After six successful years, Andrew Denton walked away from Enough Rope. This is why.

For six years Andrew Denton was considered the best interviewer in Australia.

On his ABC show, Enough Rope, he interviewed huge international names like Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Parkinson, Bono, and Helen Mirren. He also got inside the minds of some of Australia’s biggest talents including Steve Irwin and Craig McLachlan.

Then after six seasons and at the height of the show’s popularity, Denton walked away from it all.

Now, while speaking to Craig Bruce on his podcast Game Changers: Radio, Denton has explained why.

While chatting to Denton, Bruce suggested the show had almost become “a confessional” by the end of its run.

“In the early years it was fantastic like that,” Denton responded. “I had an instinct there was a place for this show but no one knew it was going to work the way it worked.”

“But by the last couple of years that had become a bit of a trap in some cases… and it’s part of the reason I wound up the show.

“People were coming on, and ironically one of them was Craig McLachlan, and they were doing their ‘performance’ as an Enough Rope guest.”

Denton explained some of the guests would come on to the show to put on a performance, to “cry” and pour their hearts out in an attempt try to win over the Australian public.

“It wasn’t everyone but there were some notable moments where I remember sitting there and thinking, ‘This is an act’, this is the opposite of what I want to be doing.

“It was the opposite of what I was in it for which was honesty.”

“The better guests became the ones from overseas who didn’t know what they should be doing,” the TV host said.

Mia Freedman talks to Andrew Denton about voluntary euthanasia. Post continues.

Denton will be returning to our TV screens later this year for a new show on Channel Seven called Interview.

Like with Enough Rope, the guests on Denton’s new show will be some of the most fascinating in the world, from celebrities to people who have found themselves in the news cycle.

“I sat out for a long time,” Denton told Bruce. “Part of returning is just how the world has changed. It seems to have got crazier, meaner, louder and shoutier. I wanted to come back and hold a conversation.”