Where to from here for Eddie ‘everywhere’ McGuire, after end of Millionaire Hot Seat?
Eddie McGuire says his career is in “good shape” and he hasn’t ruled out a return to football, after the shock axing of Hot Seat Millionaire.
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He’s the boy from Broady who rose to become “Eddie everywhere”.
But is former Pies president, ex The Footy Show and Triple M radio host — and most recently Millionaire Hot Seat frontman — Eddie McGuire’s era in the sun over?
Not likely.
The announcement on Friday that Millionaire Hot Seat will get the axe is undoubtedly a blow for McGuire, who has been among Victoria’s most prominent sporting identities and well known TV personalities for decades.
But McGuire has a knack for reinventing himself after setbacks, once declaring nothing could ever stop him “having a crack at different things”.
McGuire on Friday told the Herald Sun he was sad the end of Hot Seat was imminent, but like most of the shows he’d been involved with, he’d had a good run.
“I’ve been so lucky, The Footy Show went for 25 years, I was at Fox Footy for many years, Triple M 11 years, these are long term, full-on things I do,” he said.
“It’s the next part of my life, next part of my career, the end of an era of Hot Seat — I won’t be involved in a (Nine’s 5pm replacement) new show (but) like anything, once one door shuts another one opens.
“I’ve still got Footy Classified (on Nine) and the Melbourne Cup with Ten.
“It’ll all open up, I’ve got no shortage of things, my business, and I’m not wanting to be on air every single day either.”
McGuire said his next chapter could involve footy, but he was not sure.
“Who knows what’s to come? Everything is in good shape,” he said.
“It’s been amazing, the show has just been pure joy for 25 years.”
The president of the Collingwood Football Club for almost 23 years before his sudden resignation in February 2021 — amid fallout from the independent Do Better Report that found “systemic racism” at the Pies — McGuire has also previously told the Herald Sun: “You pick when you go in, but you don’t pick when you go out most of the time.”
He didn’t pick the timing of the end of his Millionaire Hot Seat hosting role.
McGuire has, nevertheless, kept on keeping on, whatever has come his way.
And he insists he’ll do the same this time.
His resignation as Collingwood president came just months after his departure from Triple M’s Hot Breakfast — a gig he had held for 11 years.
That, in turn, came after the axing of 25-year-old The Footy Show in 2019, following innumerous controversies and a ratings plunge.
While McGuire had stepped away as host a year earlier, he continued to play a major role in the once TV juggernaut’s production and was gutted by the decision.
Over the years, McGuire has had more TV hosting gigs than Australians can likely recall — ranging from game show host to special TV events.
In the lead-up to a new role as host of the Melbourne Cup last year, McGuire said he was enjoying time with his family and having a chance to smell the roses — something he had not been able to do for many years with his hectic schedule.
The Melbourne Cup role returned McGuire to the start of his television career at Network 10, where he began as a wide-eyed teenager in 1982.
“To use a cliche, I am a windscreen guy not a rear vision guy,” he said, alluding to his belief good things lay ahead.
McGuire went on to play a key role in the planning and delivery of cricket legend Shane Warne’s massive Melbourne state funeral.
While his part was largely lauded, it was not without controversy.
McGuire revealed he was upset and angry following some negative reports on the $1.6m cost of the event and a line item that his own production company JAM TV was paid $1m for its staging.
“The funny thing is, anybody who understands broadcasts or events are saying how did you do it for such a little amount?” McGuire said in April this year. “The reason is that everybody, as best as possible, did it for free. For free and with joy.”
Since the late 1990s, McGuire has served as a kind of unelected politician for Victoria, with his opinions sought on everything from sport to major events, Melbourne infrastructure and even Christmas.
He has famously rallied for a republic, and been on first name basis with — and had a direct line to — Victoria’s political leaders, powerbrokers, celebrities, elite sportspeople and behind-the-scenes movers and shakers.
There is no doubt “Eddie everywhere” has wielded power and influence in Victoria for decades.
His work ethic is also legendary.
As McGuire himself once said: “I always say to people, never lose the enthusiasm of life. Never become jaded … I’ve still got the twinkle and the wonderment in my eye, and I suppose that’s probably why, to this day, I keep pushing the envelope. It’s why I keep having a crack at different things, and keep enjoying it … I’d rather hit the wall than die wondering where it was.”
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