Awards ceremonies can undo anyone, and frequently reduce movie stars to stumbling messes. This year Emma Stone cried as she collected her Oscar, explaining that her dress had split open at the back. A trembling Kieran Culkin started waffling about his ear hair. These luminaries should have come to the Logies for a lesson in how it’s done.
When the ABC’s Tony Armstrong beat a field of beloved veterans to win the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter, he loped up onto the stage in a brown three-piece suit, relaxed, humble and funny. Within seconds he had the audience in the palm of his hand as he told them to cheer for the other nominees and applaud his producer. He flagged that he expected a pay rise and the whole auditorium laughed. As he exited with a wave, Tony wished everyone a good night, his easy charisma leaving good vibes in his wake.
It’s this affable warmth that has won 34-year-old Tony legions of fans and a slew of awards, but in his first sit-down with The Weekly he reveals that he doesn’t like walking red carpets and is uncomfortable with fame.
“I just want to be a silly duffer most of the time,” Tony says, laughing.
“Those events, they’re so unnatural. There’s parts of them that are so fun, but I find them a little bit overwhelming. I would genuinely much rather be somewhere that’s as busy as this with five of my best friends,
