Logies host Sam Pang shocks as he roasts Karl Stefanovic's Noosa spat and Kochie's retirement
Sam Pang did not hold back in his Logies opening monologue, calling out everyone from Karl Stefanovic to Hamish McDonald and Kochie.
He’s the first host the Logie Awards has had in 11 years and comedian Sam Pang made sure he made his mark when he took to the stage on Sunday night at The Star Sydney.
Addressing a room full of Australia’s biggest TV stars, Sam took aim at Karl Stefanovic’s Noosa spat with cricketer Michael Clarke, managed to get Gold Logie nominee Julia Morris’ name wrong and delivered a dig about Hamish Blake turning down the hosting gig.
“It is a huge honour to be your guide tonight, but let's just address the elephant in the room. Everyone watching at home and everyone in this room knows that I was not Channel Seven's first choice to host tonight,” he started his monologue.
“So Hamish Blake said no. Thank you, Hamish, I really appreciate it, mate. Some of us have a mortgage.. By the way, a mortgage is when the bank loans... Don't worry about it.
“Karl Stefanovic said yes, as long as the show was held in a park in Noosa.”
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It wasn’t the only reference Sam made to Karl and Michael’s famous park brawl, later saying: “And what would a Logies be without Karl Stefanovic, hey. Where is he? There he is on the Today Show table. Sitting next to your co-host, who do you have this year, Karl? No, of course, it is the highly respected journalist Sarah Abo who has gone from 60 Minutes where she covered the Russia Ukraine war and the conflict in Syria to the Today where her biggest story so far has been covering the Gympie potato festival.
“That is a fun table, one to look out for tonight. It would be even more fun if Michael Clarke was on it, I tell you, Karl.”
The crowd erupted in laughter before Sam continued: "Lego Masters is up for Most Popular and Most Outstanding Entertainment Program. Congratulations. And the most recent season of Lego Masters saw contestants take on their biggest challenge yet - building social connections and interacting with other human beings.
"And a win tonight would cement Lego Masters as Australia's premier entertainment show and also provide some comfort after the unfortunate episode where five contestants were lost in a Lego submarine challenge... Just relax, Hamish and Brickman weren't on board.”
The Have You Been Paying Attention? host next turned to former Sunrise host Kochie, who retired last month after two decades with the show.
“A big year of farewells, Tracy Grimshaw, Carrie Bickmore, Leigh Sales, Shaun Micallef and of course David Koch. Kochie retired after 21 years on Sunrise, well done. There is no doubt that you changed breakfast television forever. Warmth, humour, personality, you needed none of those. What a marvel you are sir, well done. The world of television moves on quickly. Kochie is only here tonight because he is Larry Emdur’s plus one."
Fans took to Twitter, with many saying they loved Sam's opening monologue.
"Ok. 5 mins in and we need to lock in Sam Pang to host every Australian awards night moving forward. KILLING it," one person wrote.
"Why do we have to have all these awards give out? Can’t we just have 3 hours of Sam Pang ripping the Australian TV industry to shreds?" another person said.
Australia's biggest stars took to the red carpet at The Star earlier in the evening, showing off some incredible looks. Take a look at some of the fashion looks here.
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