I've been in the business for 40 years and I've never been nominated.
So I was at peace with that I'm not that guy.
I'm not that guy.
I'm just a little worker bee and I do the shows and I host the shows.
So when I was nominated with those people, I'm like, that's not who I am.
And I validated it in my own mind by going, I haven't been nominated for 40 years, I'm
So I did have a bit of imposter syndrome about that.
Hi, I'm Jess Rowe and this is the Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, a podcast that skips the small
talk and goes big and deep.
From love to loss and everything in between, I want to show you a different side of people
who seem to have it all together in these raw and honest conversations about the things
Gold Logie winner Larry Emder is one of television's good guys and I can speak from experience
a number of times he's reached out to me with messages of support as well as being a generous
colleague when I've worked with him on the telly.
Larry has been in the media industry for 40 years and his enthusiasm and warmth means
he's a viewer favourite as host of The Morning Show and The Chase on Seven.
But you know he's also become an accidental CEO, that's his words, producing an award
winning whisky called the Ben Bucklar.
Larry and I cover a lot and what I find reassuring in this conversation is to hear that someone
who is at the top of their game still questions if they're good enough.
Oh, Laz, I've been trying for years to get you on the podcast.
And I've been dodging you for so long because, no, I'm so excited.
I've been talking about this for a long time, but I'm just thinking I've never looked at
you from this angle.
We're always on the side.
We're sitting next to each other on the couch but I'm looking you in the eyes.
Lovely to see you.
It's so lovely to see you.
I was talking with Petey, my husband, about how much I was looking forward to chatting
with you and he reminded me of a story that you actually did work experience or you took
him on work experience.
When you were on Seven National News and essentially for him he said, although Petey knew he wanted
to be on telly, you sealed the deal for him.
Well I thought he was a fine young man obviously so we went out on this shoot and then we came
back and I think I put him in the sound booth to read my script and no, but he was a great
guy and he still is a great guy and that's what I love about him and I love about you
in this business, I kind of think it's rare but just to have normal people, if you see
them on TV and they're the same kind of person when you bump into them and the shops are
on the street then that's a bonus and you two guys are exactly that.
You're one of the good guys and both of us know and as you said in your Gold Loki speech
there are plenty of arseholes in the media.
And for you though, how have you been able to remain true to who you are?
If I went back to those days where I first met Pete and I was a young news reporter and
then I went on to be on Channel 10 with Kerry-Ann Kennelly on Good Morning Australia and I
was sort of a celebrity interviewing type person then and I think I saw enough bad behaviour
to go, if I'm ever on the other side of this camera, if I'm ever on the other side of this
equation, I'm not going to be like that.
I've had young kids who are on Neighbours and they've been on for three weeks and they're
on the front cover of TV Week and they're the turn into the biggest idiots, do you know
And they're the people I'm interviewing on Good Morning Australia and I'm going, you're
a goose, you're a fruit bat.
So I think I saw enough of that behaviour in my round as like a celebrity interviewer
and a red carpet interviewer to go one day, and I didn't have any ambition in that way,
but one day if I'm ever like, I'll just be normal, I won't be like that, then of course
I've had very close family and friends and they kick you down pretty quick.
None of my old friends are in the media, so in my early years, they didn't want a bar
I'm like, guys, I'm going to New York tomorrow to interview Yoko Ino, and they're like, shut
up, it's your shout, you know, like.
So that kept you grounded.
And you're a Bondi boy, you still are a Bondi boy, you called yourself like a high school
So you left school at what, 15?
The wheels had come off early, I wasn't good at school, couldn't read, couldn't write,
couldn't add up, couldn't do anything that I had to do at school.
So when you say that though, do you have dyslexia?
Do you know what, back in the day, there wasn't the sort of resources and the tests now, but
I think if I look back and when I was highly distracted, I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't
read a book, I couldn't comprehend.
So maybe if I went through the, jumped through the hoops now, there might be something like
But then, then also, you know, then I go, well, on the chase, I'm reading 100 questions
a show at speed, so maybe I'm okay.
But certainly back then, I was a very, very distracted young guy.
And all I wanted to do was surf.
So I'd surf before school, and after school, and sometimes during school.
And that led to sort of the school principal calling mum and dad in and going, look, he's
wasting all of our time here.
Back in the day, it was more acceptable.
I had mates leaving to follow trades and become chippies and bricklayers and all that
So it was more, if you had a job and you were 16, it was okay then.
So what then made you get into telly?
Well telly's a long way down the track.
So when I left school, so there were only really two things in front of me.
And because I didn't want to be a carpenter or a bricklayer or anything like that.
One of my mates was a garbo.
And he was having a great life because I was a surfer, he was a surfer.
He'd go to work at I think four in the morning and he'd finish at 10 and he'd surf all day.
So from my perspective as a bit of an idiot kid going, I don't want to do anything, I'm
not smart, but I do want to surf all day.
So that was one option.
The other one, a job came up at the Sun newspaper, what was then the Sun newspaper in Sydney,
Sydney Morning Herald, Sisting newspaper.
It was for a copy boy, no experience required and working overnight.
So I went in and I thought well I can work, so you know I can empty ashtrays and pick
up coffee cups all night and then surf all day.
So that was my sort of start in the media, zero ambition, I just wanted to surf.
So really thanks to those wonderful waves at Bondi, we've got you on our screens now.
That's right, but I could have been a garbo.
I mean I would have been a good garbo.
I didn't want to be in the media, I didn't want to be on TV, I didn't want any of that.
I just wanted to surf and being the garbo was a good offering.
So you're almost, I suppose, like an unlikely TV star in a way.
But it was something that you're so good at and people warmed to you on the screen.
Yes, yeah, I mean I've had such a great run.
Did you expect that?
No, no, no, no, it's an accident.
Look at my bio, it's one accident after another.
There's never been a time where I've tried to crawl or claw my way into a job, it's just
kind of happened and there's plenty of failures along the way.
I say that I'm TV's most axed guy and it's true.
I've been axed more than anyone in this business and I'm still kind of somehow still floating
around but that's the highs and lows of the business but I've never thought, never set
out to be, I'm going to be in this business until I'm 60 or I'm going to win a Gold Logie
or I'm going to have a morning show that goes for 18 years, like none of that.
As you know, you can't plan, you can't plan in this business, it's out of our control.
So when I look at it now, it's like one happy accident after another.
With I suppose those happy accidents and you make it sound sort of so light and easy but
it's not easy and when you do get axed, it can be soul destroying because you feel, oh
my goodness, what is wrong with me, why don't they like me?
How is it that you've managed that?
Well I think because I came from a very low base.
So my first TV show…
Oh no, come on, no…
Well my first TV show was a show called Family Double Dare.
I was on Channel 10, a guy called Bob Shanks came into the network from America.
Channel 10 was sinking at the time and his idea was to convert the network to the game
show network and he looked around at these meetings and he went, right, Tim Webster,
you get a game show, The Weatherman, Tony Murphy, you get a game show and he'd given
out all the game shows, there was one left but there were no more hosts and I was a reporter
on Channel 10 but I was the happy guy doing the fun stuff, big smile and so I got a game
show called Family Double Dare.
Prepare yourself for a new concept in family entertainment.
You will not believe what a family will do to win a fortune in prizes on Family Double
So join the master of mess, Larry Emder, when slime time goes prime time.
It was axed after the first episode.
So I think my base for disappointment was quite low.
So because you were axed early on in your career…
That's what's going on here.
But you could have then walked away and gone, well, that's it.
What's more likely to happen is that the industry goes, see you later, as opposed to the person
on TV going, I've had enough, I go, but the network will go, see you, that's it.
But fortunately for me, some people at Channel 7 saw that, Family Double Dare, so it ended
up being a bit of an audition as far as the industry was concerned and they go, okay,
he was the happy smiley reporter, now we can see he can host a big show, we'll go
from Family Double Dare to the main event at Channel 7, and that was a big show.
But that got axed, you know, like everything comes to an end and you develop a thick skin.
So is that for you what it's been?
Do you have a thick skin?
Because I often think I don't have a thick skin.
I'm sensitive, but I've realised, you know, what, it's okay to be sensitive.
I think I learned kind of early, and it was to my benefit, that it's really under your
For the main event, I was doing everything I possibly could, I was coming out and I was
doing everything they told me and I was happy and I was smiling, I was engaging, and they
were great shows.
And the main event was the first Channel 7 show to beat 60 minutes in the ratings, we
were on Sunday night.
So it was, in its time, a huge success, but it tapers off, tapers off, tapers off, then
it's time for the show to be axed, right?
When I was young and single and stupid, and I go, okay, well, I've had two great years
of this, I've earned some money, I didn't need a lot of money, I was living in an apartment
in Bondi and I had a little car and so I'd earned some money, I was on TV, prime time,
and it came to an end.
So I went surfing in Bali for three months and it was fine.
But then, you know, Sylvie comes along, then the kids come along and the mortgage comes
along and everything changes.
But I've never thought, Jess, that I, maybe this is my way, maybe this is the way I deflect,
I've never really thought it was my fault, do you know what I mean?
I think shows just come and go and the networks might disagree with me, but I've always tried
my hardest and done what I could, but I just realised the industry, it's a merry-go-round
and you get on and you get off.
You say there, though, you don't know if that's you deflecting.
Yeah, I guess that's a thick skinned conversation, right?
Like, how do you come to terms with it?
So maybe that's my way of going, of course it's not my fault, it's their fault.
I mean, that's a good way of dealing with it.
I wonder though, have there though been times when it has been harder to sort of deflect
and to put on that wonderful, bright, optimistic sort of enthusiasm that we know you for and
It has been hard and particularly, exactly what you're talking about is, say, the price
is right, it's coming to an end and I know it's coming to an end, but we've got three
or six months of the season to go and I still have to bounce out there every day like,
hey, come on down, and knowing full well that in three months my mortgage payments stop.
So there have been those difficult times, but, you know, fortunately for whatever reason
and I don't know why, that one's finished, another one's started, that one's finished,
another one's started.
We're on The Morning Show now, I came in that, it was a three month trial and Carly and I've
been together for 18 years on that show.
So I think a lot of luck, no skill, but just a lot of luck and I think I've been grateful
for every shot at this.
So I've never been upset with an axing, I've never burst into an executive's office and
You've never lost your ...
No, no, no, no, no, because I've been grateful for every ... If I look back and go, okay,
series of happy accidents, every single axing has led to something else.
So talk about the funny ones, you know, Family Double Dare or Celebrity Dog School or something,
every single one of those doors being slammed has led to something else and for that I'm
eternally grateful.
You say luck, no skill, but in fact you are highly skilled because there's no way you'd
still be doing it if you weren't very good at what you do.
Well you know, maybe now, well I can do TV, like you, you know, it's what we do, we're
storytellers, we're communicators.
We like engaging with people, we like the idea of people listening to our conversation,
being part of our conversation and so maybe I've picked up a little bit of that along
I've turned 60 and I've got mates who are, since 55, been planning their retirement
and go, I've been doing this all my life and I've hated it since day one and I can't wait.
Most of my mates are like setting up for retirement, can't wait for their job to be behind them.
I love both of the shows that I'm doing, but more importantly I love the business.
I mean I love doing that thing that we do.
That's deep in me and I've never done anything else.
So as I said to the Logies, like this is my everything, you know.
But that said, if it finished tomorrow, I've had the most beautiful, wonderful career,
You say it's your everything, but I get very much a sense from you that because you are
not defined by what you do, it's really for you, your family, that is your everything.
I meant my work, everything.
I meant if that finished tomorrow, then I wouldn't go looking for other jobs.
Although I like the idea of a podcast, you look pretty cool in it.
This looks pretty cruisy.
Hands off my podcast.
So I think, yeah, no, family, absolutely, absolutely number one.
And that's like you, you know, so important in everything that we do and every thought
that we have and every time I go to interview someone on the couch or tell a story or someone's
playing the chase and they're, you know, expecting their first baby, it all becomes very, very
relatable because of who we are and what we do away from this space.
And that changed for me when I got married and we had kids.
It completely changed the way I dealt with people.
On the price is right, you know, someone was running down and they're like eight months
pregnant or seven months and I'm like, oh yeah, great, you know, blah, blah, blah.
And then as soon as I had kids, like, okay, this is life changing and I got some perspective.
So very much everything I do, very much sort of grounded in that, like you say.
I remember when I decided to step back from Telly, you sent me a most beautiful text message
about embracing family and it was a really lovely message that I'll always treasure that
it was essentially this is what the stuff of life is and good on you.
And the longer you've been in the business, the more you know that.
And the more hits you've had, the deeper you know that that runs and how important it is
to you, right, to your balance.
Because what we have to do every day when we go on TV, we have to be at least balanced,
at least, at the very least.
And that will come from me wake up in the morning, kissing and cuddling my wife goodbye.
Kids will text every day.
That's our reality.
And if I take that into a studio every day, that sense of balance and that my life is
well supported outside, then I think that makes us better people on TV.
And you and Sylvie, you've been married 30 years.
Oh, what is the secret to a good relationship?
It's hard in this business, right?
It's hard in this business because when I first met Sylvie, I was doing radio at the
time and trying to explain to someone who you're about to get into a serious relationship
with that maybe I'll have a job next month.
You know, will I be working next year?
I don't even know.
Like it's difficult, right?
So I was very honest with Sylvie very early on.
I said, look, you know, if we're together on this, then when it falls over, we're not
going to sit around.
I'm not going to get sad.
If you're with me and there's a show that gets axed, we're packing our bags and we're
moving away and we're doing, you know, that's that will be our life.
We moved to LA for a year and, you know, came back when something else came up.
One way to guarantee work is to say, I'm never working again and move away.
You know, you're going to get called back.
So she's been very supportive of that.
I mean, it's worked out really well.
There's been terrific highs.
You know, the last year of my career has been the best, you know, chase top rating morning
show continues at number one, Gold Logie, this other little side hustle, everything's
gone great, but there have been plenty of lows, plenty, plenty.
So tell me more about those lows then.
So I guess it, and I promised it would never affect me, but as you say, like, well, you
just go, you probably go through the steps of going, how am I going to pay the mortgage
or what am I going to do?
So it's about, I guess, as the axing started to stack up, you look at yourself in the mirror
and go, maybe this is, I'm just being used as a bit of putty here.
So maybe this isn't for me long term.
Maybe I have to look at other things, but then I'd always try and make them nice for
Sylvie and the family.
So I'd never try to want them to think that I'm curled up under the bed crying, you know?
But did you ever do that?
Not really, but I would definitely think, what am I going to do now?
Because it's not TV.
I definitely, definitely thought that.
Many times, and I said that in my Logie speech, many times I've thought, and even when shows
are working and I think, even when I started The Chase and it was number one, it was going
I was still looking at myself as a 15, 16 year old kid, couldn't read.
I don't speak Italian.
I don't speak Latin.
I don't speak Japanese.
I don't speak Greek.
I'm doing all these words every night, like I felt way out of my comfort zone.
And this is only recently, isn't it?
Yes, the last few years when I started The Chase.
And I took that on because I thought, well, I'm coming to the, I'm near the end now.
You know, I'm near the end of my career, I'm 60, and I'm the old guy.
Koshy was the old guy, but Koshy's gone, now I'm the old guy.
I'm at peace with that because I've had such a wonderful career.
But I mean, every day I'll doubt myself in one way or another, but keep smiling, hang
And that's the key, isn't it?
To hang in there.
I think what's encouraging, though, for people to hear is that you still have those moments
of, oh, can I do this or imposter syndrome?
And The Chase was a big one because they asked me to do an audition and I said, look, and
I hadn't seen much of the show and I had a bit of a look at it and I thought, that's
not how, I can't read.
You know, I don't read books, I don't have the sort of knowledge that that host, and
I was looking a lot at the English one and just going, I can't, that's not what I, game
shows are different.
I'm playing games for half an hour, it's fun.
You know, no script, no auto-queue, no nothing, it's just fun.
It's me and the contestant and it's great.
Quizzing's different, quiz is different.
So 100%, three, maybe even six months into The Chase, I'd come home to Sylvia and go,
I think I've stuffed up here by taking this on because I think it's beyond me.
I've warmed into it now and I'm really enjoying it now.
We've got some great systems around whereby I get to know how to pronounce the words properly.
Do you do it phonetically?
Do you spell it out?
Oh, you wouldn't believe the phonetics.
But I have to, I mean, the words are coming at pace, they're popping up on a screen in
front of me in a flash second and I need to be able to manage that best I can.
So we've come up with great ways of talking through words now and the shows are going
really smoothly and I'm getting those words out, generally speaking.
So I feel comfortable now, but I know certainly in the first few months I was like, oh gosh,
And I think for all of us though, different times in our life, we sort of have to face
that fear anyway.
And push through.
I guess, and that's why, and I've done a couple of things in my life like that.
Dancing with the Stars was one, I said no to those guys for 10 years and I got to 50
and I just thought, I'm the guy that said yes to every stupid show for 30 years at that
Every stupid show, I've said yes to everything.
Celebrity Splash, Celebrity Dog School, Cash Bonanza, they're all ridiculous.
Televisual propositions.
But I'm like, yeah, I'm your guy.
But I'd said no to Dancing with the Stars, it just scared the hell out of me.
Why did it scare you so much?
I'm going to take it back to my high school days with not being able to remember stuff,
And I was frightened of the, and even on the chase, you know, I come home and Sylvie says,
what did you learn today?
I'm like, nothing.
You know, I've just read a thousand questions today and I haven't retained one of those.
So I guess I was worried about, firstly, I can't dance.
I have no music ability, I have no rhythm.
But the thing that scared me was learning, trying to remember stuff like that.
And I guess in my head, I'd put it into the same bundle as trying to learn the script
or trying to learn big words or something like that.
So maybe there's a connection there somehow.
I was looking at Dancing with the Stars, I was going, how do people remember how to do
that foot there and that foot there and then their hand there?
I totally forgot my night.
I totally blanked.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it is terrifying.
And I just made it up.
And it was unreal, right?
I remember at the time Petey saying, we had a cat called Alfie, he said, even Alfie had
his paws over his eyes because they were watching at home going, what is she doing?
But I mean, I guess I just thought, I've said yes to everything.
This is the only thing I've said no to.
I'd just turned 50.
I'd done a health kick thing.
I was feeling pretty good.
But then I was looking at my kids and thinking, I don't want them to think that I'm scared
And that was my main motivator there.
It wasn't good enough to make me a dancer, but it was like, I want to show my kids that
this, and they know I've been, because they know for 10 years I've been asked, and I've
said no, and we watched the show, and they asked me, and I'm, so they know.
And then I just wanted them to see that, bugger it, I'm going to give it a go.
And I think that was a nice lesson for all of them, except for me.
It's a great lesson for you.
And haven't you got, is it a tattoo on your chest that says, if, not, now, when?
And can I tell you, that was really an important part of that, and it was.
And I look at that every day, and I ask myself that question every day.
And Jai, my son, and I got this tattoo together.
So it's a little story.
He was a rower at school, and we were out at Penrith, and we were just walking along
the path next to the rowing track, and there was a, and you can see the boats are right
there next to you.
And his school was coming last, or fourth, rather.
And the coach was riding a bike next to where we were, and the coach was yelling out, come
on, boys, if, not, now, when, if, not, now, when?
And they lifted, and they won.
So Jai and I, and he was only young, Jai and I were like, if, not, now, when?
That's our thing forever.
And it has been, and we say that to each other all the time.
He's just starting a new job.
I'm like, mate, if, not, now, when?
It's something we say every day, and it's beautiful to me.
He's got the tattoo, I've got the tattoo, and I look at it every day.
And it's a question that I would ask myself every day, you know, or every other day.
It's a beautiful question.
It's one that I think we all need to ask ourselves.
It comes in handy, and it's made me do things that I wouldn't otherwise do.
And now, age 60, and I go, okay, well, actually, if, not, now, like, actually.
So I'm, you know, I'm getting stuff done now.
And I look, get out of the shower, mirror, in front of the mirror, I go, oh, if, not,
Okay, I will do that today.
I wasn't going to do it.
I will do it today.
You're really close to your kids.
What kind of dad are you?
Well, if you ask Sylvie, I think I'm a good dad.
I was around a lot, and that was a lot because I was unemployed, or, you know, the game shows
where you record for a week and then you're off for two weeks.
So I was the school drop-off, school pick-up dad.
I was there for everything.
I think I'm a good dad.
I think I was never good with homework, you know, like, as soon as I got to age 11, they
were too smart for me.
Well, it's so hard.
I reckon the homework they do these days, it's like, what?
So I was never good at that.
But I think I'm a good dad.
I'm a good listener.
I'm a good communicator.
I think I've shown them, if not now when, I think I've shown them to take on your challenges.
And we're all a beautifully supportive family, too.
So even now with any of my endeavours, you know, the kids are always very, very supportive
and they're growing up now.
Like, I used to be sort of their mentor, I suppose, Sylvie and I, and now they're mine.
You know, now they're showing me the way.
And I love that about our relationships.
It is quite something, isn't it, when our kids teach us things.
And I never expected that I would learn from my kids.
Your daughter got married recently.
Yes, last year, about a year ago now.
And I got teary looking at the pictures that you posted.
I mean, what has she taught you?
She's actually taught me a lot.
She's an old saltier, and she won't mind me saying.
She studies philosophy.
She's highly intelligent, which is problematic as a father trying to discipline your daughter
when you know every time you open your mouth, you're in for a debate that you can't win.
They come back at you and you go, Whoa, what do you, I've got no answer for that, Tia.
Okay, Tia, sure, do what you want.
But she's a beautiful soul.
I mean, they both are, actually, like Joe, Joe will call his mom three times a day to
say I love you and hang up, you know, like as a 30 year old man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And Tia, you know, Tia is a terrific, terrific young lady, and she'll be one of those people
who will do whatever she wants, you know, in the world.
And she wants to change the world.
She's very charitable.
She has a big focus on helping people and doing the right thing.
She's taught me that.
She's taught me that, that you should spend more time helping other people than yourself.
And I've always done, you know, like you, we do a lot in what we do, we get invited
to do a lot of charity work and you are involved in stuff.
And I've sailed the Sydney Hobart three times for Humpty Dumpty.
I did the Dancing with the Stars for Humpty Dumpty, you know, so we do do all that.
But Tia goes an extra mile.
I really admire her for that.
And she picked that up very early.
She's very independent and they're great, strong kids.
I'm lucky. I'm a lucky guy.
Luck is a term you use quite a bit in conversation, but we make our luck.
I mean, sure, circumstances can come our way, but then it's really up to us what we
And I guess I've been very, I was going to say very lucky with the circumstances, but
You know, I wrote a book a couple of years ago and the reason I sat down to write the
book was to go, because people kept going, how did you start in the business?
I'm like, you know, it doesn't make my story doesn't even make sense.
So I'm going to sit down and put together all these chapters and see if I can work out
why I'm still here after 40 years, why on earth is this high school bum who can't read
or write or add up still here and doing okay.
So I started just to piece together all these chapters and the bits of my career that maybe
didn't make sense.
And I gave them some thought and I still couldn't answer the question.
It still doesn't make sense, Jess.
I think a lot of it has to do with you being a good, decent man.
And that makes me very proud to hear that.
I'm glad that's the way you feel about me.
And I say the same about you, you know, and as I said, there's a bunch of people who you
can say that about and then there's a wider bunch of you can't.
I also get sort of a corporate sensibility as well and an ambitious sensibility.
And I do get all of that, but it hasn't been my way.
And I'm happy that I've landed here.
The thing is, you can be ambitious and a good person as well.
It doesn't have to be one or the other.
But I think I've got more mileage out of being a reasonable human being than I have out of
I realised early that the path was not my own.
The path was not mine to carve.
I couldn't have said, I want to do Price is Right, then I'm going to host Wheel of Fortune,
then I'm going to host The Morning Show, then I'm going to host The Chase Australia.
That's not the way this works.
So maybe just by being a reasonable bloke and not being an asshole, that those doors
have opened a little more easily for me, because there are people in the business who are assholes.
So when executive producers are looking around to cast, they're going, okay, well, we can
get him or her, but that's a whole different kettle of fish.
So maybe that's it.
But as for being ambitious, there was a time back in the day where I thought I was looking
at Vizard and then Rove and thinking, wow, it'd be great to do a Tonight Show.
Wouldn't that be fun?
And I just had my heart set on that.
But there's nothing that I could do to make that happen.
That would have been an executive, TV executive going, let's do a Tonight Show, get Emder
So I think what I've tried to stay true to is being a reasonable human being.
And then the career has kind of looked after itself.
And life, I suppose, because you've made the most of life along the way.
Because then unfold, when you won the Gold Loki, everyone was cheering.
We were so thrilled for you.
Is it accurate to say, though, in the lead up to that, you didn't think you should have
You had every right to be there.
No, I don't believe that's true.
Because I've been in the business for 40 years and I've never been nominated.
So I was at peace with that I'm not that guy.
I'm not that guy.
I'm just a little worker bee and I do the shows and I host the shows.
I said of the other nominees, and I stand by this, there are TV hosts who jump out of
So there's a show and there's a TV host who's bigger than the format.
And I'm not that guy.
I sit in the format, I help the machine turn, I help the cogs turn and I help the show get
hosted and start and finish.
But I'm not the Sonja Kruger who comes out onto the shiny floor and owns the postcode.
That's not what I do.
Andy Lee does that.
Robert Irwin, we can see, will be that guy.
Clearly, clearly.
So when I was nominated with those people, I'm like, that's not who I am.
And I validated it in my own mind by going, I haven't been nominated for 40 years, I'm
Do you know what I mean?
So I did have a bit of imposter syndrome about that.
And I didn't think that Julia Morris, another one, you know, bigger than the show, that's
But that's why your victory was all the sweeter, I think, for everyone because we love you.
And also, it was worthy recognition of what you do for people and what you mean to people,
not just within the industry, but who see you on the telly and you're part of their
Well, that's very sweet.
I mean, it was, it was a magical moment.
I'm not going to lie, like it was my favourite minutes of my career.
It was unbelievable.
I could not believe it.
I went in there thinking, Robert Irwin, six million Instagram followers, they're all going
Like, it just wasn't in my headspace at all.
And it blew me away.
And it meant so much to me, really, because I didn't think I was going to get it, because
I'd gone for 40 years without actually being involved in that process at all.
And it was, it was a very special moment.
Oh, well, 40 years I've been in this business, 40 years and for 25, maybe 30 times I've sat
in this room and thought, I wonder what it's like sitting on this fancy table down here.
I just remembered.
I did say I was so convinced that I wasn't going to win this that I said, and then if
I did win it, I would have all the nominees initials tattooed on my arse live tomorrow
So that's, we'll see you on the morning show tomorrow, right?
I love what you said about your late dad as well in that speech.
So dad was a salesman and, you know, his thing was always, nothing really happens if you're
No part of the sales process moves forward if you're not a good person.
So his thing was, I'm going to meet someone, they're going to think I'm a nice guy, they're
going to buy what I'm selling, right?
So I guess maybe I got a little bit of that from him.
When I started in TV, like he didn't know, none of my family, no one's in TV, was completely
foreign concept to everyone.
And I remember saying, I remember saying to him, dad, I don't know, I'm going to an office
with people and I don't know what to do.
He goes, mate, just be nice to everyone.
People can't hate you if you're nice to them.
You know, I live by that.
To my late dad, who on my very first day going to the Channel 7 newsroom as a cup reporter,
I said, dad, what do I do in there for my job?
And he goes, mate, just be nice to everyone.
Just be nice to everyone.
And that was 40 years ago.
And I remember to this day, but I came home after a couple of weeks and dad said, how's
I said, dad, I'm trying, but there's so many assholes in this business.
And you wore his sports jacket, didn't you?
And you first started doing...
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, my first day at Channel 7, because I was a surfer.
I mean, the best I had was a penguin shirt, the best.
So I had, so I was rummaging.
I was going there for work experience to Channel 7, Christmas Eve.
And I borrowed his, he had a jacket and I bought a leather tie from Bondi or maybe Paddington
It wasn't leather, it was like vinyl.
And I've got a photo at home, me with dad in his jacket, heading off to my first day
Yeah, I had, I mean, I looked like an idiot, but I was a work experience kid.
I wasn't going there to be on TV.
So yep, I remember that.
I remember the jacket, I remember the tie.
And dad showed me how to do the tie up.
What a beautiful, special image.
And I mean, your family, your grandmother, your maternal grandmother, was a huge fan
And didn't she announce to a bust?
I don't want to say she was annoying.
But she was, when I was on the...
So I heard this a couple of times from a couple of different people, but the bust one was
A lady said to me in the street, she goes, gee, your grandmother's so proud of you.
And I said, oh, yeah, she's lovely, sorry, sorry, she probably goes on a bit about the
And I said, she said, oh, no, I was on a bus with her the other day.
And I said, oh, that must have been a long ride, you sitting next to her on the bus.
She said, no, no, I was at the back of the bus and your grandmother was at the front
And it was about quarter past five.
And she gets up at the front of the bus, a crowded bus, and goes, right everybody, 5.30,
go home, watch the Price is Right, my grandson's on the Price is Right.
I love that image.
So that was Nanny Minnie.
And she was, she was very proud.
It was a big thing for her.
Because it was not in the family train anyway.
It was not a thing to be on TV.
So they were good days for the family.
She got a lot of miles.
She got a lot of grandmother miles out of that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, fast forward all these years later, you're still on the telly, but not only are
you on the telly, you've got this bucket list of things that you had wanted to do by the
time you were 60, including making a whisky.
So this is the strangest, strangest thing.
Because I was getting old, and I'm not a whisky drinker, so I've just made this whisky and
people think, oh, you're a whisky connoisseur, like no.
Because I was coming up to 60, I thought I want to make 60 bottles of whisky for 60 mates
for my 60th birthday, right?
And none of my mates really drink whisky with sort of maybe wine drinkers or bourbon
But I thought, whisky is an old man's drink, so I'm going to make 60 bottles of whisky.
And a few years ago, during a break in COVID, we were filming for the morning show down
in Koroa, which is on the Victorian New South Wales border.
And we went through the Koroa distillery there, which is a famous sort of whisky distillery,
and we were filming for the show.
And I said to the guys down there then, I think I might have had a couple of drinks.
And I said, in a few years' time, when I'm 60, I want to make 60 bottles for 60 mates
And they go, right, we'll put away a barrel for that.
And this time last year, I circled back to them in the year leading up to my 60th.
And I said, right, I'm ready to make these 60 bottles.
So I went out there a few times, got my flavour profile right.
I wanted it nice and easy.
I wanted something I could drink with mum or my mates and something yummy.
Because whisky is boring, right?
It's a bit old man sort of musty.
It's a lawyer in his office on his own at 11.30 on a Thursday night drink.
It's not a glamorous TV drink.
But I'm going to make it glamorous.
I'm going to make it yummy.
And I'm going to make it fun and easy to drink, not this smoky, peaty thing.
So we make it at Koroa, to my flavour profile, and it tastes fantastic.
And the guys at Koroa, it's a tourist attraction.
They get hundreds of people there every weekend tasting all their beautiful whiskies.
And the owner down there said, mate, your whisky is really nice.
Can we put it on the end of the tasting bar?
And just no name, nothing to do with me, no label, it didn't have a name.
Can we just get people to taste it?
And over a couple of months, hundreds of people just passing through the whisky distillery
Tasting mine, 95% of people said, can we buy that?
It wasn't for sale.
It wasn't a thing.
It wasn't a thing.
But he called me and he said, mate, we're onto something here.
This is beautiful whisky, and it's being beautifully received, wonderfully received.
So he said, we've got to send it over to San Francisco, the biggest spirits competition
in the world, 80 international judges, blind tasting thousands of whiskies from all over
So you have a gold logy, your whisky has a gold medal.
Yes, and then it won a silver medal in Melbourne and I won a silver logy.
So it's gold and silver, gold and silver.
It's all meant to be.
So I put that on my social media that, my gosh, this little silly thing that I made
for my friends, just won gold in San Fram, and then it blew up, Jess.
Then it goes, all the big restaurants are calling and the bottle shops and everyone
like, where can we get it?
Where can we get it?
So we went from making 60 bottles to 10,000 bottles.
And now it's just started last week at the airport, duty free.
It's all over and it's exciting.
But it came from nothing.
Like it's actually.
And it's called the Ben Bucklar, which is where you're from.
It's where I grew up.
So Ben Bucklar is the northern point of Bondi, if you know Bondi Beach.
There are three streets on Ben Bucklar and I grew up on all of them.
We'd move from one to the other.
Then when I moved out of home, I moved to an apartment at the end of Ben Bucklar and
that's where Sylvie and I settled and Jai was born.
We were living there.
So a lot of my life, if you ever read my book, a lot of my life is right on Ben Bucklar.
So the name was really important to me because I wanted it to be something special to me.
And it's landed really well because anyone in the whisky world, even if they don't know
what Ben Bucklar is at North Bondi, they go great name like Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker,
It's going really well.
And it kind of came from nothing.
So now all of a sudden I'm an accidental businessman.
I didn't mean to be, but it's working well because it's a fun, we're really having fun
I mean, this is an extraordinary achievement from a bucket list.
I'm wondering what the next achievement is going to be for 70.
What's ahead for you?
I don't think I'll be on TV.
Well, I won't be on TV anymore.
Because I don't think we do that in Australia.
I don't think we do.
But I don't think we do that here.
I said to Koshy when he left, I said, how did you know when you wanted to go?
Because you're number one.
It's all going great.
He goes, you'll know.
Thanks for nothing, mate.
But he said, you'll know.
And I thought, I can't see it now because I love the morning show.
Every day you just go in and it's something different, you know, and you throw a commercial
break and someone else is fantastic, like you waiting in the wings to come on and that's
another conversation.
That's another bit of fun.
So I don't know how I'd go living a life without doing what I do, but that time will come.
What will I do next?
Sylvie's from Poland, as you know.
And we've got this burning desire to spend 12 months around Europe.
So that'll be the first thing.
So the day the morning show ends for me on a Friday on, we'll call it Sunday morning,
we're gone and that new life will start.
And we're excited about that.
I'm not dreading that.
I don't know how my life will be without TV, but I know we'll make it fun.
We've got some catching up to do because the way the TV thing works, as you know, you don't
get those nice long holidays in the middle of the year and that sort of stuff.
We know the kids have grown up.
We don't have to do school holidays.
So we do have that desire to sort of wheel around for a while.
So if you're looking for me two days after the morning show finishes, I'll be somewhere
Larry, it has been such a pleasure chatting and you really are an example.
You remind me so much of my husband, Petey, of you're an example of, you know, good guys
Oh, lovely to see you.
For showing us that.
Aren't you beautiful?
You're beautiful.
What did you think about that moment when Larry was saying, yes, he had imposter syndrome,
that still there are those moments when he thinks, is he up to it?
He's so enthusiastic and warm and seamless in what he does.
But he too has those moments of questioning, which we all have.
Because don't you think there are those times when we do get the wobbles, when we do think,
And you get those butterflies in your stomach and you think, oh, no, I don't know if I'm
But there is an example listening to Larry of he experiences it, but he gives it a crack
anyway with that motto that he shares with his son.
I don't know if I would tattoo it on my chest, but I do love the words that Larry did have
tattooed on his chest, which were, if not now, when?
So why don't you head into your day with that idea of if not now, when?
Give whatever you're thinking about a crack.
It's OK to be scared, but give it a whirl.
We all get the wobbles.
I get the wobbles all the time.
But you know what?
I'd much rather give it a go.
And having that conversation with Larry gives me the impetus to keep on going.
I just adore Larry.
I could talk to him forever.
And he's got that voice, that really warm, optimistic and cheery.
And he's just a really, really good man.
Now, of course, you can catch Larry on Seven's The Morning Show and The Chase.
And if you're a whiskey lover and you're keen to try his Ben Bucklar, we're going to put
a link in the show notes for you.
I do have to say he did give me a bottle, which I am busting to try with Petey.
You can find out all the details, as I said, in the show notes.
It is award winning.
And just like Larry, we have so many incredible guests for you on the Jess Rowe Big Talk Show
It would mean so much to me if you subscribe to the show.
It's free and it means all of these great conversations will be quicker for you to access
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Now, if there's someone in your life who is a huge fan of Larry Emder and who isn't a
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All you need to do is to tap the three dots on your screen.
And I'd love it if you'd help me spread the word about the podcast to your friends and
I love hearing from you via Insta and in the DMs.
It means so much to me to know that you're a part of our very special podcasting community.
I get so much out of the conversations with the people that I share the studio with.
And I also get so much out of those messages that you send me.
So keep them coming.
And if you loved my chat with Larry, I reckon you're going to really enjoy my conversation
with Carl Stefanovic.
And you know what, every time I'm still growing and I'm still learning and I'm still trying
to be a better person, I really am.
And I think the moment you stop trying is the moment that you've kind of lost your
focus and lost your way a bit.
And that's why you hope to have the love in your life to be able to correct and get back
on course, you know, and to be open to that is really important.
The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show is hosted by me, Jess Rowe, executive producer Nick McClure.
She's a wonderful leopard lady.
Video imager Nat Marshall, supervising producer Sam Cavanaugh.
Until next time, remember to live big.
Life is just too crazy and glorious to waste time on the stuff that doesn't matter.