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Grant Denyer (born 12 September 1977 in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales)[1] is an Australian TV reporter, personality and motor racing driver.
[edit] Motor racingHe drove a Ford Falcon in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar series for Speed FX Raciing with Michael Caruso and Daniel Elliot. He debuted with Dick Johnson Racing in 2005. In the same year he was awarded the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year prize finishing his debut season in the top 10 (10th). In 2006, Grant raced in the Sandown 500 and the prestigious Bathurst 1000 with DJR and with Alex Davison. Denyer and Alex came 9th overall at Bathurst. Denyer also has had success in tarmac rallying, a podium finish in this year's Suncoast Rally in which he drove the Les Walkden-prepared Subaru Impreza WRX STi. He finished 37.8 seconds behind the Skelta G-Force of Ray Vandersee, and 3.6 seconds clear third place-getter, Matt Close, in his Porsche Turbo. Going into the final stage he trailed Close by 4.7 seconds, but produced a nerveless drive under extreme pressure to move ahead of the Porsche and take second place. "To be second outright and first production car home is a huge highlight," Denyer said. "To do that in my first full rally is a dream come true." "It came down to that last stage and Dale (co-driver Dale Moscatt) and I decided that we wanted second really badly. So we pulled everything out, threw caution to the wind and we finished up winning the stage. That was a great way to finish." "We were up against some really elite machines across the weekend so to be on the podium, to finish second in a production car, was great." In October, 2005 he finished sixth place in the Mini Challenge World Title Championship, held at Italy's Santa Monica race track. In 2002 Denyer competed in the Bathurst 24-hour Endurance Event, he drove a Nissan 200SX. In 2003 he competed in the same event, this time driving a Porsche 996 GT3 finishing second in his class, sixth overall. Denyer won his first ever V8 Supercar race in the Development Series at Sandown on June 7, 2008 in the second race of the weekend. More wins came and Denyer had his best season in 2009, finishing fourth in the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. [edit] Television careerIn 1997, Grant Denyer began his career in the media, he gained a position at Prime Television in Wagga Wagga as a news reporter and journalist. He moved to Sydney to work as V8 Supercar pit reporter for Network Ten, when he caught the eye of Television Producer Adam Boland. Boland saw the potential in Grant and offered him full time position as the weather presenter on the new look Sunrise program from 2004 until the end of 2006. Denyer left this position in December 2006 due to wanting to spend more time with his family, though he remains as a roving reporter for the breakfast program Sunrise. In 2007 Grant started a new segment on Sunrise called Dare Denyer which is aired as part of Sunrise weekly. Denyer won the fourth series of Dancing with the Stars, and also hosted the celebrity duet singing competition It Takes Two from 2006 to 2008. Denyer has also presented All Time Greatest Aussie Bloopers, Guinness World Records with co-host Shelley Craft, and Australia's Got Talent. In 2006 Denyer was recognised by voters in the TV Fugly Awards as being Australia's Spunkiest Male TV Personality.[2] Grant has been voted 'sexiest presenter on TV' by a Melbourne Metro magazine poll plus he was voted the most dateable male by (Australian) New Woman magazine. In 2007, his race and television career have seen him both racing and being a part of the team featuring Neil Crompton, Matthew White, Mark Beretta and Daniel Gibson to report on the V8 Supercar Series. In 2007, He became the host of the Carols in the Domain in Sydney which he has been doing ever since. [edit] Behind the scenesSince 1996, Grant has been the official face of The Spastic Centre's Technology Department. When not travelling around Australia, he actively works to raise awareness for children and adults with cerebral palsy and the importance technology plays in their lives. Grant has been a passionate spokesperson on drought and its devastating effects on Australian Families. In March 2003, Grant revealed his own private battle to save his family's 100 year old farm. Since then, he has continued his quest to lobby and encourage more assistance and backing for drought-stricken families and communities. [edit] Off the recordOn the 8 May 2007, Denyer created controversy during a radio interview on Nova 969, where he said he felt as though he "had sex with a black man"audio file, making reference to being exhausted after heavy filming and travelling and late night due to the 2007 Logie awards. Denyer made a public apology the same night which was broadcast at the end of Today Tonight Opposition multicultural spokesman at the time, Laurie Ferguson, said the comments were deplorable and could be referred to the Australian broadcasting watchdog. ACMA, however, did not proceed after Denyer's public apology. [edit] InjuryOn 17 September 2008, Grant Denyer injured his back by participating in a monster truck "dare Denyer" prank resulting in a compressed fracture of the lower vertebrae. Grant was taken by ambulance to the Wollongong Hospital.[3] The accident occurred while Denyer was in training for the Monster Truck Championships, driving a monster truck at Dapto Showground.[3] After practising a jump over five cars in the monster truck, Grant removed his foot too soon from the accelerator which caused the vehicle to land heavily leaving the star with a compressed fracture to his lower vertebrae, broken into eight pieces. He was moved to a Sydney hospital and his recovery took months.[3][4] He was then moved into intensive care but there were no signs that there was any nerve damage issues and he was be back on the air in to host Australia's Got Talent in 2009, however he did not return to It Takes Two in May.
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