Chezzi Denyer on her harshest critics

The battle of mastering work-life balance is a daily one for Grant and Chezzi Denyer, who say a sense of humour is the key to getting through.

THE Denyer family are just like any other. Their one-year-old has never slept through the night, they juggle early starts and technology-loving children, jump from one activity-filled afternoon to the next, and spend lots of time apart because of Grant’s TV work commitments – but as self-confessed ‘mum-taxi’ Chezzi says, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Most days, I don’t ever feel we get the balance right,” the Bathurst-based mother of three told Insider.

“Most of the time I feel we live in a bit of a blur. Our work life is not consistent in that we work different hours on different days in different locations, making any kind of routine extremely difficult to achieve.

“But kids need routine and so I feel it’s up to me to try to make everything as smooth as possible for the family, and I am yet to really nail that.

Grant and Chezzi Denyer with daughters Sunday, Scout and Sailor.

“I just keep telling myself to get through this week and what we have to do on this day, and then we will battle next week and so on.

“This way, its broken down into bite-size pieces, which is much more palatable and less anxiety-inducing.”

Baby Sunday had an operation in March to treat severe hip dysplasia, which saw her in a half body cast for three months. Despite being uncomfortable, baby Sunday has been the ‘epitome of joy’ for the Denyers, beams her proud mum.

“We all feel it,” the 42-year-old said.

“She has just added such warmth and love to our little family and it feels like she’s always been with us, because we often laugh about how we can’t remember life without her in it.

“I wish she would sleep right through but, since she got her first spica cast on in February this year, she has not slept a full night.

“I often have to help her change positions or get more comfortable through the night, especially since she began wearing the rhino brace, which she is wearing now, as she likes to sleep on her tummy but gets stuck in the corner of the cot sometimes and calls out ‘Mummy help’ through the night.

“As I know how quickly this little period goes, I don’t mind one bit.”

The birth of Sunday Mary Mae Denyer. “Chezzi was incredible and bub is just heart-melting perfection,” said Grant.

The couple have been married for 12 years and she says their shared sense of humour has gotten them through the hard times, like when Denyer injured his back in a monster truck accident in 2008. And, like any busy parents, they have to remember to book in those ever elusive date nights.

“I wish we had a secret to our marriage, but the truth is that we both really love each other and we are best friends,” she said.

“At times we are fun and lighthearted, and we both enjoy a joke and we have the same or similar sense of humour – I’m much funnier,” she laughed.

“But we also have to compromise a great deal because we live in the country close to my family, and a lot of the work we do is based in the city, which can mean spending time apart or extremely early starts and late finishes.

“We also work very closely together – I am Grant’s producer, PA, business partner – and sometimes we need to remember that we have to do romantic things on top of the usual business matters, but this is a work in progress and we keep saying we need to book out some date nights, which we’ve not yet done.”

The memories of their last pre-pandemic family holiday to Japan got them through two years of lockdowns, and she says her last mini staycation with the girls was one to remember.

“It was at the Holiday Inn. l recently worked with them on their latest campaign, Kids are the Harshest Critics, essentially challenging the convention of adult reviewers and inviting our kids – clearly the harshest critics – to review the various Holiday Inn properties,” she said.

Sailor and Scout Denyer being their own harshest critics at The Holiday Inn.

“For future holiday plans, we currently have a few plans for the holidays, especially with the borders reopening almost everywhere. We are thinking we would love to go back to Japan one day, as the kids absolutely loved it.

“And we’d also love a beach holiday when Sunday is out of the brace.”

Like most NSW families, she said screentime was a big issue for them, accelerated by a notoriously wet school holiday period.

“So our kids spent an enormous amount of time online,” she said.

“Trying to wean them off screen time now is a little difficult, but I won’t allow them to use their iPads during the week until Thursday night if they have finished their homework for the week.

“The other big issue I am trying to work on is reducing my yelling voice when things get manic and hectic.

“The kids and I discuss it regularly and they now say to me ‘Mum, you are yelling, can you please turn your tone down slightly’, which still makes me laugh.”

Grant Denyer completed Targa Tasmania in his 2021 Subaru WRX STi with Ben Searcy. Picture: Other Side Productions

Blocking out the public – the critics and the fans – is something she still grapples with, even after her husband’s years in the spotlight.

“I don’t really know how to block out the public,” she says.

“Somehow I have developed quite a thick skin over the years so I don’t usually get caught up with critics, of which we have a lot.

“We’ve also been through an incredible amount of hardships over the years, and we wear our hearts on our sleeve, and I guess we attract the same kind of people and we feel blessed to be in a position where we can make a difference to people’s lives.

“We meet people everyday who tell us lovely stories about how Grant’s shows or our podcast It’s All True? has helped change their lives in some way, and that is extremely humbling.

“We appreciate every single person who approaches us.

“Both Grant and I are country kids and I think that definitely makes us a lot warmer to approach somehow.”