Latest news with #NightofNights
Sky News AU
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
Todd Woodbridge reveals how he really felt about Jelena Dokic's 'he's my person' Logies speech - as she steps out with new boyfriend in Melbourne
Todd Woodbridge has spoken publicly for the first time about being the focus of colleague Jelena Dokic's extremely emotional Logies acceptance speech. The 54-year-old sports commentator and Tipping Point Australia host joined Nova FM's Jase and Lauren on Friday, where he was asked about the emotional tribute during TV's "Night of Nights". Dokic, 42, won Best Factual or Documentary Program for her documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, and used her speech to thank Woodbridge for encouraging her to pursue a career in media after retiring- even calling him her "person". "I want to go back to the Logies on Sunday night, because I got very emotional when Jelena Dokic won her Logie and she made this incredible speech about how if every woman and wife and daughter and sister had a Todd in her life, the world would be a better place," host Lauren Phillips said during a visit to The Tipping Point set. "I mean, Paul, my fiancé and I were on the couch sobbing watching that. How did you feel in that moment?" Woodbridge admitted the speech took him by surprise. "Yeah, I was surprised by her doing that," he said. "I know she (Jelena) sometimes says that in a keynote a little bit, but I've never seen the keynote and been there, but her whole speech was flawless." The multiple Grand Slam-winning doubles champ said the moment was made even more special because the messaging "was so strong". "And to be a big part of that messaging and understanding of getting her on track, really, I felt incredibly proud to have watched someone be able to get up and deliver, in front of that audience at a Logies when you got all these TV people, that's nerve wracking," he said. "But she just killed it." Phillips also recalled Woodbridge's kindness towards both Dokic and herself during her former role as a Nine sports reporter. "I remember, in those early days of Channel Nine taking over the Australian Open and I worked on those first seasons… you were so nurturing to her, but not just to her, to all of us," she said. "You have this innate ability to make people feel so comfortable and so welcome, and you've just got this beautiful aura about you. So I'm so glad that that moment was shared so publicly, because a lot of us feel that way." Woodbridge thanked her, saying he "enjoys the company of it all" and wants "everyone to do well". "I want to do the very best job. I'm quite competitive, but I can't do it if the other people don't do it well. So you're together in that," he said. The tennis great said the evening was even more surreal after he later won his own Logie- the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter- for Tipping Point. "But that whole thing with what Jelena was able to deliver, and then to have my moment follow that, more or less, that was bizarrely, I just couldn't believe the whole timing of it all, because none of that's planned," he said. "We didn't know. She didn't know she's going to win. I had very little faith. And so it just became one of the most special evenings I've ever been a part of." On Thursday, Dokic shared a video of herself and Woodbridge moments after their respective wins. "We did it !!!! We won the Logies !!! This was just moments after both @ and I won. So good we were able to capture this moment together. Honoured and proud of us,' she wrote. In the clip, an elated Dokic asked, "Who won the Logies?" before Woodbridge replied, "We did!" He then joked: "Your speech goes down as the longest 30 seconds that the Logies have ever had, but it was worth it!" "Listen," Dokic laughed back, "for TV what do they say? It's better that you can talk than not talk!" That evening, Dokic reposted footage of herself with her new boyfriend, Melbourne-based hospitality operations manager Yane Veselinov, singing and laughing together during a date night at the Royal Botanic Gardens. She later shared a sweet selfie of the pair, captioned with love hearts.
Sky News AU
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
Logies 2025: Celebrity vet Dr. Harry Cooper reveals his secret talent inspired by recent tragic loss
Dr. Harry Cooper has revealed his secret talent for bush poetry, telling he turns to it during life's toughest moments. The 81-year-old Aussie vet and television star looked dapper in his trademark cap and a black suit as he walked the red carpet at the 2025 Logie Awards on Sunday evening. Cooper, whose show Better Homes and Gardens was nominated for Best Lifestyle Program on Australian television's 'Night of Nights', took his time chatting to fans and media alike- even pulling out his phone to read one of his poems aloud. The verse was written for his horse, Arcadia Band, who he sadly had to put down after 35 years when a tumour in her leg left her lame. "I wanted to write something for her- and I write a lot of bush poetry," Dr. Harry said, before launching into his poem. "In fields of green and luscious grass with shelter near at hand, She will find life again and join her friends Our Arcadia Band." He paused, overcome with emotion, before quietly reflecting: "I write a lot of that sort of stuff, and it makes me feel better." The TV vet's pain stems from unimaginable loss, most notably, the death of his eldest child, Tiffany in 2012. She was just 37 when she died of colon cancer, leaving behind her husband and two children. Dr Harry had opened up about the tragedy in a 2021 episode of Anh's Brush with Fame, recalling the phone call that changed everything. "I said, 'I want you to demand a biopsy. Don't ask for it, demand it'," he told host Anh Do through tears, describing the moment he realised Tiffany's X-ray scan showed a tumour. "I put the phone down, walked out to the veranda, looked to the sky and I said, 'Take me. Children are supposed to outlive their parents. Take me'." Tiffany bravely fought the disease for 14 months. "She fought it for 14 months, and then I lost her," he said. "And the last thing she said was: 'I love you, Daddy'." Her death came just a few years after Dr Harry's own battle with prostate cancer in 2007 and 2008. He also lost his longtime companion, Rosie the bordie collie, in May 2000. In the years since, he's found solace in writing, revealing he now has around 60 poems stored on his phone and is considering including them in a future memoir. "I'm always going to write a book," he said. "I've got lots of photos and lots of poetry, I've got about 60 finished poems on my phone. I'd like to include them (in my memoir) if I do put something out." The father-of-three also took time to reflect on his extraordinary four-decade career in television, which began in 1987 on Burke's Backyard before landing his own show, Talk to the Animals, in 1993. He later fronted Harry's Practice in 1997 alongside fellow vet Katrina Warren. "I loved Harry's Practice, that was always my favourite gig, I really loved it," he recalled. Although the program was cancelled in 2003 despite strong ratings, he continued his TV journey the following year with Better Homes and Gardens, where he still presents a regular veterinary segment. "When I started in television nationally, I did a show called Talk to the Animals, and prior to that I worked with Don Burke, which was great," he said. "Talk to the Animals would screen every Sunday night, and we had viewers of about 3.6 million. "Now that was 30 years ago, and the population of Australia has probably doubled since then, but now, we certainly do get less viewers. "Now, every Friday night, we've got Better Homes and Gardens, but we've got a bit over a million viewers- the landscape of television has certainly changed." Still, Dr Harry has no plans to stop what he'd doing. "I love what I do, and I truly love animals," he said.
