General News
11 August, 2022
Brydon Coverdale reveals quiz secrets
CAMPERDOWN’S Brydon Coverdale has released a new book which gives a peak behind the curtain of some of Australia’s most prominent quiz shows.
CAMPERDOWN’S Brydon Coverdale has released a new book which gives a peak behind the curtain of some of Australia’s most prominent quiz shows.
Mr Coverdale had his first chance to return home following the recent release of his new book, ‘The quiz masters.’
He rose to prominence following success on a number of Australian quiz shows, including a $307,000 win on Million Dollar Minute, a $38,788 win on Pass the Buck and a $32,000 win on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The former cricket journalist, who is best known as one of the “chasers” on The Chase Australia, said the new book features more than a few mentions of his home town.
“It’s partially the story of quizzing, trivia and game shows with a lot of behind-the-scenes, but a lot of it is also my story,” he said.
“I’ve been in around 10 game shows over the years, been successful on some and not so successful on others, but I think it has given me a lot of interesting information about how it all works and the emotions of being under the spotlight."
“There are also a lot of interviews with other people who have either won big or lost on quiz shows, what has motivated them and how much time they have dedicated."
“There are also chapters about pub trivia and trivial pursuits; but the book is part memoir and part history of quizzes.”
Mr Coverdale left the region at 18, heading to Melbourne to study journalism.
It was there he began his ascension as a quiz show personality, but home has never felt too far away.
“It’s the sort of town where every time I’m back here, I’ll walk down the street seeing familiar face after familiar face,” he said.
“It’s all people I remember from my youth and time as a teenager."
“I found something in my mum’s diary about how we had attended the Camperdown scout trivia night as a family in 1990 when I would have been about eight or nine, so there’s all that kind of stuff from when I was a kid which has helped encourage me to go further."
“All those little local titbits are in the book, and I still get to come back a few times each year.”
Mr Coverdale acknowledged releasing a book documenting his long-term experiences as a quiz show personality was a long way removed from his ambitions while growing up in Camperdown, saying it has been “a strange life path”.
“I never thought there would be a job where you could just be on quiz shows,” he said.
“Journalism had always been a passion and to now be writing about this, I felt like it was one of those things where there had never been anything like this before."
“Australians have always loved quiz shows, some of the quiz shows were the earliest in television and were the big shows of that day, but nobody had ever really written a book about it."
“So why not me – I’m a writer, and I’m on quiz shows.”
Limited copies of ‘The quiz masters’ are available at the Camperdown newsagency, and the book is stocked at all major book retailers.