Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act to star as new SBS Eurovision commentary team

What Tony Armstrong does next will make him half of Australian TV’s hottest new couple.

Tony Armstrong’s next big gig on television will unite his love of a pop banger and blasts of pyro with new best friend Courtney Act.

Australian television’s hottest new couple have won the commentary team role for SBS’s Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland next month.

Beloved drag queen Act made her off-Broadway debut at last year’s contest in Sweden as the “backstage correspondent” and has taken former ABC personality Armstrong under her wing to educate him on all things Eurovision.

“I’m not entirely a first-time viewer but definitely not someone who comes with the knowledge of all the voting alliances that all the nations have,” Armstrong said.

“So where the partnership with Courtney will come to the fore is me going ‘this is a bit weird’ and she will be able to fill in that gap.”

Australian TV’s hottest new couple Courtney Act and Tony Armstrong. Picture: Supplied

The television presenter pros were given a “chemistry test” before landing the coveted gig.

“We had the television chemistry test, which I’ve never, ever done before,” Act said.

“I had met Tony in real life but then we did the test at SBS and hung out for the day and commentated on past Eurovisions and obviously it went well and they asked us to be the hosts.”

Armstrong described the process as a “a first date with money and a job on the line.”

The commentary roles were up for grabs after Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst, who commanded the glitter microphones for seven years, stepped down in December.

While both creatives wanted to pursue other endeavours, the pair were also worn down by relentless trolling after taking over from longtime SBS team, Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang.

Eurovision hosts Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst quit the gig last year. Picture: Supplied / SBS

Armstrong, who recently hit back at online racists with an hilarious viral comedy sketch advertising the fictitious Furore spell check app for trolls, said he wasn’t going to “listen to the dude in his mum’s basement with pizza crumbs on his chest.”

“It’s one of those things, right? Like, you could say racism is bad, and people will disagree,” he said.

“You’re not gonna please everyone with anything. I’m just proud that Courtney and I were chosen to be together and we’re gonna give it our best shot. And unless we really stuff up, which we won’t, I think we’ll have an overwhelming amount of support.”

Drag Race judge Act, who has a huge following in Europe, is a popular member of the extended Eurovision family since competing in the Australian Decides contest in 2019 and then as our jury spokesperson in 2022.

The dynamic duo head to Basel in Switzerland for the content next month. Picture: Supplied / SBS.

“Eurovision is like a new season of Drag Race where you get to know all the new girls and follow their journey,” she said.

“The audience feels very familiar to me and for nearly all of these artists, Eurovision is probably the biggest thing they’ve ever done as it is with Drag Race.”

Both commentators will be cheering on Australia’s contestant Go-Jo and his cheeky pop banger Milkshake Man to make the grand final in Basel, with Armstrong declaring there’s no reason why he can’t win. Besides those pesky voting blocs.

The Logies winner, who hosted several series for the ABC over the past five years and quit as the News Breakfast sports presenter last year, hopes SBS has the budget to grant one special request for their Eurovision commentary box.

“I’ve been asking for pyro for our booth and I’ve got a lot of ‘We’ll get back to you, Tony,’ so it’s not looking good.”

SBS will broadcast the semi-finals and grand final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest from May 14 to 18.

Originally published as Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act to star as new SBS Eurovision commentary team