After 40 years on Australian television screens, Larry Emdur has finally won the Gold Logie. Enjoying a standing ovation and being showered in gold confetti, the host of the Chase Australia and the Morning Show said he adored the TV business. "I love being in TV, I love being on TV, I've never done anything else, I've never ever wanted to do anything else," he said.
And even though his adult children haven't watched free-to-air television in about 15 years, he said they are proud of him for one thing. "Apparently it's rhyming slang now that if you're going on a bender, you're going on a Larry Emdur," he said. By the time the Gold Logie was announced just before midnight, it appeared many in the crowd at The Star casino in Sydney had indeed been going on a Larry Emdur.
Seven's Logies broadcast had been running four hours, and the ceremony descended into almost announcing the wrong award, some very extended tributes, and increasingly risque jokes. Earlier in the night, Emdur won his first ever Logie, taking out the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter. Yet he was so convinced he would not win the Gold, he had promised to get the initials of the six other nominees tattooed on his bum live on television.
"So we'll see you on the Morning Show tomorrow, right?" he joked. Among the night's other big winners was Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe, which swallowed the Logies with five wins from a record 10 nominations. The show's 15-year-old star Felix Cameron won the Silver.