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Robert Irwin and Sam Pang will go head-to-head in the Gold Logie race, with the pair among the seven personalities nominated for the Gold Logie on Monday morning, along with Ally Langdon, Julia Morris, Lisa Millar, Poh Ling Yeow – who were all nominated last year – and Todd Woodbridge. Unusually absent from the list was any personality directly linked to Seven, with Pang appearing across Ten, Nine and Seven.
It is the second time that Irwin, who will host the 66th Logie Award ceremony on Sunday, August 16, has been nominated for a Gold Logie, while it marks the first Logie nomination full stop for Pang, who has hosted the Logies for the past three years but declined to return this year.
“I thought this year would be a bit quieter, but maybe not,” said Pang at the unveiling of the nominations. “The hosting of the last three years has been a very singular focus in the lead up to the night. I don’t know what to expect. I was asking Julia [Morris], Lisa [Millar] and Poh [Ling Yeow] – because they’ve all been nominated before – what to expect, and said it’s just a wild ride, and you should enjoy it. I’ll try, it’s not really in my nature to do that, but I’ll try.”
The Gold nomination will be bittersweet for Irwin as well as Morris, who has been nominated for the fifth time, as their hit reality show I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! has been “rested” by Network 10 and is now looking for a new home. The pair have also been nominated in the most popular presenter category, along with Amanda Keller, Hamish Blake, Larry Emdur and Millar.
“It’s been a gentle bell curve of a year, but there we are getting celebrated,” said Morris, who brought a cardboard cutout of Irwin to the event. “Which – I’m not speaking for Robert – which lets us celebrate for the 500 people that came together every year to make our incredibly special show over 12 years, which we’re really proud of. So it feels like a great way to send it to its slumber.”
Millar, who was nominated for her work on Muster Dogs and Back Roads, said she wanted to use the opportunity to promote the areas those programs celebrate. “Last year, it was all such a shock,” said Millar. “This time around I want to use this as a platform to talk about regional Australia and all the wonderful things I am seeing.”
For MasterChef Australia host Ling Yeow, her second Gold Logie nomination was a thrill, but she said she wasn’t one to “linger” on her success. “I do feel proud,” she said. “The thing that comes to my mind most in moments like this is that I wish my mum was still here. Mum and dad brought us here [from Malaysia] to have better opportunities and Australia has been amazing to me, so I always think about that and how grateful I am.”
Across the field, the ABC and Prime Video dominated the nominations, with the public broadcaster receiving 41 nods all up, including 33 across the “best” categories, while Prime Video’s moving drama The Narrow Road to the Deep North was the most nominated show overall.
Hollywood star and Oscar nominee Jacob Elordi was nominated for best lead actor for his role in the WWII drama, which picked up six nominations, including best miniseries or telemovie, as well as best lead actress in a drama for Odessa Young, best supporting actress for Heather Mitchell and best supporting actor for Simon Baker and Thomas Weatherall.
Sydney Morning Herald reporters Eryk Bagshaw, Clare Sibthorpe, and Bianca Hrovat were also nominated in the best news coverage or public affairs report for “Out of Order”, their joint investigation with Natalie Clancy from 60 Minutes into the harassment and mistreatment of staff in the restaurant sector.
TV sporting legend Bruce McAvaney was also recognised with a new award for most popular sports presenter named in his honour, an award for which he was also nominated for his work commentating on the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo for SBS.
McAvaney said he was “humble but proud” to have the award named after him, but like a true commentator, he didn’t want to call himself the “favourite”. “I’m either going to win an award named after me, which is going to be really odd,” he said. “Or I’m not going to be good enough to win the award [named after me].”
The nominations provided a reasonably balanced snapshot of the Australian TV industry, with a mix of familiar faces (Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Brooke Satchwell), new stars (Elordi, Yerin Ha, Aisha Dee) familiar shows (Dancing with the Stars, Have You Been Paying Attention?) and new dramas (The Family Next Door) and comedies (Dog Park) in the mix.
The ABC was recognised across the full spread of “best” categories, with nominations in drama, comedy, children, news, reality, lifestyle, factual and entertainment. It also received three nominations in the most popular new talent category, with classical pianist Andrea Lam (The Piano) and actors Eloise Hart (Goolagong and Mystery Road: Origin) and Lila McGuire (Goolagong) all recognised.
In what was possibly the oddest nomination, 39-year-old former English cricket captain Stuart Broad was also named in the popular new talent category, after his despair in the Seven commentary box during the Ashes tour went viral. Also nominated in that category were actors Rowan Witt and Tamala, who starred in the Paramount+ comedy Ghosts: Australia.
Prime Video, meanwhile, overtook Netflix for the first time to become the most nominated streamer, picking up 11 nods, including six for The Narrow Road to the Deep North and four for season two of Deadloch, including best actress in a comedy for its leads Kate Box and Madeleine Sami.
It wasn’t all bad news for Netflix, as its Tasmanian murder mystery The Survivors was the second-most nominated drama, with five nods, including best miniseries or telemovie and best lead actress for Bridgerton star Yerin Ha. It was followed by the ABC’s Mystery Road: Origin, which received four nominations, including best drama and best lead actor and actress for Mark Coles Smith and Tuuli Narkle.
The ABC also led the comedy pack, with Dog Park and Austin receiving three nominations each, including acting nods for Leon Ford and Celia Pacquola in Dog Park and for Ben Miller and Michael Theo in Austin.
Disney+ received its only nomination in that same scripted comedy category, with the playful Victorian-era rom-com The Artful Dodger recognised.
Network 10, the ABC and Seven divided up the best comedy entertainment category, with nods for Gruen Nation (ABC), Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee (ABC), Hard Quiz (ABC), Have You Been Paying Attention? (Network 10), The Cheap Seats (Network 10) and The Front Bar (Seven Network).
The news, factual and sports categories were dominated by Nine and Seven, while the ABC ruled the best children’s program list, with five of the six nominations. SBS, meanwhile, received seven nominations overall, including two nods in the best factual or documentary program category for The People vs Robodebt and The Secret DNA Of Us.
The Ray Martin Award for most popular news or public affairs presenter ticked off the big guns of news – Ally Langdon (9Network), David Speers (ABC), Karl Stefanovic (9Network), Michael Usher (Seven Network), Sarah Abo (9Network) and Sarah Ferguson (ABC) – and shut out Ten and SBS again.
After some grumblings over the new voting system introduced in 2024 – where “best” awards were decided by a combined score comprising a judging panel (30 per cent), audience data (20 per cent) and public votes (50 per cent) – this year’s Logies have been rejigged again. Each judge now provides a score out of 30 (for assessment criteria) and a score out of 10 for audience engagement. Those scores will then be combined and weighted to make up 50 per cent of the score, with the public vote comprising the remaining 50 per cent.
The change will no doubt please many of the streamers, who felt disadvantaged by the scoring, as they were unwilling to provide concrete ratings data, which meant they lost an automatic 20 per cent of the vote.
The 66th TV Week Logie Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, August 16, on Seven.
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Louise Rugendyke is the National TV editor and a senior culture writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
