Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
and
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
, mostly serving as a presenter.
In 2018, he won a
.
Television career
In 1997, Denyer began his career in the media with a position at
Prime Television
Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Cap ...
in
Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...
as a news reporter and journalist.
He moved to Sydney to work as V8 Supercar pit reporter for
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
, when he caught the eye of television producer
Adam Boland
Adam Boland (born 1977) is the Managing Director of Australian production company, Bohdee Media. He had previously been the executive producer of the Seven Network's breakfast show ''Sunrise'' and created '' The Morning Show'' and ''Weekend Sunr ...
.
Boland saw the potential in Denyer and offered him full-time position as the weather presenter on the relaunched ''
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
'' program from 2004 until the end of 2006. Denyer left this position in December 2006 due to wanting to spend more time with his family, though he remained as a roving reporter for the
breakfast program ''
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
''.
![Grant Denyer presenting Sunrise weather in Cootamundra in 2005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Grant_Denyer_presenting_Sunrise_weather_in_Cootamundra_in_2005.jpg)
Denyer won the fourth series of ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'' and also hosted the celebrity duet singing competition ''
It Takes Two'' from 2006 to 2008. He has also presented ''All Time Greatest Aussie Bloopers'', ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' with co-host
Shelley Craft
Shelley Craft (born 21 June 1976) is an Australian television personality.
She is most well known for her long-running presenting roles on the Seven Network programs ''Saturday Disney'' from 1996 until 2002, and '' The Great Outdoors'' from 200 ...
and ''
Australia's Got Talent''. He is the holder of five official Guinness World Records.
From 2006 to 2011, he was the host of ''
Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain is an annual Australian Christmas concert event held in the Domain Gardens in Sydney. It began in 1983, and features many national and international performers and guest appearances. It a free event, broadcast around Austral ...
'' in Sydney.
In 2007, his race and television career saw him both racing and being a part of the commentary team featuring
Neil Crompton
Neil Crompton (born 30 July 1960) is a well-known Supercars presenter and commentator.
Racing career Highlights
According to the official V8 Supercars website, Crompton has competed in 357 various motor racing events, finishing in the first ...
,
Matthew White,
Mark Beretta
Mark Beretta (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian journalist, best known as a sports reporter on Seven Network program ''Sunrise''.
In July 2008, Beretta began presenting ''Seven Early News'' sport alongside Natalie Barr at 5.30 am, which le ...
and Daniel Gibson to report on the
V8 Supercar
The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport.
Supercars events take place in all Australian ...
Series.
In January 2010, Denyer returned to ''Sunrise'' as weather presenter, succeeding
Fifi Box
Fiona Box is an Australian radio broadcaster, television presenter and actress.
Career
Box's early career was spent in regional Australia working at stations 2MC/ROXFM Port Macquarie, 3TR Traralgon and 3GG Warragul.
In 2000, Box co-hosted a la ...
who became Entertainment editor. Grant remained weather presenter until he resigned in March 2013 to spend more time with his family.
He also hosted the short-lived
Iron Chef Australia
''Iron Chef Australia'' is an Australian cooking show based on the Japanese show ''Iron Chef'', as well as its American adaptation ''Iron Chef America''. The program is a sort of culinary game show, with each episode seeing a challenger chef comp ...
, in 2010.
In late 2013, Denyer hosted ''
Slide Show
A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images (Presentation slide, slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals o ...
''. He hosted a series of ''
Million Dollar Minute
''Million Dollar Minute'' is an Australian quiz show which aired on the Seven Network. It premiered on 16 September 2013. The show was originally hosted by Grant Denyer, and later by Simon Reeve, and aired at 5:30 pm on weeknights. The show was ...
'' which first aired on 16 September 2013. On 29 November 2013, Denyer resigned due to 'family reasons' and he was replaced by ''
Weekend Sunrise
''Weekend Sunrise'' is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network and currently hosted by Monique Wright and Matt Doran.
History
In 2005 the Seven Network replaced its struggling Sunday morning program ''Sunday ...
'' sports presenter
Simon Reeve.
In 2014, Denyer joined
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
as the host of a revived version of game show ''
Family Feud
''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has had three separate runs, the ...
''. Denyer has described himself as a "workaholic".
In 2015, Denyer co-hosted ''
The Great Australian Spelling Bee
''The Great Australian Spelling Bee'' was an Australian reality series on Network Ten. Hosted by Grant Denyer and Chrissie Swan, and produced by Shine Australia, the series premiered from 3 August 2015 until 17 September 2016. The series also st ...
'' alongside
Chrissie Swan
Christina Swan (born 3 November 1973) is an Australian television and radio presenter and media personality. Swan co-hosts '' Chrissie, Sam & Browny'' on Nova 100 with Sam Pang and Jonathan Brown. In 2022, she served as a judge on '' The Mas ...
.
In 2016, he also had a guest appearance on ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...
'' for ''Family Feud'' on episode 7477.
In 2018, Denyer hosted an Australian version of ''
Game of Games
''Game of Games'' is an Australian TV game show hosted by Grant Denyer based on the American game show ''Ellen's Game of Games''. It premiered on Network Ten on Sunday, 7 October 2018 at 7:30pm and on 24 November 2018 Channel Ten changed its ti ...
''.
In 2019, Denyer co-hosted ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'' alongside
Amanda Keller
Amanda Rose Keller (born 25 February 1962) is an Australian television and radio presenter, comedian, writer, actress, journalist and media personality, best known as the hostess of the popular Australian lifestyle program ''The Living Room''. ...
and hosted ''
Celebrity Name Game''.
Television
Awards
Denyer has been nominated four times for the
Logie Award for Best Presenter award at the
TV Week Logie Awards
The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
. He was nominated in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for his roles on ''It Takes Two'' and on ''Australia's Got Talent'' (in 2009). He was nominated again in 2015 for his role in ''Family Feud''.
In 2006, Denyer was recognized by voters in the TV Fugly Awards as being Australia's Spunkiest Male TV Personality. Grant has been voted "sexiest presenter on TV" by a Melbourne Metro magazine poll, and he was voted the most datable male by (Australian) ''New Woman'' magazine.
In 2016, Denyer won the silver Logie award for Best Entertainment Program for ''Family Feud''.
In 2018, Denyer was nominated for a Gold Logie for the third year in a row, which he won, as well as winning
Logie Award for Most Popular Presenter
The Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter is an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. The award recognises the popularity of a presenter, co-host or judge of an Australian program.
It was first awarded at the 45th A ...
.
Radio career
In December 2017,
Southern Cross Austereo
Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio station ...
announced that Denyer would be joining
2Day FM to host the ''Em, Grant and Ed'' breakfast show with comedians
Em Rusciano
Emelia Rachel Rusciano is an Australian comedian, writer, singer, radio, television presenter and podcaster.
Early life
Rusciano was born and raised in Greensborough, Victoria, and grew up in Diamond Creek and Warrandyte. She attended Forest ...
and
Ed Kavalee.
Ash London joined the show in 2019 replacing Rusciano.
In August 2019, Southern Cross Austereo announced that ''Grant, Ed and Ash'' would finish on Friday 16 August due to taking a 'new direction'. ''Grant, Ed and Ash'' was replaced by a music focused show.
On 3 October 2019, it was announced that Denyer would host a new radio show with
Yvie Jones
Yvie Jones (born 19 November 1972) is an Australian television personality, known for appearing alongside Angie Kent on ''Gogglebox Australia'' from 2015 to 2018.
Career
Jones left ''Gogglebox Australia'' in December 2018. In January 2019, it w ...
in December, the ''Grant and Yvie Show'', a Summer breakfast show that would air in
Hit Network
The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 Digital radio in Australia, dig ...
's major metro markets, except
2Day FM in Sydney.
Recording career
In December 2018, Denyer released his debut single, "
Driving Home for Christmas
"Driving Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written and composed by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea. The first version was originally released as the B-side to his single " Hello Friend" in 1986. In October 1988, a re-recorded versio ...
".
Motor racing
Denyer drove a
Ford Falcon
Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide.
* Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970.
* Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991.
* Fo ...
in the Fujitsu
V8 Supercar
The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport.
Supercars events take place in all Australian ...
series for
Speed FX Racing
Speed FX Racing (sometimes known as Ford Rising Stars Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team presently runs in the historic series Touring Car Masters with Michael Wedge driving their Holden HQ Monaro.
The team is best known as a ...
with
Michael Caruso and Daniel Elliot. He debuted with
Dick Johnson Racing
Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske), is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasqu ...
in 2005. In the same year he was awarded the ''Mike Kable Rookie of the Year'' prize finishing his debut season in the top 10 (10th).
In 2006, Denyer raced in the
Sandown 500
The Sandown 500 (formally known as the Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The event's name, distance – and the category of cars co ...
and the prestigious
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...
with DJR and with
Alex Davison
Alexander Davison (born 3 November 1979) is an Australian racing driver. He won the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup Championship. As part of the Davison motorsport family, he is the older brother of Will Davison, grandson of Lex Davison and cousin ...
. Denyer and Alex came 9th overall at Bathurst. Denyer also had success in tarmac rallying, a podium finish in 2007's Suncoast Rally in which he drove the Les Walkden-prepared
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Subaru Leone, Leone, with the predecessor's Subaru EA engine, EA series engines replaced by the new Subaru EJ ...
. He finished 37.8 seconds behind the Skelta G-Force of Ray Vandersee, and 3.6 seconds clear third place-getter, Matt Close, in his Porsche Turbo. Going into the final stage he trailed Close by 4.7 seconds, and moved ahead of the Porsche to take second place.
In 2002, Denyer competed in the
Bathurst 24-hour Endurance Event, he drove a
Nissan 200SX The Nissan 200SX (originally Datsun 200SX until the early 1980s) is an automobile nameplate that has been used on various export specification Nissan automobiles between 1975 and 2002.
Nissan Silvia based
Between 1975 and 2002, Nissan retailed ...
. In
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
he competed in the same event, this time driving a
Porsche 996 GT3
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS.
The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...
finishing second in his class, sixth overall.
Denyer won his first ever Supercars race in the
Development Series at Sandown on 7 June 2008 in the second race of the weekend. More wins came and Denyer had his best season in 2009, finishing fourth in the
2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.
In early 2010 Denyer stated he would no longer be pursuing full season drives in motorsport,
however in 2011 Denyer was announced as the lead driver of Shannons-Mars Racing, a V8 Supercar team formed for the purposes of a TV show, the ''
Shannons Supercar Showdown
The ''Shannons Supercar Showdown'' was an Australian reality television show based around the International V8 Supercars Championship, with drivers competing for a test driver role with Ford Performance Racing. Aired on 7mate in Australia, sea ...
''. Denyer's Bathurst 1000 co-driver was
Cameron Waters
Cameron Waters (born 3 August 1994) is an Australian motor racing driver who competes in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. He is the cousin of Australian Superbike champion J ...
, winning the competition beating runner-up British racing driver
Andrew Jordan. Waters as of 2016 became a full-time Supercars regular with ProDrive.
Denyer also competed in the
Australian GT Championship
The Australian GT Championship is a CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 title was contested over a single race a ...
with Maranello Motorsport in 2015, but switched to the
McLaren 650S
The McLaren 650S is a British sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It was announced in February 2014 as a new model, but based on the existing MP4-12C with 25% new parts, and was formally ...
fielded by Tekno Autosports, sometimes in partnership with car owner and eventual 2016 Bathurst 1000 champion
Jonathon Webb, in the GT series. In 2016 Denyer won the
Australian Endurance Championship, an offshoot of the GT Championship, with Nathan Morcom.
Career results
Source of results is Driver Database.
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results
Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results
Personal life
Denyer was born in
Gosford, New South Wales
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council (New South Wales), Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region, about north of Sydney central ...
. At 13, he moved to
Dandenong, Victoria
Dandenong is a list of Melbourne suburbs#Southeastern municipalities and their suburbs, southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the municipal council, council county seat, seat of the City ...
, spending his holidays at the Denyer family farm at Ariah Park, New South Wales.
He is married to TV producer Cheryl Rogers, who is the founder of Mummy Time. They have three daughters.
2008 injury
On 17 September 2008, Denyer injured his back whilst participating in a
monster truck
A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...
promotional event. He suffered a compressed fracture of the lower vertebrae,
and was taken by ambulance to
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...
Hospital.
The accident occurred while Denyer was in training for the Monster Truck Championships, driving a monster truck at Groundz Precinct,
Dapto
Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730.
History
...
.
After practising a jump over five cars in the truck, Denyer removed his foot too soon from the accelerator which caused the vehicle to land heavily; his lower
vertebrae
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...
was broken in eight places. He was moved to a Sydney hospital, and his recovery took months. He was reported as saying that his injury had reduced his rather short size by 1 cm.
Denyer was then moved into intensive care, but there were no signs of any nerve damage or serious injuries, so he was back on the air to host ''
Australia's Got Talent'' in 2009; however, he did not return to ''
It Takes Two'' in May.
Controversies
In 2017, Denyer was banned from appearing on the radio stations
Triple M
Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations.
The network dates back to th ...
and
KIIS 106.5
KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on ARN's KIIS Network. The station's headline show is ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show''. ...
after he used a story told by former rugby league player
Matthew Johns
Matthew James Johns (born 27 July 1971) is an Australian rugby league media personality, commentator and former professional player. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Johns played his club footbal ...
on Triple M as his own an hour later on KISS 106.5. On the Triple M show ''The Grill Team'', on which Denyer was a guest, Johns recounted about how he tried playing the board game
Test Match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
with his children. Denyer later appeared on ''
The Kyle and Jackie O Show
''The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' is an Australian breakfast radio show hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O on KIIS 106.5 in Sydney. The show is syndicated in the late drive slot on the KIIS Network following ''Will & Woody'' across Austral ...
'' on KIIS where he repeated the tale as his own. Johns later expressed his dismay to
Kyle Sandilands
Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host and television personality. He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' on Sydney's radio station KIIS ...
on ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' and both hosts agreed to ban Denyer from ever appearing on either station. Later on Twitter, Denyer admitted to stealing Johns' joke and changing the punchline, with ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' Twitter account posting a mocking reply to him.
Denyer's 2018 Gold Logie win has proved controversial with people (including
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...
) believing he only won because of
Tom Gleeson
Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts ''Hard Quiz'', both ...
's campaign. Gleeson has denied these suggestions.
TVTonight.com.au website
References
External links
Grant Denyer official website
''It Takes Two'' official website
''Australia's Got Talent'' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denyer, Grant
1977 births
Australian game show hosts
Australia's Got Talent
Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series) winners
Motorsport announcers
People from Coffs Harbour
Racing drivers from New South Wales
Supercars Championship drivers
Weather presenters
Living people
Gold Logie winners
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) participants
Australian Endurance Championship drivers
Kelly Racing drivers
Dick Johnson Racing drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
McLaren Racing drivers