It was the popular game show that lit up TV screens in several incarnations from 1970 to 2001.
And on Wednesday, former Sale of the Century stars Tony Barber, Nicky Buckley, Glenn Ridge, Alyce Platt and Pete Smith were reunited as they appeared on Today on Wednesday.
Speaking to Lisa Wilkinson and Ben Fordham, the former game show hosts took a walk down memory lane as they shared their memories of the iconic TV offering.
The gang’s back together! On Wednesday, former Sale of the Century stars Glenn Ridge, Alyce Platt, Nicky Buckley and Pete Smith (pictured from left) reunited on Wednesday’s Today show while Tony Barber appeared via video link
It’s been almost two decades since the show wrapped and in the rare public gathering, the former cast members reflected on their time on the iconic game show.
Tony Barber
‘We had such happy memories’: Tony Barber admitted he missed working on Sale of the Century, which he hosted from 1980 to 1991
The host with the most, Tony Barber fronted the original version of the show Temptation from 1970 to 1976 before taking the reigns on the rebooted version, Sale of the Century, from 1980 to 1991.
Though the 77-year-old couldn’t attend the Today show in person, Tony made an appearance via video link.
He joked they had caught him in the middle of polishing his Gold Logie, which he won in 1973.
Noticeably more white-haired than his younger self, Tony looked back fondly on his time on the game show, saying: ‘We had such happy memories. I loved every minute of it. I loved the atmosphere, hammering them out once a week all those shows, great crew, loved it. Miss it.’
Nicky Buckley
‘They said, “You can’t show your tummy.” Why not?’ Nicky Buckley made waves in 1997 when she appeared on air with a growing baby bump but reflected ‘they had to deal with it’
Nicky Buckley, who hosted from 1994 to 1997, also shared her experience on Sale of the Century – in particular the time she caused controversy by continuing to work while pregnant.
It was seemingly a slightly more sexist time then, with viewers outraged that a woman could be seen with a baby bump on TV and they flooded the network with complaints.
‘It was interesting, changing times. I do remember even telling my girlfriends I was pregnant during the holidays before we started back.’ the 51-year-old reflected.
The TV personality and model explained that her friends questioned whether they’d build a podium for Nicky to hide her baby bump behind.
‘I said, “What do you mean?” They said, “You can’t show your tummy.” Why not?’ she added before explaining that in those days there wasn’t a range of maternity wear like there is now.
‘The wardrobe department popped me into something stretchier and away we went. They had to deal with it,’ Nicky said.
Glenn Ridge
No pressure! Glenn Ridge filled Tony’s shoes in 1991 but said that because ‘everyone wanted to make it succeed’, it wasn’t too difficult to take the baton from such an established host
Also appearing on Today was Glenn Ridge, who took over as host from Tony in 1991 and stayed until the show was axed in 2001.
But when asked if he felt the pressure at the time when stepping into such big shoes, Glenn, 61, admitted that he never did thanks to a stellar crew around him.
‘Everyone wanted to make it succeed. It was an icon. Everyone wanted to work hard. The crew behind it, it was a fantastic crew, everyone had a great time,’ he said.
Pete Smith
‘ It took a minute for the thing to reveal itself’: Announcer Pete Smith said his famous introduction initially came about due to a technical glitch
Meanwhile, Pete Smith, 78, who was the show’s announcer for 21 years had his own stories to share, including how the distinctive ‘Saaaale of the Century’ introduction came about.
He explained the words he was meant to read were on a turntable.
‘We didn’t have computers. It took a minute for the thing to reveal itself,’ he said.
And with the turntable taking longer than expected to unveil the words during his first go of reading them, Pete was forced to draw out the word ‘sale’ to buy him some time – and the rest is history.
Alyce Platt
‘My audition was me playing dress-ups’: Alycce Platt confessed she had a lot of fun during her time on the show
Co-hosting with Tony Barber from 1986 to 1991, Alyce Platt described the Sale of the Century gig as ‘fun’.
‘I had never seen the show and my audition was me playing dress-ups,’ the star, who has since swapped her distinctively permed hair for straight locks, said.
‘I went in and had fun. Immediately Tony responded to the tongue in cheek approach that I had,’ she noted.
The 52-year-old is now a singer and will appear at the Paris Cat in Melbourne in November and her album Funny Little World is out now.
Still creative! Alyce is now a singer and her album Funny Little World is out now