Veteran television host Larry Emdur, known for his four decades in the industry, made a bold promise before the Gold Logie Awards. Certain that he wouldn’t win, Emdur vowed to have the initials of his fellow nominees tattooed on his backside live on television if he took home the prestigious award.
To his surprise, Emdur won the Gold Logie. The following morning, he appeared on Seven’s The Morning Show to make good on his promise. Lying on a tattoo bed, Emdur looked visibly uneasy as the tattoo needle began to buzz.
“Is this permanent?” he nervously asked.
Zach Spiros from Bondi Ink, the tattoo artist handling the procedure, advised Emdur to stay still, remarking that the firmness of his buttock wasn’t ideal for tattooing. Nevertheless, Spiros proceeded to ink the outline of a Logies statue, complete with the initials of Julia Morris, Robert Irwin, Asher Keddie, Sonia Kruger, Tony Armstrong, and Andy Lee, onto Emdur’s behind.
Whether this moment was a stroke of television brilliance that would boost ratings for The Morning Show remains uncertain. Even Emdur, known as one of TV’s friendliest hosts, couldn’t be sure as he lay with his bum covered by a towel.
Despite their disinterest in free-to-air TV, Emdur’s adult children found something to be proud of. “Apparently, ‘going on a Larry Emdur’ is now rhyming slang for going on a bender,” Emdur humorously noted.
By the time Emdur’s Gold Logie win was announced just before midnight at The Star casino in Sydney, many in the audience seemed to have been “going on a Larry Emdur.” There’s no word on how many of them might regret any tattoos they got in the heat of the moment.