CLOSE AND PERSONAL
The wacky bond between 20 to One hosts Erin Molan and Dave Thornton
BREAKING the ice with new colleagues can be awkward.
If you’re Erin Molan, your option A is to trot out your impression of a … wait for it … fallopian tube. Dave Thornton remembers the exact moment his new co- host of Nine’s 20 To One played out her party trick to hilarious effect.
“She was standing there in this pink dress and she’s got her hands up in the air, holding a ball in each hand,” Thornton tells Switched On.
“What am I? what am I?’” and much to her surprise I replied: “A fallopian tube?”
The NRL Footy Show favourite and TV prankster admits she was floored and a firm friendship instantly born.
It’s a shame Molan’s panto routine wasn’t caught on camera, otherwise it might have made one of the show’s funny video lists.
While her sense of humour may be a bit bizarre, she is full of praise for her new on- air partner.
“I think if you can be really, grabbing-at- yourstomach funny when it’s not at someone’s expense, I think that’s a true test of someone who is a brilliant comic, and he is,” Molan says. “He’s just fantastic.”
The admiration is mutual, with Thornton wowed by Molan’s “goofball,” no- frills work ethic and attitude.
“I knew she was the host of The Footy Show and a sports journo and she’s a wealth of knowledge … so by proxy I became more interesting,” he says.
While he quite literally felt the heat of production at times, Molan took her busy workload in her stride.
“There were times I’ve been so hot and sweating in that suit and I’ll get a bit tetchy and Erin would have done the news and The NRL Footy Show the night before, then she comes in, smashes the day out … and I’m the one going ‘ guys, guys, I need a towel…’. She’s as tough as nails, but I falter like a house of cards when it gets over 30 [ degrees].”
The show’s format – where celebrities provide a running commentary for a pop culture- themed countdown, tied to today’s hottest headlines – will feature input from stars including Sharon Osbourne, Miranda Tapsell, and new Bachelorette Sophie Monk.
Molan admits previous hosts, Ryan ‘ Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘ Wippa’ Wipfli will be “a hard act to follow,” but has put her faith in Thornton, who won the gig after eight others failed their chemistry test.
“He’s just a lovely guy, has a lovely family, a beautiful little girl, a beautiful wife and ... [ already] we’ve been through a bit,” she says.
“My grandpa had passed away during one of our big, intense weeks of filming and you know I was quite upset but he was there and he made me laugh. There’s something really special about him and I think Australian audiences will absolutely love him.”
Despite being engaged to NSW police detective, Sean Ogilvy, Molan was also “unfairly” drawn into the acrimonious AVO battle between former Getaway presenter Kelly Landry and her estranged millionaire accountant husband, Anthony Bell.
Molan and her fiancee testified she was not a third party in the ugly marital split, despite Landry’s accusations.
While the happy couple have not set a date for their wedding, the court controversy has “100 per cent” brought the pair closer together, Molan says.
“He’s amazing and we’re very good,” says Molan.
20 TO ONE, NINE, RETURNS TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 7.30PM