Samuel Johnson has opened up about his brutal fallout with Molly Meldrum.
At the 2017 Logie Awards, Meldrum, 81, stole Johnson’s spotlight as he was on stage accepting the Gold Logie for his performance in the Channel Seven miniseries Molly, based on Meldrum’s life.
Johnson, 46, wanted to use the opportunity to promote his charity, Love Your Sister, and to thank his sister Connie, who was battling cancer at the time and would die months later.
Speaking to 2DAY FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin on Wednesday, Johnson revealed the Countdown star had asked to go up on stage with him.
‘I told him not to. I told him it was my moment, not his,’ he revealed
Samuel Johnson, 46, (pictured) has opened up about his brutal fallout with Molly Meldrum
Addressing the infamous moment, Samuel recalled: ‘I was looking down at the front table. It was all the people from The Project and they all had their jaws on the floor…
‘It was eight minutes of pure terror.’
The last time Johnson appeared on the radio show, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes urged him to let go of his grudge.
Samuel confessed he took the advice on board.
‘I agree with him, I don’t hold grudges, I just can’t walk into the future with him,’ he told the hosts.
At the 2017 Logie Awards, Meldrum, 81, (left) stole Johnson’s (right) spotlight as he was on stage accepting the Gold Logie for his performance in the Channel Seven miniseries Molly, based on Meldrum’s life
‘There’s a lot that he’s done that I don’t say. But it’s not that I hold a grudge, it’s that I’ve moved on,’ he continued.
In 2023, Johnson and Hughes – who hosted the 2017 Logies – also got into a heated exchange over the fact Hughes didn’t intervene that night Meldrum took to the stage.
The Secret Life of Us star criticised Hughes for not pulling the music critic off stage, but Hughesy revealed he wanted to usher him away.
Addressing the infamous moment on 2DAY FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin Samuel said: ‘I was looking down at the front table. It was all the people from The Project and they all had their jaws on the floor… it was eight minutes of pure terror’
The last time Johnson appeared on the radio show, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes (pictured) urged him to let go of his grudge, Samuel confessed he took the advice on board
‘I was waiting for you to do something because you’re the funny guy,’ Johnson said.
‘I kept waiting for Hughesy to actually interrupt him with something funny,’ he said.
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Hughesy replied: ‘I was super stressed, thinking “how the hell do I deal with this situation?”‘
He added Eddie McGuire and ‘the boss of Channel Nine’ signalled for him to leave Meldrum on stage and that’s why he ‘didn’t deal with it.’
Hughes later scolded Johnson for continuing to hold a grudge against someone for so many years.
‘You said on Channel Seven the other day you would never speak to Molly again. I hate grudge holding. I think that’s bad for you,’ the comedian said.
Johnson agreed, adding, ‘And you shouldn’t have a forced absence on yourself because that is bad on you and it’s bad on the other person.’
‘But when I’ve specifically asked you not to do something… It’s a once in a lifetime moment, it’s a moment that I’ll never get back… He has then breached my trust by coming up at that moment. Then I’m sorry, I’m not going to do the Molly sequel. I don’t think I should,’ he added.
‘I agree with him, I don’t hold grudges, I just can’t walk into the future with him,’ he told the hosts