He respects Hughesy’s ‘passion’, but Peter Helliar is staying on the silly side

Peter Helliar never imagined that, after a 30-year career as one of Australia’s best-loved comedians, he’d wind up taking a gig on a cruise ship. Yet here he is, aboard the Sun Princess, hosting new TV series Chefs Ahoy.

Over four episodes, Helliar will emcee culinary duels between Australian chefs and cooks, as they vie for the approval of guests at the “captain’s dinner”. “You hang around this industry long enough, and you get these lovely little surprises,” says Helliar. “It was a pretty quick ‘Yes!’, I have to say.”

The series, premiering this week on Nine (the owner of this masthead), hinges on a series of rivalries. MasterChef alumni Courtney Roulston v Minoli De Silva; Miguel Maestre v Dan Hong; another MasterChef standout Khanh Ong v Three Blue Ducks’ Mark LaBrooy; and influencer chef Vincent Yeow Lim v the ABC’s Alice Zaslavsky. But there is also ample air time for showing off the facilities and attractions on the ocean liner, and the ports at which she docks – in Greece, Japan, Spain and Korea.

The promotional aspect – the show is made in partnership with Princess Cruises – initially bothered Helliar “to a small degree”.

“I think a few years ago, [warning] bells might’ve been louder,” he says. “But you watch free-to-air TV now, and so many shows are obviously sponsored. The Block is one that comes to mind. You don’t blink at it any more. And for these shows to exist, they really do need a sponsor to come on and say, ‘We’ll foot the bill’.”

“I made a choice to make my Instagram page an apolitical space. There are enough people speaking up about things.”

Peter Helliar

It also makes for an upgraded travel experience from other reality shows Helliar has appeared on. Since leaving The Project in 2022, he’s done I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!; Taskmaster Australia, filmed in New Zealand; and The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition, on which he came fourth with his wife, Bridget.

“It was the reason I left [The Project],” Helliar says. “I was having to pass on too many things. I was looking over my shoulder at what others were doing and had this degree of envy. And I never wanted to be like that because The Project was such an amazing job.”

It was also a relief, he says, to retreat to “the silly corner”.

“I made a choice to make my Instagram page an apolitical space. There are enough people speaking up about things. I’m not saying there won’t be something in the future that might turn my head, but I think there still needs to be space, particularly for comedians, to just entertain.”

He jokes that he’s “conducted some welfare checks” on Dave Hughes, whom he replaced on The Project. Hughes has made headlines over the past few months for his increasingly political social media presence and furious criticism of the government.

“Dave’s passionate,” says Helliar. “He’s honest. He’s generous. He says what’s on his mind … The people that I hang out with [including ex-Project panellist, conservative broadcaster Steve Price], I don’t always share the same opinions. I think there’s some truth to what [Hughes] is saying. Would I go about it the same way? ... We’ll see where it all ends up, but he’s a great mate and always will be.”

Helliar has his plate full without the politics. Currently, in the middle of a national stand-up tour, he has also written a feature-length thriller with actor Damon Herriman and a dark comedy/action series with his How To Stay Married co-writer Trent Roberts. He’s planning more instalments of Frankie Fish, his tween adventure novels, and he has a golf podcast with fellow comic Lehmo and former cricketer Damien Fleming. Helliar says he would also love to revive his ABC anthology comedy It’s a Date, to reflect modern dating.

And of course, his footy-bogan alter-ego, Strauchanie, endures. Helliar recently treated Melbourne fans to some in-character shows at the Basement Comedy Club ahead of the AFL grand final.

“I still get asked about Strauchanie a minimum of six times a week … They’ve been great crowds and fun shows. To be honest, now I just choose what I want to do based on, ‘Is it going to be fun?’”

Chefs Ahoy premieres at 8.40pm Wednesday, September 30 on Nine and 9Now.

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