Stand down Grant Denyer, the winner of the Gold Logie 2019 has been announced.
And it’s the person we least expected: Tom Gleeson.
As in the man who has been constantly referring to the entire awards ceremony as a joke.
The comedian, nominated for ABC program Hard Quiz, was up against Waleed Aly (The Project ), Amanda Keller (The Living Room), Costa Georgiadis (Gardening Australia), Rodger Corser (Underbelly), Eve Morey (Neighbours), and Sunrise weather presenter Sam Mac.
In his acceptance speech, Tom Gleeson called it a "win for the ABC" and "a win for comedy":
"There has been a lot of concern that I'm turning this award into a joke. But what you are forgetting is I'm a comedian. I love jokes," he said.
"This award has meant so many things to so many different people and that doesn't cease to exist... But for me it represents a joke but I love jokes. I really enjoy them. I really think we should all lighten the f*ck up."
Much like last year's campaign to get Grant Denyer the Gold Logie, the lead-up to the announcement wasn't without its controversy fuelled by Tom Gleeson himself, who spent months prior to the awards ceremony targeting "attack campaigns" at his fellow nominees.
Gleeson, who co-hosts The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, once described the thought of winning the award as “preposterous”.
“It is so stupid, and it makes me laugh so much, that it makes me want it,” he told Stellar earlier this year.
Speaking on his 2Day FM breakfast show, last year’s Gold Logie winner Grant Denyer shared that he believes nominees Tom Gleeson and Sunrise’s Sam Mac are turning the award into a “joke”.
“It’s become a joke this year,” he told his co-hosts, Ed Kavalee and Ash London.
“Two of the loudest Gold nominees are just effectively taking the piss.”
During his acceptance speech, Gleeson responded to Denyer's comments.
"It is a shame that this is the last Gold Logie that is ever going to be handed out because according to Grant Denyer, this is it. I have ruined the Logies and it is never going to happen ever again. But at least I won this all by myself."
Last year, Gleeson took over Denyer’s campaign for the Gold Logie, urging people to vote for the TV host. The pair even arrived on the red carpet together in a giant Gold Logie.
“Everybody in the country now thinks I won the award because of him, and if I’m honest, that sh*ts me,” Denyer said.
“I didn’t even ask for him to jump on board my campaign.”
Speaking to Mamamia’s No Filter podcast, Gold Logie nominee Amanda Keller also shared her thoughts on Tom Gleeson and Sam Mac’s Logie campaign antics.
The Private Life of Amanda Keller. Post continues after podcast.
“It’s a funny night – it’s a long night. People have always laughed at the Logies. But at the same time, they are all we have for television awards,” Keller told Mamamia.
“If the public vote for you, that’s a big deal and I wish people would let it be a big deal.”
Keller, who was previously nominated for the Gold Logie, explained that in recent years, the race for the publicly voted award has become more like a political campaign.
“Tom and Sam are treating it – and fair enough too if they want to – like this comedy competition. Tom’s like the school bully picking us all off. It’s a different feeling and I’m not very good at it.”
Gleeson gave an opening monologue at the ceremony, where he poked fun at several casts in the room, including a particularly vicious jibe at Karl Stefanovic, calling his Mexican wedding to Jasmine Yarbrough "tacky" and comparing it to MAFS.
Read more on the 2019 Logies: