Ice and indulgence: a life on the chase for Andrew O’Keefe

The beginning of the end of ­Andrew O’Keefe’s career came in the back of a chauffeured car provided by his TV bosses in a desperate bid to keep the star away from drugs.

Andrew O’Keefe in a promotional shot for The Chase. Picture: Nicole Cleary

This article was first published in 2022.

The beginning of the end of ­Andrew O’Keefe’s career came in the back of a chauffeured car provided by his TV bosses in a desperate bid to keep the star out of trouble and away from the drugs slowly destroying his life.

When the driver checked his mirror, the Seven network’s biggest name had allegedly already lit up an ice pipe, the fumes so strong the driver would later say he feared he was going to kill someone as he came under the influence.

Called in by alarmed television executives, O’Keefe vehemently denied the allegation.

But the star had form: a record of drug abuse, verbal attacks on staff and highly inappropriate ­behaviour on set, always followed by denials.

“He’s someone who’s been privileged, spoiled, indulged, treated like a celebrity – and the power goes to his head,” says one network executive. “He has a very quick mind but he lacks discipline; life is easy and everything gets done around him, so he’s stuck in that cycle of indulgence.”

“He’s lost his children, he’s lost his reputation, he’s lost his money, he’s lost his career, he’s lost his ability to see reason,” says one of the professionals who have tried to help him.

Career

The 50-year-old’s life has often seemed a struggle between the legacy of his family’s two most ­famous members: his father, ­respected judge and barrister Barry O’Keefe; and his uncle, Johnny O’Keefe, the wild man of Australian rock ‘n’ roll who died in 1978 from a drug overdose.

Andrew began his career as an intellectual property lawyer but, almost inevitably, found his way into television.

In 2003 he began hosting the Seven network’s Deal or No Deal, which debuted in a prime time 7.30pm slot.

At an extravagant launch party, O’Keefe was lauded by then Seven CEO David Leckie, who was determined to revive the network’s fortunes by putting the “showbiz” back into television.

Leckie wanted to inject a large dose of excitement and O’Keefe was the man to do it, though at the time his biggest claim to fame was a wicked impersonation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire host Eddie McGuire on the rival Nine network.

Deal or No Deal was a hit, rocketing O’Keefe to instant fame, followed by long stints on other Seven shows including Weekend Sunrise and The Chase Australia.

The quiz show king had always partied hard. On one big night in 2009 he was filmed intoxicated outside a Melbourne nightclub, toppling over a mystery woman into the gutter before jumping into a stranger’s car and heading off into the night.

When the executive producer of Deal or No Deal knocked on his door the next morning she found him covered head to toe in a variety of Texta colours.

But O’Keefe was also a family man, devoted to several charitable causes, and was one of the founding members of White Ribbon Australia, an organisation dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence against women.

Andrew O'Keefe in 2019. Picture: John Feder

“It’s a very common experience – you’ll have a friend or family member in that situation but you didn’t know anything about it because it’s so difficult to talk about,” he said.

“It’s difficult to get men to talk about serious personal issues, let alone those that reflect badly on themselves.’’

Personal struggles

The first signs that something was seriously amiss came with the breakdown of his marriage to ­social worker Eleanor Campbell in 2017. The split hit O’Keefe hard.

He told friends he was being “punished by his wife”. He wasn’t allowed to see his children and was under strict financial controls.

He says he told Seven he was struggling mentally and that he needed help. He claims the network didn’t help.

That seems not to be true. In 2019 the company paid for O’Keefe to go to rehab.

“We’re not here to cause trouble, we’re here to help you, you’ve had a long career with the network. We respect and support you,” senior executives told him.

Filming of The Chase at the ITV studios in Melbourne was halted for eight weeks when O’Keefe took a leave of absence. It didn’t work.

From that point his behaviour became worse: angry, late to meetings, abusing staff.

“Never have I been disrespected by anyone as much as by ­Andrew O’Keefe. Never have I had missives of red-font emails written, seven pages of abuse, and blame and all those things,” one television executive said.

Some contestants on the show even wrote complaints.

It was alleged the star was having drugs dropped to the studios. Producers claimed they saw an ice pipe in his dressing room.

“I think Andrew probably had much greater ambitions, and he didn’t get there and he was frustrated and all these things cycle around, and he fell into addictive behaviours,” says a television insider who knows him well. “One thing led to another and he took more and more risks and, like all addicts, he became addicted.”

At one point production company ITV refused to have O’Keefe on set – a seemingly impossible demand considering he was the host of the show. But O’Keefe blamed the executive producer of the program, a woman with a long career in television and highly ­regarded by her peers.

“There’s a common pattern here. He points the finger at everyone around him, and everyone around him bends over backwards to support him, and yet he attacks those people that are doing the best by him,” one insider said.

“What probably hurts people the most is that we put a lot of personal blood, sweat and tears into supporting him and backing him, providing extra love and care and attention, and propping him up, just to be treated like this,” ­another production insider said.

When confronted about his ­behaviour, O’Keefe would meet the allegation with denials. Someone else was always to blame.

So extensive were the delays and budget blowouts caused by O’Keefe arriving late at the studio, a chaperone was assigned to take him home and bring him to the set on time.

“This was a regular problem,” one insider said. “We would have 100 people sitting around being paid for two hours and nothing to do,” an ITV source said.

Towards the end, licensed ­security guards replaced the production chaperones, ferrying him to and from the studio.

Through it all, O’Keefe maintained he was doing nothing wrong on set.

It was a mindset on full display last week as he was taken away in a police van after being charged with a domestic violence offence.

“I’m a victim of crime,” he yelled at journalists as he banged and kicked at the inside of a paddy wagon.

In early 2020, O’Keefe was hauled into a meeting with network executives and asked to sign a document that had a set of conditions required by him to meet, including mandatory drug tests and that he return to rehab.

O’Keefe failed to turn up for some of the tests.

It was alleged that O’Keefe had taken drugs on the studio floor, an allegation he denied.

Then things spiralled further out of control, and in public.

Controversies

After a night out at a friend’s birthday party, O’Keefe spat, slapped and kicked his partner at home. It stemmed from an argument in which his then-partner accused him of having an ice pipe in his pocket – an allegation he again strenuously denied.

Following his arrest, police sources say O’Keefe was sectioned and sedated before spending three weeks inside the psychiatric unit of Prince of Wales Hospital.

The charges were dismissed on mental health grounds.

Less than three months later O’Keefe was again arrested and charged with assault and breaching an apprehended violence order; and again said he would be defending the charges. O’Keefe says there is “significant dispute” of the facts.

Privately O’Keefe blames his arrests and subsequent charges on his victims, the police and the very system that protects women and victims of violence that he helped build and reform.

He has told friends the system had previously been biased against women but there had been an “over-correction” that loaded the system against men.

“We’ve replaced one injustice with another just as bad,” he said.

The father of three children to his ex-wife, O’Keefe has missed much of the childhood of his young daughter.

In the past two years, he has had virtually no contact with his children. He has told friends it is one of the great sadnesses of his life.

His career is gone too, his 17 year relationship with Seven ended in 2020.

“O’Keefe’s actions and violent outbursts all occurred after he left the network, which is so committed to improving gender equality, and absolutely passionate about stopping violence against women,” a Seven source said.

The troubled star is now living on the proceeds of his divorce settlement, following the sale of the family home at the end of last year.

O’Keefe is based in a $1000-a-week skyrise one-bedroom apartment with expansive views of Darling Harbour and western Sydney.

For the many people who have tried to help O’Keefe over the years, only to find themselves burnt, it is a tale of despair and wasted talent; but one for which the star has only himself to blame.

“Everybody says it’s awfully sad, and it is, but I’m well beyond it being awfully sad,” says one former friend.

“Regardless of his privilege, ­regardless of him being a private school boy, or coming from a well-to-do family, he’s an Australian like the rest of us, and the rest of us have to be held accountable for our actions.”