ABC journalist Leigh Sales has been nominated for a Gold Logie for the first time, alongside TV presenter Osher Günsberg and last year’s winner, entertainer Hamish Blake.
Sales is nominated for the award for most popular personality for her 12-year stint as the host of 7.30, which is now hosted by Sarah Ferguson. She’s up against Blake, who has won the award twice, as well as Günsberg, comedians Julia Morris and Shaun Micallef, actor Mark Coles Smith and presenter Sonia Kruger.
Blake, Morris, Micallef and Kruger are also up for the Bert Newton award for most popular presenter, alongside The Block’s Scott Cam and the ABC’s Tony Armstong, for his program A Dog’s World with Tony Armstrong.
The Logies, which are split into awards for popularity decided by the public and awards for outstanding work decided by industry figures, will be held on 30 July, in Sydney for the first time in 37 years.
The Twelve, a Foxtel and Binge drama miniseries, leads the nominations with nine awards, followed by the ABC’s prequel to outback noir series Mystery Road, Mystery Road: Origin with seven nominations.
Coles Smith is also up for both the most outstanding actor and most popular actor awards, for his performance in Mystery Road: Origin. In the former category, he is up against Patrick Brammall for Colin from Accounts, Richard Roxburgh for Bali 2002, Sam Neill for The Twelve, Tim Draxl for In Our Blood, and Tim Minchin for season two of Upright. Brammall and Neill are also nominated for the most popular actor category, alongside Home and Away’s James Stewart and Ray Meagher, and actor Lincoln Younes for his roles in After The Verdict, Last King of The Cross & Barons.
Harriet Dyer, Brammall’s wife, co-creator and co-star in Colin from Accounts is nominated for most outstanding actress, alongside Claudia Jesse for Bali 2002, Claudia Karvan for season three of Bump, Milly Alcock for season two of Upright, and Kate Mulvany and Marta Dusseldorp for The Twelve.
Social media personality and comedian Celeste Barber is nominated in the most popular actress category for her performance in the Netflix comedy Wellmania, alongside Home and Away’s Ada Nicodemou, Lynne McGranger and Emily Symons, and Julia Zemiro and Kitty Flanagan for ABC comedy Fisk.
Netflix’s reboot of Heartbreak High picked up several nominations, including for most popular drama program. Thomas Weatherall, who plays Malakai, is up for the silver Logie for most outstanding supporting actor, while Ayesha Madon and Chloe Hayden, who play Amerie and Quinni respectively, are up for the Graham Kennedy award for most popular new talent. In that category, the two young actors are up against musician and Australian Idol judge Amy Shark, RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under contestant Kween Kong, Love Island Australia’s Flex Mami and Netflix drama Surviving Summer actor Lilliana Bowrey.
Home and Away – the most successful recipient of Logie awards of all time, with 47 wins – is nominated for most popular drama series, miniseries or telemovie, alongside Heartbreak High, Mystery Road: Origin, Savage River, The Twelve and Underbelly: Vanishing Act.
In the most outstanding drama series, miniseries or telemovie category, The Twelve and Mystery Road: Origin are up against Stan crime series Black Snow, Paramount+ show Five Bedrooms, ABC musical-drama In Our Blood and ABC mystery Significant Others.
Voting for the Gold Logie, one of several categories decided by the public, has now opened. Traditionally, votes have closed at the end of the red carpet broadcast on the night of the ceremony; however this year, Gold Logie votes will close at 10.30pm AEST, just before the announcement is made.
This year’s ceremony is also the first since 1995 that will not be aired on Channel 9, after the broadcasting rights shifted to Network Seven in September last year.
