Kevin McQuay (13 July 1950 – 5 December 2005), professionally known as Big Kev, was an Australian cleaning products entrepreneur.

Television career

His career on television took off in the 1990s as a regular guest on the infomercial component of '' Good Morning Australia''. The former

Carey Grammar Carey Baptist Grammar School, commonly known as Carey, is an Independent school, independent and co-educational, Baptists, Baptist day school in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The institution consists of five campuses: Kew, Victoria, ...

student built up a good rapport with its host

Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...

. McQuay was a flamboyant person who loved to drink and party with his brother "Little Steve", although this led him to getting multiple

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

charges; this included one reading of 0.121, more than twice the legal limit. At one point, in 2001, McQuay weighed . His catchphrases were "I'm excited!" and "Big Kev knows." He continued to appear on ''Good Morning Australia'' into the early to mid-2000s. McQuay was well known in 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 ...

community as the sponsor of

Paul Morris Motorsport Paul Morris Motorsport, also known as its business name of Nemo Racing, is an Australian motor racing team that competed in V8 Supercars between 2000 and 2012. The team also won the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 and four Australian Super Touring Cha ...

during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Big Kev's Ltd

From 2001 to 2002, McQuay hit his peak as an advertiser, appearing on commercials promoting Big Kev's range of cleaning products for the kitchen and laundry. He appeared on television commercials wearing a big blue shirt with an Australian flag design, aiming to promote the fact that Big Kev's products were 100% Australian-owned and not run by overseas companies. At one point, he hosted a half-hour low-budget variety show on late-night television. In August 2001, McQuay floated his company, Big Kev's Ltd, on the

Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

. The company initially did well, but it eventually ran into major financial problems. In November 2004, McQuay resigned from the position of chairman of Big Kev's Ltd, deciding to cut his losses.

Death

McQuay died at aged 55 on 5 December 2005 in the Allamanda Private Hospital on the Gold Coast. The cause was confirmed as a heart attack resulting from a

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...

References

1950 births 2005 deaths Australian television personalities People educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School Deaths from staphylococcal infection Infectious disease deaths in Queensland 20th-century Australian businesspeople {{Australia-business-bio-stub