TV star Grant Denyer reveals turning down big sport job was the hardest decision of his life
Gold Logie winner Grant Denyer reveals that turning down a HUGE sporting job offer was ‘the hardest and almost worst decision of my life’
- Denyer won top honors from Aussie TV
- Starred in several hit shows
- But the winner of Logie has one big regret
TV star Grant Denyer has revealed how close he came to making a living driving for one of Australia’s top V8 Supercars teams.
The talented driver – who has raced in three Bathurst 1000s, won the V8 Utes Summer Series title in 2004 and placed first in the 2016 CAMS Endurance Championship – was on edge when Dick Johnson Racing offered him a ride in 2009.
The former Sunrise and Family Feud star was racing in the second-tier V8 series for Johnson’s team at the time when the motorsport legend gave him the chance to make a big move.
But there was one problem: Denyer’s busy TV career, which Johnson said he had to give up if he wanted to make it serious in motorsport.
He won Aussie TV’s highest award in 2018 (pictured), but Denyer’s heart was really set on making a living behind the wheel, not in front of the camera
The talented driver was given the chance to race for one of Australia’s top V8 Supercars teams in 2009, but he turned them down in a decision he calls the hardest of his life.
“I had to make the toughest decision of my life, which was to think about my long-term future and think about my future family – and I gave the sport away and put all my eggs in the television basket, which is a really tough one emotionally. decision,” he said Wide world of sports.
“It was the hardest and almost worst decision of my life, because the heart said motorsport and the head said television, and when what you live for is no longer in your life, that’s pretty hard to navigate.
‘What makes you get out of bed every day? What makes your heart sing? If you can’t do that anymore, everything else suddenly becomes less fun.’
Denyer added that he is happy with his TV achievements, including winning the Gold Logie in 2018.
The former Sunrise star (pictured with wife Cheryl) has raced in three Bathurst 1000s and won the V8 Utes Summer Series title in 2004
Denyer (right) celebrates on the podium after the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour race. He will compete in the Bathurst 6 Hour at the legendary Mount Panorama circuit this weekend
But his efforts to be seen on the small screen were actually driven by his love of racing as he wanted to increase his profile to attract sponsors to fund his motor racing career.
“Television was a way of trying to fund my passion and my dream which is motor racing and it took me all the way to the Bathurst 1000,” he explains.
Denyer is at Mount Panorama this weekend to race in the Bathurst 6 Hour Speed Series event for Tony Quinn’s team.
Last year he revealed that he got back behind the wheel at the Targa Tasmania rally because he felt something was ‘missing’ in his life.
“I don’t know what I’m getting out of my system when I’m racing, but it’s something that’s important and I know my makeup demands it,” he said.
The Bathurst 6 Hour Speed Series will be broadcast live Stan sports from 12:00 on Saturday and 9:00 on Sunday.