to Evie Jaines for me,
I will do. We'll do great to chat
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.