Pete Jason Matthew Helliar (born 16 June 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, television, radio presenter, writer, producer and director. He is best known for his work on television as a former regular co-host of '' The Project'' on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

from January 2014 to December 2022, replacing previous presenter Dave Hughes to host alongside

Carrie Bickmore Carrie Bickmore (born 3 December 1980) is an Australian radio presenter, comedian and former television presenter. She currently co-hosts the national drive radio show on the Hit Network, '' Carrie & Tommy'', from 3–6pm weeknights alongside ...

, Waleed Aly and

Lisa Wilkinson Lisa Clare Wilkinson (Born 19 December 1959) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and magazine editor. Wilkinson has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, '' Today,'' with Karl Stefanovic (2007� ...

. Helliar also appeared with

Rove McManus John Henry Michael 'Rove' McManus (born 21 January 1974) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality who has received three Gold Logie awards. He was the host of the eponymous variety show '' Rove ...

as his sidekick on '' The Loft Live'' from 1997 to 1998, on '' Rove'' from 1999 and 2009 and in '' Before the Game'' as alter ego Bryan Strauchan. Helliar initially worked the Melbourne comedy circuit in the mid-1990s, performing in various venues and the annual

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

. He has performed in numerous television ads, most notably for Fernwood Fitness. Helliar has been nominated for the

Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...

, a prestigious award bestowed upon the Most Popular Personality on Television in 2017.

Career

Television

Helliar has made guest appearances on

, '' The Loft Live'', '' Rove'', '' The Morning Show'', '' Studio 10'', '' Show Me the Movie!'', '' Celebrity Name Game'', '' All Star Family Feud'', '' Have You Been Paying Attention?'' and '' Hughesy, We Have a Problem''. In 1997, Helliar became a regular stand-up comic on

RMITV RMITV is a not-for-profit, community access television production facility based at RMIT University City Campus in Melbourne, Australia. It is a full member of the Melbourne Community Television Consortium, a not-for-profit consortium that o ...

's weekly variety show ''

Under Melbourne Tonight ''Under Melbourne Tonight'' is a weekly live variety hour television program produced by RMITV that broadcast on C31 Melbourne in 1993. Reaching a weekly viewership of 55,000 people each week, the show was reviewed in ''The Age''s Green Guide ...

'' broadcast on C31 Melbourne, hosted by Stephen Hall and Vincent Hedger. In 1998, Helliar became a regular on

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

community television

's weekly variety show '' The Loft Live'' broadcast on C31 Melbourne, hosted by

and including other well known Melbourne comedians such as Dave Hughes, Kim Hope, and

Dave Callan David Gerard Callan (born ) is an Irish-born stand-up comedian, who has had a career in television and radio, and is based in Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Up until 2010 he worked as a Triple J disc jockey. Early life and educat ...

. He appeared as a live on-screen guest as well as scripting and recording skits for live playback. Helliar rose to national attention in 1999, when he became a regular (aka side-kick) to Rove McManus on '' Rove'', which aired on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

. In 2000, the show moved networks to Channel Ten, where Helliar and the show remained until its ending in late 2009. Helliar also wrote for the show. In 2003 and 2004, Helliar was part of an ensemble cast in the comedy sketch program '' skitHOUSE'' that ran on Network Ten as well as being sold overseas. In 2010, Helliar joined the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

to appear on their new "family-friendly" football show, '' The Bounce'', alongside

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn Football Club, Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the ...

and Matthew Richardson. The series was cancelled after just a few weeks. On 18 May 2010, Helliar was guest co-host on '' The Morning Show'', alongside Kylie Gillies, while Larry Emdur was on holidays. In the summer of 2010 and 2011, he hosted the quiz show '' The Trophy Room'' that aired on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship ABC Television (Australian TV network), A ...

. In 2013, Helliar created, wrote, co-produced and co-directed his own eight-episode comedy series titled ''It's a Date''. It was a strong performer and earned a second season for 2014. The show won the 'Best Scripted Format Award' in the International Format Awards at MIPCOM 2013 in Cannes. On 7 December 2013, Helliar appeared as one of the co-hosts of '' The Project'' from 2014 to 2022, replacing Dave Hughes who had resigned to concentrate on stand-up comedy. In 2017, Helliar hosted the unsuccessful game show '' Cram!,'' broadcast on Channel Ten. The show was very poorly received by viewers, and although a second series was reportedly in the pipeline despite low ratings, it never materialized. In November 2018, a comedy series '' How to Stay Married'', a spinoff of the aforementioned ''It's a Date'', was released. Created and co-written by Helliar, the series explores life after 15 years of marriage, and starred Peter Helliar as Greg Butler and Lisa McCune as Em Butler. The series aired for three series before being rested in 2021. From 2 April 2023, Helliar appeared as a contestant in the ninth season of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. Helliar was eliminated seventh on 25 April 2023. In July 2023, it was announced that Helliar will be a contestant on the second series of '' Taskmaster Australia''. A new season was filmed to replace that season as the second season, with Helliar's season being pushed to the third season, which will air in the second half of 2024. In May 2024, Network 10 announced that Helliar would appear as a celebrity contestant on the forthcoming eighth season of '' The Amazing Race Australia'', with his wife Bridget. It is the second celebrity season of the show.

Radio

Between 1998 and 2000, he was a regular guest on the ABC's national youth network

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

. In 2002, the

Austereo Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company ...

radio network signed Peter Helliar to appear alongside TV colleagues Rove McManus and Corinne Grant on the weekly program '' Saturday Morning Rove'', broadcasting from Fox FM every Saturday from 10 am to midday after being pre-recorded the day before. In 2004, the program moved to Friday mornings, allowing live phone callers, and was re-titled ''Rove Live Radio''. It was discontinued at the end of 2004. In 2004,

announced that Helliar will join Judith Lucy and Kaz Cooke to host ''The Judith Lucy Show'' on Sydney station 2Day FM. The breakfast program was discontinued after its first year. Still signed to Austereo, Helliar also appeared on the

-based ''The Arvo'', a daily program broadcast out of Fox FM between 4 pm and 6 pm and networked to other capital cities. It was discontinued in June 2005. He also has done his own show called ''Pete's Show,'' which aired on 10 am – 12 pm on Fridays across the Today Network. Helliar filled in for

Merrick and Rosso Merrick and Rosso were an Australian comedian, comedy duo active from 1996 to 2009, composed of Merrick Watts (Merrick) and Tim Ross (Rosso). The duo began in stand up comedy, and first came together when they teamed up for what was intended to ...

, along with

, for their breakfast daily show on Sydney's Nova 96.9 whilst they were on holiday. Helliar also filled in for Kate Langbroek on '' Hughesy & Kate'' on Melbourne's Nova 100, while Kate was on maternity leave. It was announced by co-host Dave Hughes that Helliar would begin making appearances on the show every Thursday morning. In 2008, Helliar began presenting the

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

Melbourne breakfast spot with Myf Warhurst called '' Pete & Myf'', but the show was axed in July 2009. Since July 2022, Helliar has hosted the podcast '' Family Feud: The Podcast'' for

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

Films

In 2010, a romantic comedy film called '' I Love You Too'' was released. The screenplay was written by Helliar, and he also co-starred in and co-produced the film. In 2012, Helliar appeared in the Australian comedy film '' Scumbus''.

Alter ego

For the 2005 AFL season, Helliar created an

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

named Bryan Strauchan (aka "Strauchanie") who debuted on the television show ''Before the Game''. The character was the supposedly last pick in the 2004 AFL national draft but never managed to get a game for his new club, Collingwood. His name is pronounced (Strawn/Strawny). For the role, Helliar dons a blonde mullet wig and attempts to play up an Australian bogan stereotype. The comedy is achieved by self-effacing humour, putting Strauchan in situations that highlight his weight, lack of fitness and general inability, while his

egotistical Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance distinguished by a person's amplified vision of one's self and self-importanc ...

personality and delusions of grandeur mean he is completely unaware of these weaknesses. The character of Strauchanie has made several subsequent appearances across different media and has made numerous appearances to support an array of charities. In the 2009 'EJ Whitten Legends' football match, Helliar broke his ankle late in the game after being tackled. He suggested that this could be the end of his career.

Personal life

Peter grew up in Bundoora, Victoria and attended school at Parade College. Helliar is married to Bridget "Brij" Helliar, and they have three sons.Peter Helliar talks about how good life can be when you've just lost your job , Herald Sun 15 August 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2013
/ref> In 2013, Peter and Bridget, together with their three young sons, backpacked around Eastern Europe. Peter summed up the experience by saying "Backpacking with your kids is tough work but hugely rewarding for everyone. Just like parenting, really." In 2007, he sold a property he owned in Montmorency. In 2016, Helliar sold a luxury property they owned in Plenty. Helliar currently lives in the suburb of

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

, Victoria.

References

External links

''Roving Enterprises'' official website''The Project'' official website''Strauchanie'' official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helliar, Peter 1975 births Australian stand-up comedians Living people Comedians from Melbourne Australian male comedians RMITV alumni Radio personalities from Melbourne People from Ivanhoe, Victoria