Grant Denyer:"That relationship gave me a sense that I could go off and take chances."Supplied
My paternal grandmother,Una,was a multiple-generation farm girl and wonderful nurturer who lived in the Riverina region of NSW. She could cook like you wouldn’t believe.
I spent my school holidays on her farm,where I felt loved and cared for. That relationship gave me a sense that I could go off and take chances and,if it didn’t work out,I could return to the farm and all would be okay.
Mum[Glynis] and Dad[Craig] separated when I was 13. We moved from the Central Coast,near Gosford,to Melbourne so Mum could be closer to her family. She was a single mum trying to make ends meet and created a great home for my younger sister Courtney and me. We remained in close contact with Dad.
Mum told us she had an office job and would leave home in a suit every day,but in reality she was cleaning houses. She didn’t have the heart to tell us. I never discovered that until later in life and it made me quite upset.
I felt like Mum and Courtney’s protector growing up – you sort of become a pseudo father and partner when you’re the only man in the house. I left at 18 to pursue my media career.
Courtney is a tough girl,a lot of fun to be around and the life of the party with three kids of her own now.
I have a half-sister,Kendall,from Dad’s new relationship. She’s 15 years younger than me and a ray of sunshine who has gone on to become a doctor on the COVID-19 frontline.
My first kiss was with the librarian’s daughter in grade 4 at Avoca Beach Primary School. The librarian pulled me aside to make sure I’d do the right thing by her daughter. I remember panicking,thinking it meant I had to marry her.
My first girlfriend was a year above me at Hallam High School in year 10. We dated for a couple of years. It was nice to have a relationship away from home and to be part of her family.
I had a serious girlfriend when I moved to Wagga for work in 1997. We moved to Melbourne to grow my TV career,so she was away from family and friends in a strange city. I was starry-eyed for television and didn’t give the relationship the tenderness and focus it deserved. She called it off.
I also dated a production manager who worked with me at the V8 Supercars telecasts. A wonderful human,but it didn’t work out. Not long after that I met my wife,Cheryl,when we worked together on Sunrise in 2005. We started dating in 2008.
We didn’t like each other much when we met. Chezzi was a headstrong producer and I was a creative who had different ideas. We clashed a lot. But one day I brushed hands with her accidentally and felt this amazing tingle go from my head to my toes,and in that moment I thought,“I can’t live without this person.”
Chezzi was thrust into being my carer after I broke my back in 2008 and did an incredible job. Pulling a handbrake on my life was a big blow to me psychologically,but she rolled through the stages of pain and recovery and I could depend on her.
I had no hesitation in getting married to Chezzi in 2010;even if it didn’t work out for my own parents. That we both come from the same industry is a bonus – she just gets it.
We have two daughters,Sailor Shelley[9] and Scout Una[5],with a third on the way. Scout is boisterous and wild – she likes riding the quad bike and racing the go-karts – while Sailor is into acting and dressing up. They are both amazing.
Co-hostingDancing with the Stars with Amanda Keller is great fun. She is a pioneer,incredibly funny and deeply humble. While she has all the right in the world to be pretentious or a grandstander,she is the opposite. She is kind,compassionate and there is always an air of professionalism around her,so everyone feels equal in her orbit. She is not a dominating force,which is rare in this industry – she is built differently.
Grant is hosting Network 10’s broadcast of the Bathurst Supercheap Auto 1000 this weekend.
This article appears inSunday Life magazine within theSun-Herald and theSunday Age on sale October 18.