Grant Denyer on Sunrise role: ‘I thought I was invincible and I f***ed up’

FAMILY Feud host Grant Denyer has opened up about his frightening health issues, with doctors warning him that he was “going to die” if he didn’t walk away from Sunrise.

FORMER Sunrise weatherman Grant Denyer said doctors told him he would die if he kept working on the program.

The 36-year-old told news.com.au that after years of early mornings and long days, tests showed “his organs were running at seven per cent”.

“I just pushed too hard, too long. I did that at the toll of myself and my family. It was a juggernaut that I couldn’t stop,” he said, adding that he was seriously ill for almost two years and reached a point where he was sleeping for 23 hours a day.

“They’d stand me up on camera, they’d wake me up in between crosses and put me in front of the camera and count me in,” Denyer said of his Sunrise days.

MORE: Denyer quits Sunrise

MORE: Denyer to host Seven’s SlideShow

After quitting the television program last year and taking time to recuperate, Denyer was convinced by his former boss Peter Meakin to join Network Ten to host the resurrected 70s game show Family Feud.

The new-look show debuted to a modest audience of 690,000 Monday night, sneaking into the top 20 programs for the night at no. 17.

It faces an uphill battle being pitted against Seven and Nine’s 6pm news services in the hugely competitive timeslot but Denyer insisted the “timeless, simple” format of the show would make it a perfect alternative.

“It doesn’t take itself seriously, it’s not important, we’re not changing lives, we’re not giving away a bazillion dollars, we’re just making tele.

“I love tele, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. It feels good, it makes me happy.”

Is Grant Denyer the answer to Channel 10s 6pm woes?

The refreshed and positive attitude from Denyer is a huge cry from his horror 2013, when he quit Sunrise in June then left his role as the host of game show Million Dollar Minute in November.

He admitted he’d made plenty of mistakes throughout his 15-year television career, in particular staying on too long as Seven’s roving weatherman, despite being told by doctors that he was “going to die” if he didn’t walk away.

“I didn’t want to let Seven down, but I was. I did a year too long on Sunrise and paid a big price for it physically. I was very ill, very medically ill, just so tapped out and empty,” he said.

“I didn’t want to walk away, I promised them I’d do another year. They asked me to do another year on Sunrise and I agreed to it but I didn’t feel like I should. I wanted to, but I could have killed myself. It was a big toll on my family.

“I didn’t see the warning signs. I thought I was invincible and I f***ed up.”

Former Sunrise weatherman Grant Denyer reporting from Palm Cove in 2013.

Earlier this year, the father-of-two and his wife Cheryl Rogers fought claims they had been seeking treatment in rehab for drug addiction. Denyer publicly denied the allegations, citing “chronic fatigue brought on by exhaustion” as the reason for his visit to a rehab centre in Thailand.

The Aussie TV personality admitted he still missed his Sunrise job, calling it the “greatest gig in the world”, but said that he’d finally managed to get his health back on track and find a work-life balance.

“Now that I’ve had a chance to have a break and I’m healthier and stronger and happier again, everything is a bit more measured ... so I just have to be careful that I don’t make that mistake again because I’m a workaholic.”

TV personality Grant Denyer with his wife Cheryl.

As for Denyer’s move from Seven to Ten, where he began his career as a news reporter, he said encouragement from veteran newsman Meakin, 72, had a lot to do with it. “He’s been a sort of career mentor and a pseudo work dad for me, I trust his instincts.”

And he is looking forward to taking on the new challenge at the troubled network.

“There is a want here [at Ten] to turn things over, there is an eagerness to get to the bottom of the problem, it would be nice to be a part of their solution.”

Ten’s revamped Family Feud registered 690,000 viewers across the five city metros and a further 236,000 in regional areas. That totals 926,000 people nationally.

Family Feud airs 6pm weeknights on Ten.

Grant Denyer during Monday night’s premiere of Family Feud.