Lynne McGranger: Home and Away star ‘bewildered’ by first Gold Logie nomination

Overwhelmed. Overjoyed. Bewildered. Excited. Lovely.

TV legend Lynne McGranger was certainly not lost for adjectives when describing how she felt about receiving her first Gold Logie for most popular personality nomination, alongside fellow female TV royalty and Hamish Blake.

The 72-year-old is in the running for the top gong alongside Sonia Kruger, Ally Langdon, Julia Morris, Lisa Millar and Poh Ling Yeow.

She is also hoping to take out a silver Logie for best lead actress in a drama.

It was the end of an era for the Home and Away favourite, who left the show in March after playing her beloved character Irene Roberts for nearly 33 years.

“Look, if I’d have known this was going to happen, I would have left this show years ago,” she said.

“I already feel like I’ve gone out on a career high, truly, just because my departure from the bay is one of my proudest achievements.

“And just being nominated for silver and gold is extraordinary, I couldn’t have dreamt of anything better.

“And oh gosh, if I win, I’ll be speechless. No, who am I kidding? I’m never speechless.”

McGranger said if she is awarded the golden trophy, she won’t be able to top Larry Emdur’s pledge of getting a tattoo on his bum, but has made a promise of her own.

“I promised Larry this morning on The Morning Show that I will carry it with me everywhere for a year,” she said.

“I will show people I don’t know on the street. I will say, got a little something to show you, and walk up to complete strangers and drive people mad with it.”

Named among a group of nominees consisting of all women, except for Lego Masters Australia’s Blake, McGranger said she was honoured to be amongst such “feminine royalty”.

She said it was a testament to the fact that women beyond a certain age were no longer “invisible”.

“I can imagine what people in Albo’s government must have felt like when something’s just all full of women and one token man,” she said.

“It really says a lot about women in our society, and women on TV, and all the different roles that we play. And I don’t mean that in an acting sense. It’s just great that women have been acknowledged, and are being acknowledged. It’s truly wonderful.”

When the 65th TV Week Logies take place at The Star in Sydney on August 3, it certainly won’t be McGranger’s first rodeo as she has been attending since her first Logies in 1994 and has probably only missed two or three over the decades.

Aside from McGranger getting started on her outfit planning, she is also getting stuck into rehearsals for a play Grandparents Club.

It’s quite a busy schedule, but one would think the longest-serving female cast member of a TV soap opera in Australia could cope, no worries at all.

But really, McGranger said she has been busier since she stopped filming.

“I think when you’re just doing one thing and focusing on one thing, you let other things go by the wayside and figure they’re not that important and they’ll get done,” she said.

“But now, of course, I’ve just been overwhelmed with everything.

“But you know what, I’m having a good time. I think while you’re still above ground, you’ve got to really just embrace what’s going on in your life.”

McGranger is back with The Grandparents Club for a second year and said it felt like her acting career had come full circle.

“I started out in community theatre and I just love that life,” she said.

“Honestly, I think I should have been a rock star on the road, because I love touring, and I love all the ‘franticness’ that goes with that, it’s helping to keep me feeling young at heart.”

While the play isn’t coming to WA at this stage, McGranger said she was disappointed she won’t make it over to Perth for Telethon but hoped to make a visit before the year’s out.

“I have a feeling, our last show is the night of Telethon. And I said to Jason, my publicist, ‘Can’t they push Telethon back a week? Because I could come then’. And then he’s very kindly said, ‘It’s not all about you’,” she said.

“But you know, that’s what happens when you’re not on Home and Away anymore.”

Lynne McGranger is a nominee for both the Gold and Silver Logies at the 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards, airing exclusively on Seven and 7plus Sunday, 3 August.

Click here to vote.