Each of the four times Andy Lee has been nominated for the TV WEEK Gold Logie Award, he’s been up against Offspring and Strife actress Asher Keddie – and it’s put his family in an awkward position.
“My mum went to school with Asher’s mum,” the Hamish And Andy star tells TV WEEK. “My mum is so supportive, and if there’s a thread of connection [to someone in the media], she wants to see them do well. So as a family, we’ve been following Asher for a long time. To see us still in the industry together 15 years on is sweet.”
The 43-year-old is one of seven nominees for the 2024 TV WEEK Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television for his hosting of the weekly comedy panel show The Hundred With Andy Lee.
Asked whether he thinks his parents, Margaret and Michael, would prefer to see him or Asher take home the Gold, Andy believes Asher might get their vote.
“They never want to be accused of being stage parents or favouring their kids,” he explains. “When I was growing up, my dad used to umpire all our cricket matches. I just knew that if I was ever hit in the pads, I’d be out. It doesn’t matter if it hit the stumps or not – at the risk of being seen as unfair, dad would always favour the opposition, which I love.”
Andy’s career in entertainment began when he met fellow student Hamish Blake at the University of Melbourne in 2001.
“I thought we should go on the radio, and then we got introduced to the Student Youth Network at RMIT [Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology],” he recalls. “We pretended we were enrolled there and skipped Melbourne Uni and went on their radio station. They had a link to community TV station Channel 31. We said, ‘Let’s make some stuff’ – we made each other laugh and it seemed to make others laugh too.”
Hamish’s humour matched Andy’s charisma and charm, and Andy’s organisational skills helped propel the duo to fame. Little did they know just how much their new partnership would change their lives.
“Naivety was bliss, and we didn’t understand the gravity of it all [when The Hamish And Andy Show took off on SYN FM radio],” he recalls.
“It went from just mucking around with your mate to interviewing names such as [actors] Robert Downey Jr, Val Kilmer, Colin Firth, Maria Bello, Kevin Bacon and Bill Murray. That was our lives from 21 to 30. And then we realised, ‘Oh s**t – this is a career, people rely on us. We really need to concentrate and make sure we come out the other side.’”
Had things not worked out, Andy may have been in the public eye for a different reason: as a musician.
“I was in a band [Zoophyte] with my brother [Cameron],” he says. “We played gigs alongside Pete Murray and The Cat Empire. That was my focus, but when Hames came along he disrupted that.”
The pair have built an empire that includes TV shows, brand endorsements, podcasts and more, but in recent years, Andy has stepped away to pursue solo projects, such as hosting The Hundred With Andy Lee – alongside Love Island Australia host Sophie Monk and TV funnyman Mike Goldstein.
“Hamish and I have always encouraged each other to do our own things,” he reveals. “With The Hundred, I’m asking everyone to share [100 regular Aussies join the show via Zoom], so I feel it’s only fair we share in our other projects too.”
Andy has dated model Rebecca Harding, 34, since 2015 and proposed to her in May at their new $8.5 million Melbourne home. He wrapped the ring in a napkin with the words “Will you marry me?” written on it – a nod to how he first asked Rebecca on a date by leaving his name and phone number on a napkin at the cafe she worked at.
“I underestimated the lift it [getting engaged] gives to the relationship,” Andy says. “I can’t really articulate it, but I think there’s a lift in energy. It confirms that we’re more of a team.
“I bring everything back to sports analogies, so when your favourite player – Bec, in this instance – agrees to keep playing in your team, you’re like, ‘Cool, we’re in this for the long haul.’ There’s this conscious thing that comes with that, and it’s been fun.”
And how would Andy feel should he win the Gold Logie this year?
“I’d be chuffed,” he says. “Because you get to be that little part of TV history – and I love television, even though it’s rapidly changing.
“But let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t win the year I was up against Carrie Bickmore [in 2015], when she got up on stage and made that incredible speech for Beanies 4 Brain Cancer [the charity she founded in the wake of losing her husband Greg Lange to the disease in 2010],” he says.
“I watched that going, ‘Yep, my little jokes weren’t going to be as powerful as that.’”
Voting for the Gold Logie is now open until Sunday August 18, at 10:30pm. Fans can vote for their favourite nominee now at tvweeklogies.com.au.
