Waleed’s concerns about joining The Project

HE’S officially the most popular man on Aussie TV after picking up the Gold Logie, but Waleed Aly has revealed he almost never said ‘yes’ to joining The Project.

HE’S officially the most popular man on Aussie TV after picking up the Gold Logie, but Waleed Aly has revealed he almost never said ‘yes’ to joining The Project.

Speaking to news.com.au after his big win, the 37-year-old said joining the Channel 10 panel show “was a really hard decision to make”.

He recalled: “I was at the ABC, I was doing daily radio and I loved that job.

“It was a show that I’d been given from scratch, I had to build it out of nothing and that’s really rare in media to have that opportunity where they just say, ‘here you go, brand new show, no predecessors, make it whatever you want.’ That’s not something I gave up lightly.”

Not only was he concerned about leaving the ABC, but Aly also had “a lot of doubts” about what he could bring to The Project.

“I sat there when I was offered the job or even when I was getting the suggestion they might offer me the job, I sat there and thought, ‘what is the point of offering me the job? What do I look like in this format in a way that means anything?’

“And I was so in awe of what Charlie [Pickering] had done with that job. There’s no doubt Charlie blazed the trail that I walk and created a role out of nothing and I’m really grateful to him for that. I’d watch him do it and just go, ‘Well, better him than me.’

“I was fearful and still, I walk in there every day and just hope I’m not manufacturing a catastrophe.”

But now, less than 18 months later and a with Gold Logie to his name, it’s clear Aly made the right choice.

“It wasn’t an easy decision for reasons to do with how much I liked my old job and how much I doubted myself coming into this job and I’m glad to say, as first years go, it’s been a pretty good one.”

Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar pose with the Logie Award for Best News Panel or Current Affairs Program. Picture: Scott Barbour

Originally published as Waleed’s concerns about joining The Project