Grant Denyer feels ‘more love from Family Feud than anything I’ve ever done’

GRANT Denyer was guilty of dismissing Family Feud as “just a game show.” But as the Channel 10 hit marks a year on air, he admits he’s a changed man.

GRANT Denyer is sitting on some serious coin.

As the host of wildly successful game show, Family Feud— celebrating its first year back on air this week — the TV favourite is marvelling at the good fortune which has come his way.

Namely, the black market which has emerged on eBay for the program’s spin-off board game.

“I get hit up for it all the time,” Denyer told News Corp Australia.

“It’s a form of currency. If I get a plumber to come to my house, I can pay with a board game. He’ll ignore a $150 bill, if I just give him a board game.”

Which is only a slight exaggeration with the play-at-home variety of the quiz selling out four times over in stores and now commanding about $100 a pop on some online auction sites.

Even Denyer is surprised at “this whirlwind, this frenzy” which has followed the show’s retro revival on Channel Ten.

COMMENT BELOW: Is Family Feud TV’s best game show?

“The thing that really chuffs me about this gig is the fact people come up to me and go ‘thank you so much for making a TV show we can sit down and all watch together; it’s the only thing we watch as a family.’ And that’s kind of really sweet,” Denyer said.

“I feel more love from this than anything I’ve ever made, which is quirky because it’s just a game show. I didn’t expect it to make me as proud as I am or give me as much back as it has.”

Denyer concedes he had to get over the fact “it’s just a game show” when taking on the role because he thought “no one ever gives you credit for hosting a game show.”

The skill, the show’s esteemed executive producer, Pam Barnes argues, is making it look easy.

Barnes, whose credits include Hey Hey It’s Saturday and Australia’s Got Talent says: “I think Grant’s fantastic. He really has a fabulous energy and warmth that people relate to immediately. He gets on set before we start recording every episode and he just puts everyone at ease.”

Denyer agrees the audience has rewarded him for not taking himself so seriously.

“It’s really easy to overdo these shows, but a viewer loves it when you embrace your silliness and own it, rather than pretending you may be the greatest television show on the planet. It’s got wonderful honesty — we know what we’ve got going for us and we love it.”

While other shows may give away more cash, Denyer said: “our families win $10K and party like they’ve won half a million.”

On a personal level, Denyer has found the work/life balance he desperately needed after an exhausting stint on the road as Seven’s Sunrise weather guy.

After seven years of pre-dawn starts, the 37-year-old former motor racing driver concedes he was running on empty.

Now, living on a small farm in Bathurst, NSW with wife Cheryl and daughter Sailor [their second child is due later this year], Denyer is happiest playing farmer Grant.

“I’ve always lived life flat knacker ... just pedal to the metal ... doing way too much. I’ve learned to find a better balance and Ten’s been super good with helping me do that. I’ve had to really learn how to relax because I’ve always been the person who squeezed more juice out of the orange than is in there.”

He added: “because I’m refreshed now and stronger and healthier and happier, I’m definitely hosting the best I’ve ever hosted. To come to a show where you are laughing the whole way through your work day is an awesome privilege.”

THE SURVEY SAYS ...

We surveyed 100 people (okay, so it was only executive producer Pam Barnes) on the set of Family Feud and these are the top five secrets from behind the scenes:

• More than 34,000 people registered to play Family Feud before the show was officially announced. Barnes said: “we’re still working our way through those families, plus the ones who have signed up since.”

• A small team of producers and warm-up guy Russell Fletcher travel interstate to audition teams: “he plays the role of Grant and chats to all the families to bring out the best in their personalities. Then we judge whether they’ve got what it takes to be on.”

• Contestants are encouraged to have a ‘safety’ answer prepped: “you can’t just stand there and go ‘hmm, I don’t know,’ or ‘urggh, he took my answer.’ If you have an emergency word for when you go blank, it can become a running joke and that’s entertaining.”

• People confess to the craziest things on the contestant application forms: “some of the stories people put on their forms I find extraordinary ... then when we ask them about it, they go ‘oh, I don’t want to talk about that!’”

• The noise you hear after wrong answers during the main game was an artistic choice by Barnes: “when we were setting it up, we got new music, a new set, new everything, but the ‘bow bow’ noise stayed the same (from the original format). It belongs to Family Feud.”

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