Ageless Larry’s youthful secrets revealed: Hard work and watch the booze

He has been one of Australia’s most popular television hosts for decades and seems to have hardly aged at all. What’s Larry Emdur’s secret?

Next week’s Carols In The Domain will be the final highlight for Larry Emdur’s 2020 working calendar.

Not only has the likeable host of The Morning Show topped the ratings for the 12th straight year, the dad-of-two is also enjoying a remarkable phase physically, putting his ever-youthful appearance down to a major shift in exercise and eating habits when he hit 50.

“What happened was I hit 50 and I had a light bulb moment, I had started to feel sluggish and not great and I thought ‘I can’t feel like this for the rest of my life’. I wasn’t ready to feel old,” Emdur told Confidential.

Larry Emdur and Kylie Giles to host Carols in the Domain.

“So I started training like crazy and I got to a point where I was fitter than I had ever been. In my 50s.”

Emdur says he maintains his ripped bod by “exercising every single day … even if it’s just 30 minutes” and watches his booze intake.

“In my 20s and 30s and 40s I was at the pub with the boys drinking like a demon but you soon learn you can’t do that anymore,” he said.

“Now I definitely have a better understanding of how it affects my body and not just physically but mentally.”

Larry Emdur working out with Layne Beachley.

Ageless Emdur, who recently rang in his 56th birthday to gasps of disbelief across social media, will
make his Carols debut next Wednesday night alongside his long-time Morning Show
co-host Kylie Gillies.

Amazingly it’s the first time — since joining Channel 7 at age 17 — that Emdur has appeared at the hallowed end-of-year event — quite a feat given his reputation as TV’s “Mr Versatile”.

“It’s bizarre I know, given I have hosted absolutely everything else. I think perhaps someone once heard me sing and made a decision that I
was never to be allowed anywhere near a stage and a microphone,” he joked. “I think my main job for the evening will be to keep Kylie away from the microphone. She knows every word to every carol so it will be up to me to stop her singing over the professionals.”

DINNER AT THE NEW CASINO NO ROLL OF THE DICE

It will open its doors next week as the centrepiece of Sydney’s Crown Casino, despite not having a casino.

But Alessandro Pavoni, head chef at the stunning Italian fine dining marvel A’mare at Sydney’s Barangaroo, says it will be business as usual when he finally flings open the doors to his long-awaited new restaurant, despite the fact Crown bosses are yet to be grant a gambling licence.

A'Mare at Crown Casino’s head chef Alessandro Pavoni. Supplied

A’Mare is one of several bars and restaurants that will open for trading next week after Crown was granted an interim liquor licence by NSW authorities this week.

It’s expected the casino will remain closed until at least February next year when the findings of an inquiry into Crown’s gaming activities are handed down.

Despite that Pavoni, who also operates Ormeggio at The Spit and Chiosco by Ormeggio on the North Shore, said the atmosphere among casino bosses has been “surprisingly positive”.

“So far there has been zero pressure from the casino as far as I am concerned,” Pavoni told Confidential.

A'Mare at Crown Casino. Picture: Supplied

“Everything is going ahead as planned. Yes, there won’t be a casino yet but we believe that there will still be a lot of people coming here and everyone is actually surprisingly relaxed.”

A’Mare’s official opening on December 28 will herald the first trading within the $2.4 billion Crown complex.

It also marks the start of Pavoni’s ambitious take on traditional Italian dining.

All of his front-of-house staff have had to be retrained in the art of table service — learning
to fillet fish and concoct dressings, sauces and prestos at the table in what will add a theatrical element to the dining experience.

ARIA $1450 NEW YEAR’S OFFER

This year started with a toilet paper shortage and ended with a lobster surplus.

Not surprisingly, more Sydney venues are piling on the no-expense-spared events to farewell a truly bizarre 2020 with Matt Moran’s ARIA the latest to offer an extravagant ticketed event.

AJoel Bickford to curate a $1450-a-head New Year’s menu. Picture: Steven Woodburn

After tickets for Catalina’s New Year’s Day bash hit $1000 per head, ARIA is offering a $1450-per-head ticket that includes a six-course menu curated by executive chef Joel Bickford, champagne on arrival and premium wines throughout the evening. There is, also, the front row seat to the Sydney Harbour fireworks which will be on full display.

Bondi’s Icebergs, meanwhile, has scaled back its traditional New Year’s Day blowout in favour of a more formal sit-down luncheon at $350 per person.