Osher Günsberg had to remind a young interviewer that his former Australian Idol cohost, James Mathison, is not dead, during a hilarious moment on the A Bit Rogue podcast.
The interview was conducted by podcast Skye Sydenham, who asked Günsberg about his days hosting the 2000s-era reality show, which, let me remind you, is a full 20 years ago now.
Perhaps it’s understandable then that Sydenham innocently asked Günsberg if Mathison was “still with us”.
Perhaps it’s understandable then that Sydenham innocently asked Günsberg if Mathison was “still with us”.
“You’re asking me if James Mathison is dead?”, Günsberg said while scooping his jaw up off the floor.
“I was asking if he was alive,” Sydenham replied, giving me a humbling case of ‘feel old yet?’ in the process.
A special shoutout is also in order for whoever is heard cackling in the background of the clip, because that itself is a performance worthy of the Australian Idol stage.
For all those curious — no, Mathison is not dead, but the 47-year-old has taken a step back from public life in the years since Idol was in its heyday.
Barring a brief foray into politics back in 2016, Mathison has not gone on to collect hosting roles like Infinity Stones in the way his former Idol cohost has, whose credits include The Masked Singer, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and The Real Housewives of Sydney reunion.
But Mathison wasn’t the only topic that left Sydenham confused, with the podcaster also stunned to learn that Günsberg is the same person as Andrew G, a fact easily identifiable with Google and/or by anyone watching reality TV in the 2000s.
(Günsberg dropped his stage moniker and changed his first name to Osher in 2009).
Andrew G was best known — and forgive the additional dose of ‘feel old yet?’ — for hosting Channel [V] Australia, a now-defunct TV music channel that blessed screens in the 90s and early-2000s.
“How old were you when you realised that?” Osher asked about Sydenham distinguishing between the stage names.
“Oh, today I’m 28, so about a minute ago,” she replied.
So spare a thought for Sydenham, who between learning that Mathison is in fact alive and realising Günsberg had a former stage name, is having quite a day of reckoning.
Lead images: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images and Instagram.
