celebrity

Samuel Johnson's Gold Logie win took an unexpected turn.

The night was finally over.

There were moments we thought the Logies would never end (Dave Hughes’ comments on Channel Seven’s Tim Worner).

There were moments we were moved to tears (Casey Donovan’s performance during the In Memoriam tribute).

There were moments we didn’t want to ever end (Kat Stewart and Peter Helliar’s ‘Jacketgate’ spoof)…

But, let’s be real, when it gets to 11:30 you’re ready to go home and go to bed and dream about Rodger Corser all the things you have to do on Mondays.

So finally, host Dave Hughes was reading the nominations and the night’s end was in sight. Peter Helliar, Waleed Aly, Jessica Marais, Samuel Johnson and Rodger Corser were all up for the Gold Logie.

The winner was announced: Samuel Johnson.

Sure, we would have liked to see Jessica Marais take it out for all the women who should have been nominated this year, but the announcement was still a happy one.

 

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Johnson had reached his hand through our television screens and pulled our hearts out of our chest when he won the Logie for Best Actor earlier in the night. He dedicated his first award to his sister Connie, who is dying from cancer, and those of us who weren’t a little bit in love with Johnson before today all of a sudden were.

He was not expecting to win the Gold and he struggled to hold back tears.

“My family is all based out of a house in Preston [in Victoria] and amongst ourselves we call it the ‘Prestonian Institute for the Temporarily Defeated’. Not tonight, mate. Not tonight!” he told the crowd.

“For the last few weeks I’ve been insisting very fastidiously amongst my family that I be called ‘Your Royal Logie-ness’, and I was really just lapping it up before the seemingly inevitable crashing loss.”

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Listen: How the Gold Logie award process works. Post continues below.

“And now as I stand here atop Australians highest commercial peak I think it’s only fair that I request that name continue in perpetuity. It’s the best excuse to change my nickname which, for the past few years amongst my family, has been ‘Uncle Redundant’.”

The crowd was laughing and he had them captivated. Johnson went on to share a little of his background and to give thanks to the industry in which he’s found a home.

“I was a very spirited and very confused kid with a colourful background and very savage of excess of energy,” he said.

“[As a child]I was an out-lier of sorts and desperate to find my place in the world. I found my home here in the arts. A place that encouraged me to be truthful, to work harder, to pursue excellence. I did none of that,” he laughed.

“I feel indebted and I want to say thank you.”

And then… then something happened that nobody saw coming.

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Johnson’s win was for his success playing the part of well-known media personality Molly Meldrum in the Channel Seven series Molly.

Meldrum himself was in the crowd, and came up on stage to congratulate Johnson and pass on one of his trademark hats.

But seemingly, it didn’t quite go to plan; Meldrum’s speech was difficult to hear, and it eventually ended with the industry legend being ushered off stage.

Johnson’s award acceptance was the picture of grace and dignity — meaning anyone else who wasn’t already in love with the 38-year-old Molly star, now most definitely is.

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