Art of the deal
As host of the newly revived Deal or No Deal, Grant Denyer is having more fun on-screen than ever. The 2018 Gold Logie winner tells Siobhan Duck it’s down to his more laid-back approach to life
GRANT Denyer has never been afraid to go the extra mile to entertain people – even when that means almost killing himself in the process.
Known for his boundless energy, Denyer was a shock early exit from last year’s celebrity edition of The Amazing Race Australia after suffering extreme heat stroke travelling through India.
“Most television moments are dialled up but, for the first time in my life, this one was dialled down because it was was genuinely very, very serious,” he recalls.
“I was not aware of how fatal heat stroke is. I scared a hell of a lot of people that day. And I particularly scared my wife. One producer (who was cradling me as I was convulsing on the ground and drifting in and out of consciousness) was convinced that I was I was leaving her for good.”
As an admittedly “competitive little bugger” Denyer tried to push through his obvious pain.
“I was stuck in competition mode,” he says.
“I was fighting to continue to stay in it, but I was also completely out, delirious and not aware of where I was or what was happening. So, watching it back, it was graphic because I hadn’t realised how sick I was.”
It took Denyer seven weeks to fully recover.
“I was really impacted mentally,” he says.
“I couldn’t finish sentences. I couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t walk from the kitchen to the bedroom without having to sleep for two days.”
Now back on his feet, Denyer finds himself facing another test of his endurance as host of the revamped Deal or No Deal. But he has devised a strategy to stay match fit for game show hosting.
“After filming 15 episodes of the show – which is 52 hours – in one week, which is what we do, I go home to my beautiful girls [wife Chezzi and daughters Sailor, Scout and Sunday] and thankfully they do most of the talking for me,” he laughs.
“So, I go from ‘Mr Talkedy Talk’ during my job to ‘Mr Listeny Listen’ at home.
“It’s good because I conserve energy and their cuddles fill me back up. I have learned to recover. But you’ve got to be disciplined.
“You’ve got to stay healthy. You’ve got to watch what you eat and what you drink. It’s a marathon to get through making 195 episodes in just three months. It’s the highest workload I’ve ever had.”
Luckily for Denyer, all those hours spent on set aren’t all work and no play and he enthuses that he’s enjoyed doing Deal or No Deal more than any other show.
He puts that down to his newfound confidence.
“Because I used to feel like I didn’t think I had much to offer,” he says.
“As you get older and – I’ve put a lot of work into myself – healing previous traumas and just trying to evolve and get to the best version of myself. I have spent a lot of time unwinding the bits that I don’t like about myself and fixing them up.”
Denyer admits that he used to suffer from ‘imposter syndrome’, joking that it led him to become a Frankenstein of TV legends trying to impress.
“I was a little bit of Rove McManus, a little bit of Daryl Somers, a little bit of Larry Emdur and a bit of Bert Newton.
“[For] a lot of my life I have been pretending to be a host.
“I have been pretending to be the sort of character people wanted me to be rather than just being.”
On Deal or No Deal, he’s taken a more laid-back approach.
“Normally I’m really a
stickler for details and I tend to craft every tiny aspect of my hosting role,” he says thoughtfully.
“And this time I’m kind of trying to just roll with it a little bit more. I think I’m more ‘me’ than I’ve ever been. I’m in a very comfortable phase in my life where I’m comfortable with who I am, and the mistakes that I’ve made and the person I am growing into.”
Deal or No Deal (which first ran for 10 years on Channel 7 with Andrew O’Keefe at the helm) has been rested since being replaced by The Chase in 2015. It has now been revived by Network 10 to go head-tohead with Seven and Nine’s nightly news bulletins at 6pm.
Understanding that a lot
of people are doing it tough, Denyer believes Deal or No Deal will provide a point of difference from depressing headlines and light relief from financial burdens.
He’s also proud of the changes that have been made to the format.
The most noticeable shake-up is the absence of the ‘Dealettes’ – the bevvy of beautiful women who once stood holding cases in the background.
“Yeah, I was part of that decision,” he says.
“In 2024 it was time to evolve and modernise the concept. I wanted to level it up a bit. It’s a bit more lux. More high-end. So, I felt it was time to move on from the Dealettes. I didn’t feel
comfortable having the show hang its hat on that.
“It was one of the few changes we made. So now the audience holds the cases, which means there’s more involvement in the room.”
Long before she met Prince Harry, Meghan Markle got her start in TV as a Dealette on the American version of Deal or No Deal, prompting Denyer to joke: “I only said yes to hosting so I could pash a prince!”
But he doesn’t think he’s cruelled anyone’s royal ambitions by sidelining the Dealettes.
“There are other ways to get a start in the industry than wearing next to nothing and a fake wig,” he smiles.
“We have YouTube and Instagram. There are all sorts of places to make a mark.”
Deal or No Deal, weekdays, 6pm, 10 and streaming, 10 Play
Grant Denyer: “This time I’m kind of trying to just roll with it a little bit more. I think I’m more ‘me’ than I’ve ever been.”