'I've got a pair of bookends!' Lynne McGranger reflects on her Logies Gold AND Silver triumph

West Australian

a day ago

Lynne Mcgranger may have only had three hours sleep, but after winning the Gold AND Silver Logies at last night's TV Week Logie Awards, she's still riding high — and she has a brand new shiny pair of bookends.
'I do! And in the middle will go my Wagga Wagga Drama Award for 1974,' she joked.
McGranger, who left Home and Away earlier this year after playing her beloved character Irene for 33 years, was the odds-on favorite to take home TV's highest honour, but she still didn't think her win was a foregone conclusion.
'Everyone was telling me I was a shoo-in for the Gold, and that's not great because many a nag has fallen at the last hurdle!' she said.
'But look, I'm so happy and so thrilled.
'I could never have envisioned something like this (would happen).
'The publicists and my managers and everyone worked so hard for me — I might as well have been on the campaign trail and running for bloody president!
'I thought if I didn't win the Gold, I'd be so disappointed for them.
'But as it turned out, I did — and it was wonderful.'
In the next few weeks, McGranger's Home and Away exit storyline will play out on screens, with her final scenes set to air within weeks.
The Gold Logie winner worked with the show's writers to help shape the story, which sees her beloved character battling a devastating Alzheimer's diagnosis.
'I'm hoping that people who perhaps hadn't been on board with the Irene's journey might jump on board now, and, you know, ride the wave home with her, so to speak,' she said.
'I'm invested in it, and I know the writers are, and we have this beautiful Jessica Mauboy song that will be used (in scenes), and she's done such a great job.
'I'm very, very, proud of it and I think it's an important story that needs to be told.'
Though the Gold accolade means a great deal to McGranger, the Silver Logie is acknowledgement for the work she's done on Home and Away over her record-breaking 33 years.
The 72 year-old star was touched she walked away with that award, too.
'I means such a lot,' she said.
'And (when the award was read out), I thought 'My life is complete now, because, you know, I've got this one and it means the most,' she said.
'The Gold is a lovely affirmation, and a lovely validation from the fans — it really is sensational — but the Silver just meant the world to me, because I absolutely did not expect it.'
McGranger, who will soon be touring her successful stage show The Grandparents Club, is taking the next few days to recover from her epic night of triumph.
She admitted that her and daughter Clancy, who attended the awards with her, opted not to attend the event's many after-parties, swapping their high-heels for slippers and some downtime.
'You know what, people had had enough of me by that stage — they just want to mingle, not wait for somebody to swan in with a couple of statues,' she said.
'That is absolutely bull dust, and (no one wants that).'
McGranger, who took her daughter as her plus-one, said the pair of them had a wonderful night.
'Especially Clancy — she was loving life. She was next to Dr Chris Brown, and across from Richard Marx, though I'm not sure she knew who he was,' she said.
'Guy Sebastian was there, and Jimmy Barnes was singing — she was loving life, knocking back the bubbles.
'I said to her, afterwards, do you want to go to the after party? She goes, 'hell no, I'm going home, taking off my clothes and my shoes and jumping into bed.
'I though, 'Oh, that's my girl!''