EXCLUSIVE: Grant Denyer wants Amanda Keller to win the Gold Logie Award this year

Grant Denyer is slowing down. It might not seem like it, but he insists it’s true.

After a mammoth 2019, juggling breakfast radio morning each morning, hosting Celebrity Name Game and co-hosting Dancing With The Stars on live TV, anything less feels like a break.

“It was the perfect storm,” the TV WEEK Gold Logie winner admits.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been busier in my life – and I’m a pretty busy person.”

Reality hit for the media darling last year when he suffered a serious back injury working on the family farm.

It was a wake-up call he didn’t ignore.

“This year, we’ll pull back the pace just that little bit, which will be nice,” Grant, 42, says. “Life is all about just tweaking, and adjusting, and eventually you get things right and find the right balance.”

This year, Grant’s focus is Dancing With The Stars, with the effervescent Amanda Keller as his co-host, and taking stock of his lot in life.

That includes marriage to wife Chezzi, their daughters Scout and Sailor… with a little Celebrity Name Game hijinks on the side.

Here, Grant tells TV WEEK why he’s taking some time out to reflect in 2020…

WATCH BELOW: Grant and Chezzi Denyer at the TV WEEK Logie Awards 2019. Post continues after video…

TV WEEK: You and Chezzi have celebrated 10 years of marriage. How does it feel?

Grant: We got married 10 years ago on Hamilton Island [off the coast of Queensland] in an absolutely magical ceremony and now have two gorgeous girls.

So much great stuff has happened for us. I’ve had a very lucky life, whether it be hosting great TV shows, or winning races in cars, or winning Gold Logies, or bringing two beautiful girls into the world that I’m enormously proud of.

What’s your secret for wedded bliss?

We’re very supportive of each other. There’s no way I could do all the things I’ve done in my career without her support. She’s the rock behind the scenes who organises it all. She’s manager, she’s partner, she’s mother, she’s inspiration.

When the chips are down, she’s the support you need at the right time.

She’s a very uplifting, magnetic person. People love to be in her company and she’s also quite an inspiring person to be around.

She’s good at getting more out of me than I thought I could, or had – I’m very lucky.

Speaking of your career, your passion for DWTS is palpable. What does co-hosting it mean to you?

This show is special to me. I have a lot of my career to thank because of winning it [in 2006]!

I feel like a proud father of the format, and I think that shows when you see Amanda and I hosting it. I treat it like my baby.

When Network 10 took it on, we wanted to make it bigger, more sparkly and brighter than ever.

We took it to a crazy new level. It was so much fun and we had so many laughs, but lots of moments that hit us in the feels as well.

WATCH BELOW: Grant Denyer on Dancing With The Stars in 2006. Post continues after video…

How are the DWTS contestants coping? The rigorous training, the live performances, the public opinion… it’s a lot!

They’re all out of their comfort zones and that’s what’s great!

Normally, you see celebrities and they’re flawless – you never see any cracks, they never make any mistakes.

This [show] puts them so far outside their comfort level – that’s why it’s so appealing and magical.

Your on-screen chemistry with Amanda is also part of the magic. How do you enjoy working together?

She’s a freaking legend. She’s a mega-pro, who just knows how to have a great time, is deliriously funny, and it just works.

She has a massive passion for the show as well. She has us in stitches backstage, but also has a huge heart.

She’ll really feel for the contestants, and if there are hardships in the show, she’ll shed a tear. It’s kind of nice to see a TV presenter wearing their heart on their sleeve.

You’ve been candid with your support for Amanda to win a TV WEEK Gold Logie. She missed out to Tom Gleeson in 2019 – could this be her year?

I absolutely think this year is her year. I thought her year was the year I won!

Everyone in the country loves her. She’s had a magnificent career and an enormous body of work, and she’s just so easy to watch and such a joy to be around.

But she’s not the kind of person who self-promotes; she’s not going to get out there with a megaphone and plead for votes.

So I really hope Australia rallies behind her and gives her the award she deserves.

Tom was very funny last year – he’s a comedian telling great jokes – and that works exceptionally well. His show [Hard Quiz] also very successful, but I think it’s Amanda’s turn.

How would you feel if you received another Gold Logie nomination?

TV means a lot to me, and the Gold Logie does mean the world to me.

Nothing will compare to that night; hearing my name called out, and going up there. It was humbling.

It was a very special occasion that I’ll never forget.

I was really happy to have won it once, so I’m really in Amanda’s camp this year, because I think that she’s a professional who really deserves to be acknowledged with our highest honour.

What’s next for you? Can you reveal anything about a possible Family Feud return?

I think that’s for people who are way smarter and higher up the ladder than me to decide.

Family Feud was great fun for me, and I loved it.

It was a format that the country fell in love with and it won me a Gold Logie.

What about Celebrity Name Game?

Celebrity Name Game will continue, which is great. It’s good fun.

It’s loose, it’s crazy, we give away a lot of money, and it’s just so much fun.

Plus, celebrities come on as well. It has all the ingredients good game shows have. I really love it!