Grant Denyer apologises for comments about Family Feud being rested

GRANT Denyer was not impressed with Network Ten when it was announced that Family Feud was being rested. And he let them know about it.

GRANT Denyer has revealed that he apologised to Network Ten executives for comments he made on radio about Family Feud being rested.

Denyer confirmed on 2DayFM Breakfast with Em, Grant & Ed in May that Family Feud was coming to an end and suggested the TV network was partly to blame for airing the game show too often.

“We’re probably guilty, if anything, of driving it into the ground a little bit too early,” Denyer said on radio.

“Six days a week, twice a day, plus All Star episodes, we might have squeezed that lemon a little bit too much.”

Speaking to news.com.au ahead of this weekend’s Logies where he’s up for the Gold Logie, Denyer explained he rang his bosses at Network Ten to say sorry for his comments about the show.

“That’s the first thing I said and I hadn’t really had the time to find the language to explain why it had been dropped,” Denyer said. “I kinda stumbled my way through it and that quote keeps getting brought up and I was starting to feel guilty about it.

“TV shows do end — it’s a fact. They can’t all go on forever and I understand that better than anybody. So I did reach out to the CEO and the head of programming recently going, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I said those words at the start. I hadn’t thought of any others at that point and I wish I had been a little bit smarter at the time.’

“At the end of the day I’ve got a cracking relationship with the network and I probably should have found more appropriate words at the time. But you know, there was no other television show that was on as much as our show … it certainly had more rotation than anything else on any network.”

Grant Denyer with his wife Cheryl Denyer at the 2017 Logie Awards.

Denyer, who has been hosting Family Feud for four years, also opened up to news.com.au about the moment Network Ten executives first told him the show was coming to an end.

“They delivered it with a little bit of sugar on top by saying, ‘We’ve got this new show coming along that we’d love for you to do. Plus, by the way, your old show’s been dropped.’

“I was really confused about how to feel at that time. I was heartbroken that Family Feud … was going to leave my life because I’ve had so much fun mucking around with it. But you know, I was also super excited by the idea of something big, shiny and new coming along.”

The new show that Denyer’s referring to is a local version of Ellen DeGeneres’ hit US game show, Game Of Games, which he’ll host when it kicks off on Network Ten later in the year.

As excited as he is about the new show, it’s clear when chatting to Denyer that he’s still mourning the loss of Family Feud.

“I never expected it to be anywhere near as good for me as it has been,” he told news.com.au.

“The messages that I’ve received have been crazy. There’s a lot of heartbroken people out there who are clearly going to miss it. A lot of families watch it together and they’re outraged that the show’s been dropped and they’re struggling to think of something else that they can sit down and watch together as a family.”

Network Ten will be hoping that those families will tune into the Aussie version of Pointless which will replace Family Feud in the 6pm timeslot later in the year.

ABC radio personality Chris Bath was reportedly set to host the quiz show but had to pull out when the ABC banned her from accepting the gig. And Denyer said he too was spoken to about the role.

“We had discussions about it and it was an interesting idea but I thought, ‘Let someone else have a crack at that [6pm] timeslot,’” he told news.com.au.

This Sunday night Denyer will be on the Gold Coast with Australia’s other most popular TV personalities for the Logie Awards. He’s been nominated for Most Popular Presenter and, for the third year in a row, he’s also in the running for the Gold Logie. Family Feud is also a contender for Most Popular Entertainment Program.

“I’ve been nominated 22 times, personally or for the shows I’ve worked on, so I’m used to losing,” Denyer said when asked about his chances of winning. “I’m OK with losing but there is that little bit inside of me that would love to take home the gold statuette.”

2018 Gold Logie nominees: (from left) Tracy Grimshaw, Rodger Corser, Andrew Winter, Jessica Marais, Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller.

The TV veteran said he plans to “just enjoy the moment” this year and is trying not to get swept up in the excitement.

“The last couple of years I spent the whole time [being] so nervous about, ‘Oh my god, what if I won,’ that I didn’t really absorb the moment,” he told news.com.au.

“This year it’s about spending time with my wife on the red carpet … and just being thankful and going, ‘20 years in the game … not bad, son.’”

Live voting for the Most Popular categories, including the Gold Logie, is now open and will be right up until the end of the red carpet telecast on Sunday night.

The 60th TV WEEK Logie Awards will take place on Sunday, July 1 at The Star Gold Coast in Queensland.