Since rising to fame as the host of Perfect Match, winning the heart of Australia’s favourite cover girl, Alison Brahe, and whisking her off to Hollywood, where he promptly landed a leading role on Aaron Spelling’s big new drama series, it’s hard to imagine that Cameron Daddo has ever had a problem with confidence.
But for every success along the way, the veteran actor admits there’s been just as many knockbacks.
“I was in the very last few [in the audition process] up for playing Fox Mulder in The X-Files,” the 59-year-old tells WHO of the role that eventually went to David Duchovny.
“It was a big one to miss out on. I would have loved that role.”
In fact, after those first few years of reaching almost dizzying heights of success, the crash back down to earth came swiftly.
The newlyweds soon found themselves in marriage counselling, and while Spelling’s Models Inc. launched to much fanfare, it was axed less than a year later.
Then there was the Hollywood writer’s strike in the late ’90s and the global financial crisis hit in 2007, with Daddo winding up selling water coolers to make ends meet.
The couple faced bankruptcy, before returning to Australia with their young family in tow.
“Without having some failures, I’d never have had any success,” Daddo says.
“What I’ve learned over the years is that as long as you gave something a go, you gave it your best crack and you learned from it, you can hold your head up confidently because it’s not a failure.”
In fact, Daddo felt that the lessons he’d learned about confidence and resilience over his decades in show business could fill a book – and so true to his style of trusting his gut and jumping into the deep end, he decided to put it all down on paper.
Part memoir and part guide full of sage advice, Keep It Smooth sees Daddo share stories from his most personal moments, including the medical condition that first saw him seek a life in front of the camera.
Surprisingly, his drive came from his “lack of confidence” thanks to a childhood stuttering condition.
“My stuttering had a massive impact on my development and taking that first job. I just wanted to prove that I could speak on camera without doing it,” he admits.
“For a lot of years, I was very resentful and felt very hamstrung by my childhood experience, but now I can look back on it with gratitude for teaching me humility, without which I might not be where I am today,” the Smooth FM host adds.
Of course, whenever he does start to marvel at how far he’s come, Brahe, 54, remains by her husband’s side to stop him from getting a big head.
“My wife, she really isn’t impressed by me at all!” Daddo explains with a laugh. “While Ali takes the p–s out of me, it’s said with love and she’s always right.”
Keep It Smooth by Cameron Daddo is out now.
