Tears, tantrums, after parties, hotel suite ragers, gate crashers... what really goes on at the Logie Awards

TEARS, tantrums, boozy after parties, hotel suite ragers and crafty gatecrashers ... this is what really goes on at the Logie Awards.

Tears, tantrums, boozy after parties and hotel suite shenanigans — this is what really goes on at the Logie Awards. Picture: Instagram

TEARS, tantrums, star-studded after parties and crafty gate crashers — this is the inside look at the TV WEEK Logie Awards.

Television’s night of nights is just as famed for its jaw-dropping stories of boozy shenanigans as its coveted list of winners.

And while the age of social media means celebs are more cautious of prying eyes these days, Sunday’s glitzy event at Melbourne’s Crown Casino will no doubt be a rowdy one.

Following the main event, each commercial network throws its own after party with gourmet catering, DJs and dancing until sunrise.

And for many of the small screen’s biggest names, that’s just the beginning.

“What’s happened more in recent years is stars having their own after, after parties back in their suites where it’s more protected,” journalist John Burfitt said.

The former TV WEEK senior writer went to his first Logies 30 years ago and said it was a much wilder affair back then.

“It has completely changed in that time,” he said. “I remember an old TV publicist from the 70s describing it as a B&S ball in the city in front of cameras. That was the reputation.

“These days, people treat it as a night to network. You’re being watched. No one wants to be the person who’s so out of it that they can’t even stand up.”

TV WEEK’s current editor Emma Nolan agreed, describing the vibe inside the Palladium ballroom during the telecast as “formal but fun”.

“Fast forward to the morning after though and that’s when you see the best sights,” Nolan laughed.

“When I’m checking out bright and early to fly back to Sydney, I see some people staggering home from the after parties or at reception because they’ve lost their room key.”

An industry insider who asked not to be named recalled running into the male cast of a popular observational documentary series as they did a dawn nudie run through the hotel corridor a few years ago.

Another Logies veteran recalled the well-known story of Neighbours star Emma Harrison, who took her underpants off and swung them around her head.

“The story was that it was on a table in the ballroom, but it actually happened at an after party,” he said. “And she has since owned it.”

Some of the best tales are from the early hours of the morning, when those who’ve missed out on a Logie drown their sorrows.

“One very established actress was so shattered she didn’t win that she called a group of friends to her hotel room in the early morning ... and delivered what would’ve been her acceptance speech,” a TV identity, who declined to be named, recalled.

Tina Arena dominating the dance floor at a Logies after party in 2014.

TV is a fairly small and close-knit industry, making the Logies an annual reunion where the vibe is jovial and social.

But in 2008, then Neighbours co-stars Kym Valentine and Jane Hall were separated by nervous Ten publicists all evening for fear of a public barney.

Valentine had hooked up with Hall’s ex-husband Vince Colosimo a few months prior.

An army of spin doctors spend the night keeping watch over the stars and trying to avoid stories like these coming out, Burfitt said.

“You don’t hear a lot of wild tales because it’s very controlled. I’m not saying they don’t happen — we just don’t hear many of them.”

The media management begins at the start of the day, where publicity veteran Kerry O’Brien runs the famed red carpet.

With some 200 members of the media lining it, and the 1000 attendees trotting down it over 90 minutes, it’s a big job.

“There have been some funny attempts by gate crashers,” O’Brien said.

“One year a stretch limousine pulled up and a Lady Gaga impersonator stepped out. It was a good effort, but those sorts of things don’t really work. Security is very tight.”

John Flower has been the gatekeeper of the coveted Logies invites for 11 years and each time has endured countless wannabes going to extraordinary lengths to score one.

“I have agents hassling me, requests from people who think they should be there and even ladies who show me photographs of the dress they’d be wearing,” Flower said.

“But I have a benchmark to work by. And I’m not able to be bribed.”

Networks do their best to convince seating plan gatekeeper to put key talent at the very front of the ballroom.

He also handles the seating plan for the ballroom, which can be a precarious task.

Nominated shows and talents occupy the tables at the very front of the room — some of the best seats in the house.

Network executives do their best to negotiate the best possible spots for their brightest stars, he said.

“Oh, I always get suggestions. Lot of suggestions. But the table placement is final — if they need to move certain people around on the table, I can do that. But they can’t move the tables.”

Network Ten’s after party is known for being one of the funniest, and famed for its dessert bar.

As the host of the event, Nolan said she receives calls and emails asking for tickets right down to the final minute.

“It’s the hottest ticket in town,” she said. “I’m not going to name names, but they’re coming in now.”

When the bulk of Nolan’s work is done for the evening, including hosting the TV WEEK and Foxtel drinks, she drops in at each of the after parties.

“Everyone likes the famous dessert bar at the Ten party and Nine always has a great DJ,” she said.

“But the dance floor at the Seven party is always packed. The cast of Home and Away have got a lot of stamina. And Manu (Feildel) loves a bit of a dance too.”

Originally published as Tears, tantrums, after parties, hotel suite ragers, gate crashers... what really goes on at the Logie Awards