When Larry Emdur was told that he’d been nominated for the TV WEEK Gold Logie Award, the strict instruction was that he couldn’t tell anyone. That was supposed to include his wife, Sylvie.
“I got home and Sylvie was like, ‘How was your day at work?’ and I was like, ‘It was OK,’” the host of The Morning Show and The Chase Australia tells TV WEEK. “And then after a day, I said, ‘I’ve got to tell you something…’”
This is Larry’s first-ever Logie nomination in a career full of ups and downs that has lasted for four decades. Sylvie has been by Larry’s side for more than three of those decades.
“We’ve been through a lot in this business,” Larry says. “There have been a lot of crap times, and a lot of crap shows, and she’s been right there – my pillar of strength. So as far as I’m concerned, this is a nomination for both of us.”
Larry, who turns 60 in December, started out in TV news in the 1980s, and then in the 1990s, took over as host of The Price Is Right, enthusiastically telling contestants to “Come on down!” The game show was popular, but it didn’t get him nominated for a Logie.
“Decades ago, I came to the conclusion that this isn’t something for me, that I’d be happy five rows back, drinking wine and watching the show,” he says.
The Price Is Right was followed by a string of short-lived series – some lasting as few as two episodes – that led Larry to question his choice of career, many times.
“I’m the most axed guy on TV,” he says. “But it’s all led to this. Celebrity Dog School and Celebrity Splash! and Cash Bonanza and all the shows we joke about – it’s all played out perfectly now. I’m coming to retirement age and I’ve crawled my way through.
“This nomination is really special to me because it’s like, ‘Well, you’ve hung in there, mate – for 40 years.’”
Larry has been co-hosting The Morning Show with Kylie Gillies for 17 years – “we have a wonderful, wonderful relationship” – and fronting The Chase Australia for three. Hosting a quiz show, as opposed to a game show, has changed his image. But it was a job he was reluctant to try out for when he was first approached.
“I baulked at The Chase because I’m stupid,” he says. “Like, I got kicked out of school early without being able to read or write. Anyone who works with me on The Morning Show will tell you the autocue is my enemy. So The Chase, where the questions come up very quickly, and there’s a Japanese word, then the next question is a Latin word, then a Chinese word, and then an Italian word, it’s not my thing.”
In his first couple of months hosting The Chase, Larry admits he felt “quite a bit of self-doubt”. But the show’s team of question producers work with him to make sure he’s not tripped up by any tricky words during filming.
“They’ll say, ‘There’s this word…’ and I’ll work out how best for me to say it at speed,” he says. “Our system is good now.”
For Larry, dad to Jye and Tia, his upcoming 60th birthday is a significant one. He wants to be in “a really fit place” when he reaches the milestone.
“The two showsare going great, family’s great, and I just want to be healthy and happy and enjoy it,” he says.
He exercises most days before The Morning Show, “just to wake myself up, really”. “Some days I’ll run to work and home – that’s about six kays. I try hard. But the suits… we have a couple of different sets of suits as I go through my fitness and non-fitness stages!”
His son Jye, who works in real estate, often exercises with him.
“Once or twice a week, in the morning, he’ll take me for a walk. We get together whenever we can. Our daughter is married and they’re really happy, but I’m not seeing as much of her. She doesn’t want to get up at five o’clock in the morning and run with me in the rain!”
Larry says his friends who are around the same age are talking about retirement, and he’s started thinking about what his own retirement might look like. He’s even asked former Sunrise host David Koch about it.
“I saw Kochie the other day at a function. I asked, ‘Mate, how do you know when to stop?’ Because I don’t know what I’d do. I love The Morning Show – we laugh every day at some point, when something goes wrong. It’s fabulous. The Chase is the same. I still get butterflies before I step up to The Chase every day.”
As for next month’s Logie Awards, Larry will have Sylvie by his side.
“She’s busy choosing a dress,” he says. “She’s very excited for me, very proud.”
He admits he’s nervous about the night, even though he’s convinced he doesn’t have a chance of winning the Gold Logie over the “primetime superstars” he’s up against.
“I’m practising my loser face already!” he says with a laugh.
If Larry did win Gold, he says it would be “incredible”.
“It would obviously be very, very special, in a career where I haven’t needed awards or wanted awards. I’ve just wanted to continue doing what I’m doing because I love it.”
