Hamish Blake has a lot to celebrate of late. In the past 12 months, the presenter has completed another successful season of LEGO Masters Australia, launched his own podcast, How Other Dads Dad, and toasted the 20th anniversary of Hamish & Andy, his comedy partnership with Andy Lee.
To cap it off, the star is nominated for the TV WEEK Gold Logie Award for the third time. Despite having won twice – in 2012 and 2022 – Hamish believes a trifecta is unlikely.
“I do get the sense I’ll be the guy to hand it over this time, which I’m happy to do” Hamish, 41, says. “I mean, I’ll be voting for Leigh Sales – I think we all will be. [Laughs] Leigh and I bonded over our love of [reality series] Survivor and I think she’d be happy to have that alliance heading into voting.”
Hamish Blake is a triple Gold Logie nominee. (Image: Paul Suesse)
Despite his many achievements, Hamish adds that he’s the least experienced of the seven nominees.
“I do consider myself the head-scratcher, but it’s a humbling reminder that we get to do this as a job,” he says. “Plus, for the 15-year-old me who watched Shaun Micallef on TV, to be in the same category as him is a total spin-out.”
In his two-decade career, Hamish has entertained the masses in TV, radio, podcasting and social media. But in the early years, it was an experiment in finding what worked and how.
“The process isn’t that much different now in that there are no guarantees, but you get less attached to the outcome,” he says. “A lot of stuff Andy and I would never have done if it wasn’t for the fun of it to get us through those weird, nervous and scary early moments in our twenties.”
Hamish alongside the other six Gold Logie nominees. (Image: Paul Suesse)
Hamish admits they were insecure at times, but had the advantage of youth.
“We had no mortgages, kids or commitments!” he says with a laugh, adding that The Hamish & Andy Show, which was cancelled after six episodes while still attracting 800,000 viewers, was more a lesson in understanding their audience than a failure.
“We weren’t too bummed about it [being cancelled],” he says. “It wasn’t really our show either – we were cast in it and tried our best. But we realised people don’t care that much if your show gets cancelled. The world moves on. It was a good lesson.”
Now in his forties with children Sonny, nine, and five-year-old daughter Rudy, with wife Zoë Foster Blake, Hamish is drawing on his personal life for bigger projects.
In How Other Dads Dad, he sits down with public figures to discuss their experience of parenthood. The result is both hilarious and heart-warming.
“I come away bursting with new perspectives,” he says. “It’s [being a dad] the most important thing in my life, and more men are becoming invested in being attentive, loving dads. We’re not all perfect, but the intent is there to do it a bit better, so I wanted to create something I would have loved to have had when I became a parent.”
Hamish with his wife, Zoe, and kids, Rudy and Sonny. (Image: Instagram)
In return, Hamish says he’s become a better father and person.
“My biggest lesson is to meet your kids where they are and to grow as they do,” he says. “Then it really is about love.”
As the host of LEGO Masters, creator of record-making cakes and family adventurer, Hamish has certainly won a few Brownie points at home. But there’s one thing the Logie nominee is particularly proud of.
“A cameo in [cartoon kids show] Bluey is the feather in my cap,” Hamish says of voicing Jack’s Dad, a Jack Russell terrier. “That’s what I brag about.”
