For most of his life, Todd Woodbridge has been best known as a tennis player.
Even when he hung up his racquet, his next step was to move behind the sport’s TV commentary desk, adding his expert opinion to coverage of the game he loved.
Not anymore.
After a year that’s seen him host the biggest game show on Australian television, add his interview expertise to the Nine Olympic team and even host a morning show to bring The Games home to Australia, he’s now a genuine TV star.
And even Todd admits he’s not quite sure how that happened.
“To be honest, the question I ask myself is: ‘How did I end up here?’,” Todd, 53, tells TV Week.
“I pinch myself, because the Olympics was such an extraordinary event, then you throw in the success of Tipping Point and yeah… it’s just something I look at and go wow.”
The answer, as anyone who has watched Todd through his multi-trophy-winning international tennis career or in the years since would know, is that he works hard at everything he does.
On the set of Tipping Point – the kind of fun arvo game show a sportsman would usually have been the last choice to host – he gets in early, meets with every contestant to get to know them before the cameras roll and he hangs out with the crew after each recording session running through what went well and mentally taking notes on what he can do better.
And like it did with tennis, it’s working.
“I always felt that if I kept working and doing the right things then when a door opens at the right time, you’re there ready,” Todd says, “and that’s how this whole year has been.”
Tipping Point is now Australia’s number one afternoon gameshow, winning its 5pm timeslot every night.
Similarly with Nine’s Olympic and Paralympic coverage, Todd was there as part of a large team covering the events and athletes, but his in-depth interviews and breadth of knowledge quickly made him a stand-out.
Add in his time alongside Alicia Loxley as the host of Nine’s Games morning show and it was another chance for Australia to realise there was a lot more to Todd.
“2024 is one of those years where – touch wood we get through the rest of it – it’s just being extraordinary,” Todd says.
And he’s not the only Woodbridge to have had a great year, the proud Dad says.
His son Beau, 22, is currently starring in The Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Dear Evan Hanson and his daughter Zara is in London as part of a global exchange for her RMIT studies in Health Sciences.
“In his world of musical theatre, Evan Hanson is one of the two biggest male roles in the industry so how I can best relate to it is it’s like he’s walked straight into a single’s grand slam final,” Todd says.
“And Zara is an elite-level golfer – she’s played in two British opens – but it just wasn’t what she wanted in the end so now she’s gone to search the world and make her own things happen… you can probably tell that our family is a bit driven,” he laughs.
That leaves Todd with a new job, he happily says.
“Tash (Natasha Provis, his wife of nearly 30 years) has been the glue in our family through the travels that we did, she brought up those kids when we were on the road and when I was away doing the commentary and so forth… so I guess my job now is as an empty nester is to make sure Tash is happy!”
And juggle his ongoing TV roles, of course, with Tipping Point heading into another big year in 2025 (after a massive 159 new episodes this year) and Todd returning to the tennis courts to host and provide commentary for the upcoming Australian Open.
“I mean the Australian Open is just a beast, it’s incredible what it’s become both for the fans that come to watch and for the broadcast,” Todd says.
“You know we are on air at the Australian Open for 15 days straight? It’s like doing another Olympics!
“You’re in there on the morning show and then calling a match at 10 o’clock at night so they are epic days, but I love them.”
It’s a hectic life, especially given Todd had a very unexpected heart attack just two years ago, but one he says can’t imagine any other way.
“I’m very aware of looking after my health, but also I would get bored if I slowed down,” he says.
“But what Tipping Point has done – which I really love – is that it’s not just tennis commentary or sports that I think about, it’s all sorts of opportunities.”
And others are thinking too.
After his Olympic success, he was rumoured to be a potential full-time host for The Today Show full-time, replacing current host Karl Stefanovic.
Todd is quick to hose that speculation down saying it’s “not something I’d want to do”, but he admits he enjoyed his time on the desk and it was an experience he most likely wouldn’t have had if he’d stayed a sports commentator.
“I wouldn’t have gotten those opportunities without Tipping Point,” he says.
So, even without Today, does that mean 2025 will be even busier?
“For now, there’s not much more I can fit in to be fair,” Todd laughs.
And when it’s pointed out that sound like the kind of challenge he usually loves, the reply is classic Todd Woodbridge.
“Well… let’s wait and see.”
