Who is Tony Armstrong, Australia's new Eurovision commentator?

After the departure of much-loved SBS Eurovision commentators Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey following the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, speculation among Australian fans was rife about their replacements - culminating in the announcement of news anchor Tony Armstrong and drag personality Courtney Act as the new faces of SBS' Eurovision coverage for 2025 onwards.

But who is Tony Armstrong? While Tony's co-commentator Courtney Act will likely be a known quantity to international fans, Tony is arguably the bigger household name in Australia. A footy icon, beloved TV star and Indigenous legend, Tony is one of Australia's most well-loved personalities.

Read on to find out more about the man who will head up Australia's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel!

Who is Tony Armstrong?

Born in a rural town near the New South Wales-Victoria border, Tony Armstrong was raised by his mum Margaret.

He is of Barranbinya and Gamilaraay descent via his father (for our international readers, Barranbinya and Gamilaraay land stretches through north-western New South Wales and the southern part of Queensland) but has never met his father, saying to Woman's Day in 2022 that he was less concerned about meeting his dad than about "getting back to country and meeting my mob and my family".

After attending a Catholic boarding school in Sydney, Tony quickly developed a love for Australia's two favourite sports - rugby league and AFL (Australian Rules football). In an interview with ABC in 2022, he said:

"Because I was an only child, playing sport was where I got to make friends, hang out with people, all of those kinds of experiences you don't necessarily get when you're an only child. I had an awesome upbringing, but sport was the place where I found my sense of community."

After flirting with rugby during high school, he quickly developed a passion for the latter and was eventually drafted by the Adelaide Crows after finishing school in 2007.

Aussie Rules Icon

For many Australians, Armstrong is indelibly linked with the AFL due to his former professional football career between 2009 and 2015.

Starting his career in Adelaide, Tony initially played for North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League, before transitioning to the AFL in 2009. Scheduled to make his debut in a match against the Sydney Swans, Tony's AFL debut had to wait, however, after he ended up quarantined with a teammate due to a potential exposure to swine flu. He would go on to make 14 appearances for the Crows across 4 seasons.

In 2011, Tony was traded to the Sydney Swans, commencing from the 2012 season. This came with a number of personal highlights for Armstrong, who had barracked for the Swans as a kid and was now able to play alongside one of his personal heroes, AFL legend Adam Goodes. Throughout 2012 and 2013, he added another 15 games to his list of appearances, before being delisted by the Swans at the end of the 2013 season.

Armstrong's career then came to an end after a stint playing for the Collingwood Magpies in 2014 and 2015. Playing in six games throughout this period, he would then hang up his boots for good.

In the years since, he has been somewhat modest about his football career, saying "I think 100 per cent that I failed" to ABC in 2022 and joking in a later interview with The Guardian that “I’m definitely better at talking about footy than I was playing it.”

However, it was his initial career with the AFL that would eventually launch him to media stardom across the country.

Beloved TV frontman

After making his media debut on Indigenous-focused football chat shows such as The Marngrook Footy Show and Yokayi Footy (both NITV productions), Tony came to national prominence after debuting as a radio commentator on ABC's Grandstand.

This led in 2021 to a roll as sports presenter on ABC News Breakfast, one of the most watched morning programs in the country. During this period, Tony also became a regular participant in popular programs such as The Project and The Weekly.

After three years as part of ABC's breakfast programming, he announced his retirement from News Breakfast in October 2024 and has since fronted a number of programs on the ABC and beyond.

During his media career, Armstrong has been open about the impact of racism on his life and the lives of others in Australia, telling the ABC in 2022:

"Racism is just part of life for me, it happens so much, from slurs to police profiling you, to people following you around in shops, it's so tiring. [...] "But I can't sit idly by as these [public incidents] happen and say nothing, I have a responsibility to speak out. It's of the utmost importance. It does take a toll on me emotionally every time I do it – you get people writing to you not necessarily saying the nicest thing to you and that's not easy. But it's a price I'm happy to continue paying."

Armstrong was also one of a number of Australian journalists and media figures to call in late 2023 for more transparency and scrutiny over how the Australian media has reported on the Israel-Gaza war.

Prized for his charm and charisma, Armstrong has won a number of awards at the Logies (Australia's answer to the Oscars), including Most Popular New Talent (2022), Most Popular Presenter (2023), and a nomination for the prestigious Gold Logie in 2024.

A new perspective on Eurovision?

With his history in sports journalism and newscasting, Tony Armstrong's announcement as one half of SBS' new hosting duo for Eurovision came as a surprise to many fans.

However, in an exclusive interview with Aussievision, he noted that while he did not have the extensive knowledge of the contest that his co-commentator Courtney Act does, he has an important role as the link between the casual viewer and the Eurovision world:

"I think the way I will look at it will be through fresher, newer eyes. There are going to be viewers at home who aren't rusted-on either. There are going to be viewers at home who are watching it for the first time, and if I can ask the questions or I can point out the things that they're seeing - and they're like, "Why is no-one talking about that?" - that's only making the broadcast more rounded."

"So, while I would never profess to be an expert at the high end like Courtney, I would absolutely say [...] I will be able to be a conduit to a big portion of our viewership who also are watching. [...] And I think me bouncing off Courtney asking those questions is doing the service of the viewer who doesn't know at home."

We at Aussievision are so excited to have Tony joining the Eurovision world, and can't wait to see him make his debut in the commentary box this Wednesday morning!

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