Hello! I hope you enjoyed my 6-part interview with Matt Parkinson about his Big Game Show Win, and the lasting impact it’s had on his life. Speaking to Matt got me thinking about other big winners I’ve met over the years, and so in the interest of continuing these investigations, today I’m speaking with Matt’s fellow Sale of the Century Grand Champion Russell Cheek! I’ve known Russell for a long time, and have interviewed him here before, in the early days of this site, but I was interested to hear how about the effects his Big Win has had on his life over the years, as time has marched on…   

It was a great and very convivial chat, so let’s get right into it. Ladies and gentlemen… Russell Cheek!

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RC: Hello Stephen, hello.

SH: Hello Russell! Hey, in doing my homework for this, I looked back, and realised I last interviewed you 11 years ago.

RC: Oh, are you kidding? No! Are you kidding?

SH: Nope, it was 2014. You were one of the first people I interviewed for the site, and we talked about how you won Sale of the Century in 1993, winning your eight episodes over three record days, not just two!

RC: Yep.

SH: And ‘The Lot’ that you won back then was over $315,000, including $142,000 in cash.

RC: Wow, you’re very good.

SH: Yeah, but I am reading all this – I haven’t memorised it!

RC: Oh, good, good, good.

SH: So I read back through the interview, and it was fantastic to get your perspective on everything.

RC: I can’t remember what I said, Stephen. I’ll probably repeat myself today. That was 11 years ago! I’m a very shallow thinker, so I hope I don’t repeat myself too badly!

SH: Not at all, not at all. Now, the impetus for interviewing you again – all these years later – was my recently realising that it had been 20 years since my win. And that got me thinking about the long-term effects of it, and that’s why I spoke to Matt Parkinson about it and why I’m now reaching out to you as well. In your case, it has now been 32 years.

RC: 32 and a half.

SH: 32 and a half years, right. When I last spoke to you, it was of course only 21 and a half years… So I just wanted to check in again and ask you about the long-term effects. To begin with, I wonder do you ever look back and think about the ‘Sliding Doors’ moment? About what would have happened if you hadn’t won?

RC: Oh, yeah. Yeah. All the time. All the time. It’s a great meditative reminder.

SH: Yes.

RC: Of life, you know, life can take so much chance.

SH: Yeah.

RC: And I don’t know if I would have ever been able to buy a place to live in, and that was the thing I always wanted from going on Sale of the Century; I wanted to be in a really good place to live. Well, not even a really good place to live; I just wanted to have my own place to live and to feel settled and have a bit of security around me, and I don’t know if I ever would have made enough money to do that. Because when I won the show, interest rates were very, very high then; around 16, 17%.

SH: Yeah, right!

RC: And so it was very hard for an actor or a musician to get any sort of mortgage while interest rates were so high.

SH: Naturally, yeah.

RC: I don’t know if I could have made that leap. So I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

SH: Yes, and you bought an apartment in Bondi! Are you still there?

RC: Yes, I’m still there. Exactly. Do you remember when you came up? I think it was not that long after – what year did you win Temptation?

SH: It was 2005.

RC: Wow, I thought it was earlier. But you’ll remember coming up, you and Judi, and Annabelle. Was that Judi’s niece?

SH: No Judi’s goddaughter, but gee you’ve got a good memory!

RC: Annabelle, yeah. You all came up and sat on the top deck. I’ve got a couple of lovely photos of you all. And I can’t remember what it was we discussed, but maybe that was before you actually went on the show, because – and you may or may not recall this – but I am so responsible for your winning of Temptation!

SH: Oh, yeah? Well, thank you!

RC: Do you remember this? Do you remember why that would be?

SH: Um, sorry, no…

RC: Oh, how quickly we forget! It only takes 20 years and we forget these things!

SH: (LAUGHING) Yep, a mere 20 years and it slips clean out of my head!

RC: Yes. You came to me to kind of get any advice, help, or suggestions that you could for going on the show and for winning. You obviously had a really good general knowledge and you were very sharp. Didn’t we first meet on The Einstein Factor, when you were writing on The Einstein Factor?

SH: I think that’s right. And at that stage I’d already been on Sale of the Century twice and lost both times, and I was planning to go back.

RC: You loser!

SH: Yeah, I know, I know. But I did get two pretty cool board games. And a lovely diamond-set stick pin from Germani Jewelry!

RC: So you’d already been on twice, that’s insane. And they got you back a third time? That is amazing.

SH: Yeah, I was playing the long game and I was keen… and you’d been there and done that. I do remember drilling you for any advice you could give.

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… And next week, we’ll find out exactly what Russell’s game-changing advice was, including one of the best and most useful game show tips anyone has ever given me. And it’ll all be revealed here next Tuesday, at around this time. Until then, then!

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