Osher Günsberg, TV host, 47: Q&A

The reality TV host on changing his name, mental health - and why The Bachelorette 2021 will be unlike any other.

The face of reality TV: Osher Günsberg. Picture: Nick Cubbin

After a start in radio and then music TV, co-hosting Australian Idol for seven seasons made you a household name. Was that always the plan? Not at all. I kept going because it was fun and people kept asking me to do things and I kept saying yes. It wasn’t until after the first season of Idol in 2003 when I went, “All right, so this is what I can do here, how big can I go?” So it was actually 10 years into my broadcasting career that I started having goals like that.

Did your parents, both doctors, support your choice of career? Things are very different now. Back then, my private school in Brisbane was a factory for future doctors, lawyers or Wallabies, and anybody else... good luck. Before I got into radio I started out as a roadie, and I think my folks were just happy I was doing something I loved.

Andrew is the name you were born with. Why, aged 38, did you change it? It’s not uncommon to change your name – both my parents did. Changing mine [to Osher, meaning “happiness” in Hebrew] allowed me to demarcate from a previous way of life that was unsustainable and quite damaging for not only myself but people around me.

Your 2018 memoir Back, After the Break detailed your struggles with depression and anxiety, including a terrifying breakdown in 2014. Was it hard to go public about it? It actually wasn’t hard at all. When I first realised how seductive and convincing the thoughts of self-harm were, that’s when I was most shocked. I had to warn people that it shows up as the best idea you’ve ever had. What I had to lose by opening up and sharing my experience was nothing compared to what others may be able to gain, and it’s worked out fine so far.

In addition to hosting The Bachelor franchise on Australian TV you have a weekly podcast called Better Than Yesterday, speaking engagements, your work advocating for mental health awareness – and fatherhood. How do you juggle it all? Like any business, once you get to a certain size you need help. I have my wife Audrey, who gives incredible support and understands my job doesn’t always allow me to be around, and Rachel Barrett, a very hardworking person in my team. I simply couldn’t do what I do without them.

What has hosting a reality show where contestants battle each other for love taught you about people? I grew up in a family and a school full of boys, so I find it a little easier when it’s The Bachelorette [with male contestants] as I understand a little more the nuances guys have with each other. And I’ve learnt that you may as well just drop the act and try to be the very best version of yourself because eventually, the penny is going to drop and then you’re stuffed.

This year’s Bachelorette will be Brooke Blurton, who is bisexual; the contestants will be both male and female. It sounds complicated! The Australian production is the first in the world to do it and I’m stoked about that. We’re all competing for a partner in some way… against whatever else we’re being distracted or seduced by. Our show brings it all out in the open and I don’t think this time will be any different.

Season 9 of The Bachelor is due to start on Network Ten in late July. Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Lifeline 13 11 14