Tom Gleeson explains why he quit as host of Hard Quiz

Tom Gleeson shocked fans of his ABC TV show Hard Quiz last week when he announced he had quit as host. Now he’s explained his actions.

Andrew Bucklow

@ACBucklow

3 min read

May 27, 2019 - 12:40PM

Tom Gleeson pranked us all.

The comedian shocked everyone last week when he suddenly quit as host of his popular TV show, Hard Quiz.

He released a statement on Twitter on Friday that said: “I’ve decided to step down as the host of Hard Quiz and discontinue production of the show. This was not an easy decision to make and I appreciate there are many fans of the show for which I will always be grateful.

“The demands of hosting a show has meant I was unable to spend as much time as I would like to performing stand up. I’ve loved making Hard Quiz and I will miss it.”

Hard Quiz is a ratings winner for the ABC.

The announcement came as a surprise to the ABC, which responded with a statement of its own.

“Tom’s statement that he has sacked himself from Hard Quiz is news to us, particularly as we have 10 new episodes airing later this year,” the ABC said.

So what is exactly is going on?

It turns out Gleeson’s resignation is simply a tactic to improve his chances of winning this year’s Gold Logie.

You might recall last year Gleeson launched a social media campaign to help Grant Denyer win the Gold Logie after Family Feud was axed.

At the time Gleeson said: “Let’s push the Logies to its most absurd extreme ever and give the Gold Logie to a guy that doesn’t have a TV show.”

The campaign worked and Denyer won, so when Gleeson found out he was one of the seven nominees for the Gold Logie this year, he decided to “pull a Denyer” and ditch his TV show.

“Last year proved you can only win if you don’t have a show,” Gleeson wrote on Twitter yesterday. “That’s why I axed myself. When I win Gold, I promise I will un-axe #HardQuiz immediately. Please forgive me HARD!”

Tom Gleeson with his ‘Denyer4Gold’ campaign button.

Speaking to news.com.au after the Logie nominations announcement, Gleeson said he’d only agree to bring Hard Quiz back to TV if he won the Gold.

“I am holding Hard Quiz hostage,” he joked. “I have the show in my basement with a gun aimed at its head. If you do not vote for me, Hard Quiz is dead.

“If you love the show, the only way for it to stay on air is for you to vote for me to get the Gold Logie, otherwise I will deny Australia Hard Quiz.”

The other stars in the running for this year’s Gold Logie are Amanda Keller, Eve Morey, Waleed Aly, Rodger Corser, Sam Mac and fellow ABC personality and host of Gardening Australia, Costa Georgiadis.

“Costa’s got a nomination for the Gold, and it’s tricky because he’s going to split the ABC vote,” Gleeson told news.com.au.

2019 Gold Logie nominees Costa Georgiadis, Amanda Keller, Sam Mac, Tom Gleeson, Eve Morey and Rodger Corser. Missing is Waleed Aly. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“People have to remember that he’s a gardener, he’s not even in show business. He’s one step up from mowing a lawn, really. I host an actual show in prime time and he does an infomercial on Fridays on the ABC that doesn’t rate anywhere near mine,” he joked.

After helping Denyer win the Gold Logie last year, Gleeson was hoping the Celebrity Name Game host would be willing to return the favour this year and campaign on his behalf.

“If he (Denyer) has a moral compass he will fall in behind me, but I don’t think he does, that’s the problem,” Gleeson told news.com.au.

“Everyone knows he owes me big time, and he didn’t even buy me lunch or dinner. I got one text after he won Gold that said, ‘That was funny, wasn’t it!’ Well yeah, it was, but just quietly, I heard nothing else back from him and next thing I hear is that he’s getting behind Amanda Keller because apparently she deserves it.

“Nobody deserves anything except for me,” Gleeson said. “I deserve justice.”