‘I am my own worst critic’: Sonia Kruger on THAT Gold Logie controversy – and the advice she’d give her daughter

Sonia Kruger gives a rare insight into the relationship she prefers to keep private, the aftermath of THAT Gold Logie speech – and the life lessons she is imparting to her daughter.

She’s one of the most popular stars on Australian TV, who is now stepping into a role it seems she was made for – the main host of Dancing With The Stars.

In a candid interview with Stellar’s podcast Something To Talk About, Sonia Kruger gives a rare insight into the “rock solid” relationship she prefers to keep private, the real story behind that Gold Logie speech that broke the internet – and the life lessons the 58-year-old is imparting to her daughter.

A new season of Dancing With The Stars is on the way but before we talk about that,

I want to go back to 1992, when you tore up the dance floor as Tina Sparkle in Strictly Ballroom. Your co-star Gia Carides recently told Stellar that people still say to her, “Oh my gosh, I loved you in Strictly Ballroom.”Do you still get approached about it?

People have so much affection for the movie. It came at a time when Australian film was really taking off. We had Muriel’s Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Strictly Ballroom… It was this little home-grown movie that had huge international success, and the story was so heartwarming. People really loved all of those characters. I read Gia’s interview; I love hearing from other cast members to see what their experiences are like. And the fact she was saying it would be awesome if Baz [Luhrmann, the director] did a sequel… I’m all for it, too. It would be a great thing to see.

Listen to the full interview with Sonia Kruger on Something To Talk About below:

Has anyone put it to Baz?

I don’t know that they have. When you get Baz in here, you should ask him.

Just add sparkle! Sonia Kruger has opened up about THAT Logies controversy. Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

The first season of Dancing With The Stars aired 20 years ago, in the final months of 2004. Before it went to air nobody thought it was going to be a hit, but it surprised everyone and became an absolute water-cooler show. What are your memories of that time?

I’d been doing entertainment reporting for [the Seven Network’s] Today Tonight; that was my full-time job. I’d been in London, turned the television on and this show came

up called Strictly Come Dancing. I was mesmerised, thinking this is amazing and so in my wheelhouse. I got back to Sydney, spoke to Peter Meakin – the head of news at the time – and said, “I saw this show in the UK. I think we should do it at Seven.” And he went, “I think we’ve got the rights to it.” I went, “You’re joking.” He said, “You should talk to Brad Lyons [Seven’s then director of production, who passed away in 2020] about it.” So I called Brad Lyons and he said “Yes, come and see me.” Brad really didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence. There were a few expletives, and he basically said, “I’m not sure why we’re doing this, but we are... It better work, Kruger.” Then we [started] shooting. We were doing it live. We didn’t even get through a rehearsal. It was a disaster. No autocue; Daryl [Somers] worked with cue cards. [It] was very freewheeling, as live as you could get. When the numbers came in the next day, everybody was gobsmacked. So I was lucky. I ended up on a show in prime time that had a huge amount of viewers. I don’t want to sound completely woo-woo about this, but when the universe takes you in a certain direction… that happened with Dancing With The Stars.

‘Call out a situation’. Sonia Kruger has revealed her advice to the next generation of women – including her daughter. Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

You mentioned Daryl Somers, who was your co-host for 10 seasons from when the show began. Dr Chris Brown joins you as co-host this year, and for the first time, you’re taking on the main hosting role. Over the years you’ve said you didn’t want to do that. What changed?

I’ve hosted big shows on my own: The Voice and Big Brother. With Dancing, I did have “all care, no responsibility”. I could be in the green room and kind of get away with murder. But when Chris came on board, it was obvious that even from a practical perspective, being across the mechanics of the show, I had a lot more experience. Chris really wanted to be able to come and have fun. So we thought, well, why not?

You’ve just been nominated again for a Gold Logie, which of course you won last year. You seemed genuinely surprised when your name was called...

I was. Just to be nominated in that group of people, I can’t explain what that’s like. Sometimes it’s weird to be included in that group. So yeah, I was shocked. I was also slightly delirious, because I’d been going since about eight in the morning and by this stage, it was like midnight or something.

Your acceptance speech made more headlines than anything else that happened all night.

Sadly, not for how brilliant it was. You wrote about it later in your column for Stellar and said, “I’ve rewritten that acceptance speech in my head over and over again ever since.” To recap: you made a joke about fellow Gold Logie nominee Hamish Blake. By your own admission, it was perceived to fall flat. Hamish and I have the same manager [Mark Clements], and he was sitting next to Hamish. I put Mark on the spot earlier in the day. I said, who did you vote for?

So I thought it would be funny to say, “You know, Hamish, Mark didn’t vote for you. He voted for me and just between you and me, he’s lost interest in you. It might be best to find another agent.” That was where I was going, but the audience was very tired and my delivery wasn’t brilliant. At that point I thought, I just need to get off this stage now.

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Hamish was a guest on Something To Talk About a couple of months ago. We spoke about that moment and he said he knew what you were doing. He was playing along, so he looked “annoyed”, and then of course…

The cutaways, the cameras.

The “annoyed” look got out there. People read headlines or go off a two-second clip, or a little image on social media. There’s no context.

And these things play on your mind. I sent [Hamish] an email the next day and said, “Look, I hope I didn’t offend you. I really was just trying to make a joke.” And he wrote the sweetest email back to me. That’s why we love Hamish. Plus, he can give a good speech.

Did the controversy take the shine off the moment?

I think I was expecting to feel this amazing happiness and joy, but I was beating myself up. We can be very hard on ourselves. I’m my own worst critic. Nothing anyone else writes could make me feel worse than what I’m saying to myself in my own head. But luckily I have some fantastic friends and family who started to point out a few things to me. They were like, “You know what, Sonia? You’re one of 16 women to take home the Gold Logie. It’s yours and you deserve it.” It did bother me to the point where I spoke to someone about it, because I couldn’t stop berating myself internally. I spoke to a psychologist – which I also wrote about in my Stellar column. And if there was to be a do over – and I don’t expect that there will be at all – but if there was, I wish I could promise people an amazing speech. But I can’t. I think I’d have to rely on ChatGPT or something to write it.

Sonia Kruger has revealed her advice to the next generation of women

You and your long-time partner Craig McPherson are not a high-profile couple. You haven’t been on red carpets together, you don’t post about each other on social media. In April, he stepped down as the Seven Network’s director of news and public affairs, which saw his name in the headlines as opposed to yours. What was that like? And what challenges did it present to you as a couple?

As a couple, no challenge. One thing Craig has always been for me – and I for him – is rock solid. And in an industry that can be fickle at times, you need to have someone who’s in your corner. We certainly are that person for each other. Craig has had an incredible career. He started as a copy boy on The Mirror, worked his way up through the television ranks and climbed the mountain to become head of news at Seven. That’s a tough job. It’s 24/7. There’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of stress that, as an individual, you absorb. He’s not ready to retire, but I think he needed to step back from such a demanding job, especially when we have a child who’s nine. She requires his attention too at times, as do I. The timing was right for him to step out. I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m biased, but he really is one of the best in the business. I know there will be something fun that comes for Craig where he can actually indulge a passion, which is sport. So, who knows?

Listen to the full interview with Sonia Kruger on Something To Talk About below:

You mentioned your daughter, Maggie, who is nine. How is your relationship with her evolving as she’s nearing double digits? Nine-and-a-half. It’s crazy. She’s obsessed with skincare, like most nine-and-a-half-year-olds are. She makes me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing at all. She’s questioned me about what cleanser I’m using. This shift between when they’re your babies to starting school, and then the development from there, is pretty rapid fire.

Maggie was born in 2015, the same year your beloved father Adrian passed away. Can I ask about navigating those two experiences within such a close period?

It’s not easy. The loss of a parent is always a devastating thing to have to go through. Luckily, Mum is still alive – [her] genes stretch well into the 90s and 100s so I’m hoping Mum is going to be around for quite a bit longer. Dad was a little bit on borrowed time. He’d been sick for about eight years, so we kind of knew it was coming. In a way, I feel like he held on to meet Maggie. I think he really wanted me to have a child. That makes me so emotional even talking about it, because I don’t feel like he’s gone. I feel like he’s still watching over.

As Maggie grows up, what do you hope for her about the world in which she will be navigating life as a young woman as opposed to the world you navigated in your 20s and 30s?

It’s very important that Maggie understands the power of independence. For women in general, it’s integral to our security. We can be married, we can be in relationships

– sometimes those things don’t last. I see, all too often, women who end up in a situation where they’re financially compromised. This can lead to all sorts of stress that in turn leads to health issues, and that really concerns me. I’d like for her to be confident enough to call out a situation if she didn’t feel comfortable. When I was growing up, it was less talked about. The fact we’re even having these conversations now is a good thing. Because if you don’t feel comfortable, you need to be able to verbalise it – at the highest level. I want her to always feel that she can come to me or speak up if there’s something that she doesn’t feel right about. Those kinds of things bring to young women a certain agency. That’s what I would like to see going forward.

With her Gold Logie in 2023. Picture: Getty Images

I’ve published multiple covers of you in my time as a magazine editor-in-chief. A few years ago, one of them answered a question that people were asking: “How is Sonia Kruger so ageless?” Are you aware of what a beacon you’ve been to so many

Australian women in seemingly defying age?

No, but that’s lovely. I’m stuck on

the word “beacon”, because when I was a teenager and I’d hang out at the beach with my friends on the Gold Coast, my hair was white from being in the surf all the time and I was very tanned because we weren’t across the whole sun protection issue. They used to call me the beacon, because I think I literally was glowing [laughs].

Oh, no! Have I triggered you?

Yeah, don’t dig those photos up. Nobody needs to see those. But no, it’s a massive compliment. They also see me after I’ve been through

a fairly lengthy process with hair and make-up. I certainly don’t look like the way I look on television first thing in the morning. At all. Can I just say, I feel it’s more attitude. It’s more internal than external. You and I know people who are probably younger than us who come across as being more serious, responsible. Honestly, at times I look at myself and I’m like, “Sonia, you need to grow up.” I still feel the same way I felt when I was 25. Also, optimism comes into it. I’ve always been a glass-half-full person, very optimistic about life. Those sorts of attitudes keep you young.

Dancing With The Stars premieres on Sunday, July 7, on Channel 7 and 7plus. See the full shoot with Sonia Kruger in Stellar, out on Sunday. For more from Stellar, click here.

Originally published as ‘I am my own worst critic’: Sonia Kruger on THAT Gold Logie controversy – and the advice she’d give her daughter