‘One-trick pony’: Grant Denyer to host rebooted Deal or No Deal

Gold Logie winner Grand Denyer has opened about his hesitation and secret sacrifices that came with accepting a major new gig.

Balancing his three loves – family, motorsport and work – has never been a particularly easy feat for Grant Denyer  

But never has it been a tougher, well, deal than on one of his first days back at work on his new job – the reinvigorated game show Deal or No Deal. It came after the Denyer’s extended Christmas break and overseas holiday with wife Chezzi and their three daughters – Sailor, 12; Scout 8 and Sunday, 2 – with all of his girls missing him. But it was his youngest who most felt the wrench of separation.

Denyer posting a tear-inducing clip on Instagram of his youngest – his “little wing lady and best friend”, cuddling up to mum at home on the farm just outside of Bathurst, saying “I want Daddy – I’m sad”.

Grant Denyer and his three daughters – Sailor, Scout and Sunday – on the set of Deal or No Deal. Picture: Instagram

“It just strengthens bonds when you’re around regularly full time – and they start to depend on you and count on you,” he says.

“And then the moment you sort of unpluck yourself from the house – it disrupts them a little bit.

“(Sunday) was pretty teary and it’s bit like ‘Oh my God it’s hard enough to leave without the waterworks. I can’t cope’.”

To help mitigate all of that, Denyer loves showing them all around wherever he is filming – this time in Melbourne’s Dockland Studios.

“They can have a go on the cameras and press all the buttons in the control room and see how it all works,” Denyer shares. “So when you are sort of dropping in and out of their lives, they know where you are and what it’s like.

“Takes a bit of the pain away when they know what you’re doing, rather than you just vanishing and then reappearing in their life.”

We’re chatting after Denyer’s well into the groove of filming some 15 episodes every 72 hours to bank for the year ahead, in his latest TV hosting role on the globally loved franchise. He’s in Sydney gearing up for a few days of motorsport commitments. And the 46 year old shares he had absolutely no hesitation in jumping back into his well-worn hosting shoes and back into the 6pm timeslot that helped him win his Gold Logie five years ago.

“I’ve still got a couple of other things on the boil on the sidelines which is creatively rewarding for that side of my brain,” he says.

“It’s nice that I am still stretching my legs in that area. “But look game shows have been really good to me. If it’s what I’m known for I’m totally fine with that. It’s nice to be known for something.”

Although Denyer confesses he didn’t really want to be seen as a “one-trick pony”.

Grant Denyer host of Deal or No Deal on Channel 10.

“But obviously my biggest successes came through game shows and the fact that people want to come up to you and talk to you about Family Feud, or now Deal or No Deal is such a beautiful thing because it means you know they are welcoming you into their house as part of their nightly routine.

“And that’s a special thing in this day and age when (people) are wired for choice.”

Denyer also confesses he was too busy on his own shows to be an intimate viewer of Deal or No Deal – which ran for 10 years on Channel 7, with Andrew O’Keefe as host and sees contestants trying to beat The Banker to win a huge cash prize. And yet he very much felt the weight of the role.

“You’re nervous because you don’t really know the strengths and weaknesses of the format intimately – it was someone else’s baby,” he says.

“And will I be compared? And how do I take it to the next level and modernise it and freshen it up?

“But once we started making the first couple – I knew immediately when I started laughing or my jaw dropped in every episode, that this is really good.”

Grant Denyer has easily slipped back into his hosting shoes in his new role on the rebooted Deal or No Deal. Picture: Ten

A sneak peek at an episode shows Denyer is at his brilliant hosting best on the new-look luxe version. And there is not a bevy of briefcase models – or deal-ettes as they were called – as part of the rebooted show unlike on previous versions of the program in Australia and around the world. But there is plenty of money to be won – and that’s what Denyer has missed most in his five years away from the format.

“I really do like being a human ATM,” he laughs.

“Handing out cash to good people who need it is the best feeling in the world.”

Australia looked on in horror as Denyer collapsed from extreme heat stroke in sweltering 45C heat in Delhi while competing on The Amazing Race Celebrity edition last year and he shares it really took its toll.

“I’m in television and used to the drama being dialled up – on this occasion they dialled it down a little bit,” he shares. “It was a really scary moment for my wife and those that were there on the ground that day, and I scared a lot of people. The producer that was there who was holding me as I was jumping in and out of consciousness – I know that she was convinced that I was dying in her arms.

“It took me about seven weeks to be able to function properly when I got home.”

Grant and Chezzi Denyer in explosive scenes on The Amazing Race Australia.

But he’s back to his powerhouse best – as the over-the-top song-and-dance spectacular Deal promo shows.

Yes, that is Denyer employing all his expertise from his four times on Dancing With The Stars mirror ball – having held it aloft twice in 2006 and last year, plus co-hosting alongside Amanda Keller for two years.

“Do you ever know me to go less than 110 per cent?,” he says, with a laugh.

“Do you think I’m going to let a stunt double jump in and take the glory? No way. You know I’m all in baby. It was funny when I saw the idea come up I thought it’d be nice to take those dancing legs for another run.”

Deal or No Deal, Weekdays, 6pm, Ten