For the first season-nine episode of his comedic quiz show, Andy Lee has probably the biggest special guest an Australian TV series could hope for: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“It’s pretty awesome that Albo’s on,” says Lee. “We had contacted his team before and the timings didn’t align, but this time it did, so it’s amazing that he can be our guest to face the hundred on episode one. He was up for a laugh, up for anything.”
Lee describes Albanese’s arrival on set as, understandably, running like a “well-oiled machine”. His vehicle delivered him right to the studio door to go straight to filming. “It’s not like he sits around in the waiting room like every one of us having a beer to loosen up,” says Lee. “He was in and out, but he was great.”
However, Albanese did manage to make time for one extra thing. “[Panellist] Sophie Monk wanted a photo, so she ran across immediately for a selfie,” says Lee. “I think he was pretty chuffed with that.”
Lee, who had already experienced much success in radio and television alongside Hamish Blake, started hosting The Hundred with Andy Lee in 2021. The quiz show polls 100 everyday Australians who are beamed into the studio via Zoom to be asked where they stand on a variety of quirky questions. A panel of three celebrities have to guess what the results will be to discover who knows Australia best.
“I’ve always been curious when it comes to human behaviour; I love that idea of going, are we all doing this or is it just me? My big one was I thought everyone slept in the nude, but it turns out I’m definitely in the minority,” says Lee, laughing. “What [the hundred] are willing to share as well has been surprising and that’s what makes the show so exciting to do. I never know what the hundred are going to say.”
Another television success for Lee has been the ABC’s Do Not Watch This Show, which was adapted from his popular Do Not Open This Book series. The first season launched last year, with Lee voicing the cantankerous blue monster Wizz.
“It’s just incredible,” says Lee. “I never expected it to do what it did. We’re the biggest launch in ABC history for a children’s show, which blew us away. The new season drops in July, so we’ve been busily working on that. Make sure you tell your kids not to watch it!”
Alongside his professional wins, the 44-year-old is also set to experience a major life milestone, confirming last month on his Hamish & Andy podcast that he will marry his long-term partner, Rebecca Harding, this year.
“We’re excited,” says Lee. “Hamish is part of the groomsmen, which has been full of laughs for us. For the podcast, I’d given Hamish and Jack [Post] the competition of can they suggest things for me to pretend I want in the wedding. The last three weeks I’ve been sitting in wedding planning meetings bringing up terrible suggestions. None of them got through, unfortunately. Hamish suggested that Bec should fire her bouquet out of a T-shirt cannon like you get at the NBA.”
And if wedding planning and two hit TV shows weren’t enough on Lee’s plate, he’s also spending his time keeping tabs on the Australian pub Old Mates that he helped launch in New York, working on his premium dim sim range and continuing the renovation of a 150-year-old historic Melbourne mansion.
Lee is fully aware his enterprises are eclectic, but he does see a clear through line in what attracts his interest.
“If I had a chief operating officer, they’d be going, ‘What is your plan?’” says Lee. “And the answer is, there is none. Just if it sounded funny or fun to do, that’s what I’ll do in that exact moment. That’s truly what it is for any show or any of my ventures – I just thought it would be fun.”
The Hundred with Andy Lee returns at 7.30pm on Tuesday, April 28, on Nine (the owner of this masthead).
