Guy Montgomery’s new Spelling Bee co-host is Sam Cambell
On the eve of ABC’s hit show Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee Returning for a third season, the host muses on any changes or new games viewers can expect.
“I think what’s unique about this interview is that we never discussed the new games before we went on the record,” Montgomery says. “I’d hate for contestants to read this and then come back and know what’s going to happen.”
Comedian Sam Campbell, who took over as Montgomery’s assistant from Aaron Chen, has an idea.
“Maybe we could come up with some ridiculous ideas?” he says.
Montgomery (laughing): “Yes.”
Campbell: “Skarsgardian Angel. This didn’t work, which is such a shame.”
Skarsgardian Angel?
“This is me floating like a beautiful angel on a tree,” Campbell says. “It’s got the whole Skarsgard family on it. You know the Skarsgard family? I think there’s at least 50 of them.”
Any other ideas?
“There’s a game where everyone is on a hoverboard,” says Campbell. “Anyone doing this show should implement this mode of transportation.”
Anything from Montgomery?
“I’m just trying to think,” he says. “I put a lot of energy into what we finished. There’s a situation where Sam works as a valet at ABC and he has to run around the contestants parking cars with different powerful ABC figures. Then he’ll bring something from the glove compartment and the contestants will have to spell it out.”
make sure Spelling Bee It mostly follows the format of the successful original. Comedians try to spell words; Montgomery hosts, now with assistant Campbell; the set retains its gorgeous shades of orange, brown and cream; and the Coward’s Cup, One’s Purse and Bucket of Courage return, along with the fool’s hat and novelty-sized “one-way ticket” prize.
So how does Campbell see his new role?
Montgomery: “I was thinking of asking him that myself.”
Campbell: “Aaron came out of the bath and left the water in. I’m bringing my own essential oils that I hope to add. He created this water and I’m getting in there. My only goal really is to keep Guy safe.” Wallace and Gromit. Wallace’s sidekick Gromit is always taking care of him because there are treacherous people who don’t have his good will. Guy Montgomery is a very well-intentioned person. He looks like a matinee idol. But he can be fooled.”
What does Montgomery focus on in the third series?
“I hope Sam doesn’t bring this up Wallace and Gromit in every episode,” he says, and continues: “No, I’m excited to be back. Actually, I couldn’t perform at all. We put a lot of effort into this. The show is so polished and packed with so many people working so hard to build its infrastructure. “I’m excited to be back.”
One of the changes was comedians Abby Howells and Emma Holland joining as show co-writers after Joseph Moore, Montgomery’s longtime co-writer and co-executive producer, began working on the series. Saturday Night Live UK.
Joining the Logie winner (Montgomery wins 2025’s most popular new talent) and taking on the role of Logie winner (Chen wins) Fisk In 2025), is Campbell crossing his fingers for the top prize at the Australian TV awards?
“Oh, no, no, no, no, absolutely not,” he says. “Oh, no. He’s as humble as I am. Oh, no, no, no.”
Montgomery: “Okay, Uriah Heep.”
Campbell (studying Charles Dickens’ fawning character): “Oh, my mother and I probably can’t do it. Oh, no. But if you wanted me to? Oh, sure, I’d go to the Logies event. Of course.”
What does he really think about filling Chen’s shoes?
“He left a beautiful legacy, but I think he’s a lot more interested in Scientology these days,” he says. “Aaron L. loves Ron.”
Montgomery considers things somewhat logically and thinks: Spelling Bee tremendous appeal to all ages.
“It wasn’t designed specifically with intergenerational tracking in mind,” he says. “But what’s been incredibly encouraging is the age range of people who approach me or say, ‘I love this show and I watch it with my kids or my grandkids or my pet. It’s just because it’s really crazy.’ [the show] like that For this reason stupid.”
Campbell intervenes. “We did ultrasounds and the scans show they were involved.” Bee“he says.
Montgomery continues.
“It kind of became a guiding principle to treat it as a family show without sacrificing sensitivity or things we could joke about,” he says. “You can push things a little bit, you can fight your own editorial lines, but you want to be mindful that people are watching this with their kids. And you want them to enjoy it.”
Do contestants still like Bucket of Courage words more than easy words?
“Yes,” says Montgomery. “I try to encourage people to choose from a wide variety of buckets. Firstly, because of their spelling ability, and secondly, because of the volume of jokes we write for the show and the burn rate if people just go to the Guts Bucket.”
“Those are the hardest words to write jokes for. The main reason I want people to take different approaches is that it means we’re not in a writer’s room at the end of production week, the morning of a two-show taping, trying to think of 10 jokes for three difficult words.”
Does Montgomery love dictionaries?
“I love language,” he says.
Campbell: “I love Macquarie Bank.”
Montgomery: “Yes, they are a different Macquarie.”
Campbell: “Isn’t this the same Macquarie?”
In comedy and colloquial speech, Montgomery delights in his choice of words, including those that are slightly off-kilter or unnecessarily long on purpose.
“This is something that came to me from my father,” he says, and attributes it to the comedy of satirist John Clarke. “I recently watched Lorin Clarke’s documentary about her father. I knew he had an influence on the performance side of New Zealand comedy, but I didn’t quite realize how deeply ingrained his influence was in all our sensibilities.”
He and Campbell reiterated their excitement about this Spelling Bee future.
“On a personal and professional level, I’m so happy to be back, I’m so happy to have found and done something that people enjoy and that we’re free to do it the way we want, it’s a dream come true,” Montgomery said.
Campbell: “To be honest, they blew a lot of my ideas, Lenny. I wanted to change the name of the show. wizardsGuy and I rode around on motorcycles making people spell words. If they get it wrong, we’ll give them a bottle of Smirnoff Ice. But in reality, Guy is the safest pair of hands there is.”
Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee screens at 20.30 Wednesdays at 20.30 on ABC iview.
