Grant Denyer reveals he has chronic fear of ‘not being liked’

The Gold Logie winner has revealed his debilitating mental health struggles in a candid post, saying he has a chronic fear of “not being liked”.

Grant Denyer has detailed his chronic fear of “not being liked” and “not being good enough” in a candid Instagram post.

The veteran TV presenter, 44, revealed he has turned to meditation to cope with a “racing mind” that makes it difficult for him to enjoy life’s better moments.

Alongside a photo of himself meditating, the Gold Logie winner opened up about his brutal battle with self-acceptance.

“My self talk can get pretty savage,” Denyer began. “I beat myself up, worry about the future, hang on to regrets about the past and get bogged down in fear.

“Fear of failure, fear of not being liked, fear of not being good enough. Generally a busy mind that makes it hard to be present for those around me. Sometimes it’s hard to enjoy the moment with all that mental distraction.”

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Grant Denyer said he meditates to calm his ‘racing mind’.

He added that meditation “isn’t easy”, but that it’s helping him “chill out more”.

“I am a work in progress. I suffer from perfectionism but with stuff like meditation or self improvement I don’t aim for perfection, just progress,” he wrote.

“That is enough. And I go backwards plenty too.

“This is not meant to be a preach or a ‘look at how balanced I am’ – it’s an ‘I’m flawed, I have many weaknesses, I struggle’ … and I hear you, if you do too.”

Denyer said he struggles with a ‘fear of not being liked’ and ‘perfectionism’.

The father-of-three has been open about his mental health struggles in the past, including his past prescription drug addiction.

On an episode of his podcast It’s All True with wife Chezzi Denyer in 2020, Denyer revealed he became hooked on painkilling drugs while recovering from a monster truck accident that left him with a broken back in 2008.

“Holy hell, do you remember all the mad sh*t that went on?” Denyer said to his wife in the episode.

“The moment you close your eyes, you can’t tell the difference between reality and your dreams. As soon as you close your eyes, you go into your worst nightmares.

“The things that you’re afraid of the most are the first things that happen the moment you fall asleep and you start dreaming.”

Detailing one incident, Denyer said: “I remember waking up thinking there was a home invasion and I thought that Chezzi was being attacked, being raped in the apartment.

“I’m trying to find these guys who are attacking you and raping you. I’m like, ‘Where are they? I know they’re here! Where are they?’”

Grant Denyer, his wife Chezzi and their daughters Sailor and Scout. The couple welcomed their third daughter, Sunday, in February 2021.

Earlier this year, Denyer gave another insight into his struggles when he broke down before his performance on Dancing With The Stars, which he later went on to win.

Denyer and his dance partner Lily Cornish danced to Shannon Noll’s hopeful anthem Don’t Give Up, which Denyer said was about “absolute despair, when you think you can’t go on” – something he could relate to.

“I’ve spent my life being a smiley television host that pretends everything is OK … That is not real life,” Denyer said. “It’s OK to struggle. It’s OK to hurt. It’s OK to reach rock bottom because you can come out of it, you can climb out of it with a bit of love and a little bit of help, and that was the case for me.”

Denyer broke down on Dancing With The Stars earlier this year.

Speaking to co-host Sonia Kruger after the dance, Denyer explained how the performance helped him close a difficult chapter in his life.

“I’ve made some mistakes in my life and there was a period that I’m not particularly very proud of,” he said.

“One thing I have learnt is it’s OK to make mistakes. It’s OK to fail and that’s a part of being human.

“While that was a very dark period and a hard dance thing to kind of dance to, I just put one foot in front of the other and I’ve climbed my way out of that hole.

“I feel a lot of healing here done tonight. That’s probably why it’s so emotional.

“I know it’s just a dance and dance maybe isn’t important but it’s important to me and this was important to me, and I feel like I can kind of close that chapter with a little bit of love and forgiveness.”

Originally published as Grant Denyer reveals he has chronic fear of ‘not being liked’