Chezzi Denyer is an Australian bestselling author, television producer, journalist, speaker, wife, and mother whose journey has been shaped by creativity, resilience, spirituality, and self-discovery. After more than two decades behind the scenes in television, she stepped into her own spotlight through her memoir, The Weird Little Girl Who Talked To Ghosts, sharing her experiences with grief, trauma, motherhood, anxiety, ADHD, and her lifelong connection to the spirit world. Her unique blend of journalism, media experience, and spiritual exploration has inspired her to advocate for authenticity, intuition, and embracing the parts of ourselves that make us different. With new books, children’s stories, an oracle card collection, and international media and speaking opportunities ahead, Chezzi is building a platform centered on one powerful message: extraordinary lives begin with the courage to become fully yourself.

Here is the Q&A session we had with Chezzi Denyer.

Chezzi Denyer As Cover Story Interview – September 2026 Magazine Edition

How do you introduce yourself?

I’m Chezzi Denyer. I am an Australian bestselling author, television producer, journalist, speaker, wife, mother of three, and someone who has spent much of her life learning that the very things that make us different are often the things that make us extraordinary.

For more than two decades, I worked behind the scenes in Australian television, helping tell the stories of others. My career took me through journalism, news, entertainment and some of Australia’s most recognised television productions. I built a life in an industry that celebrates visibility, while quietly navigating a deeply personal world that, for many years, I kept invisible.

I’m also married to Australian television presenter and motorsport personality Grant Denyer, and together we have three beautiful daughters. Our life is an extraordinary blend of television, entertainment, family, creativity and the wonderfully unpredictable chaos of raising children on our little farm in regional Australia.

But perhaps the most defining chapter of my life has come through writing.

My memoir, The Weird Little Girl Who Talked To Ghosts, tells the story of a young girl who experienced the world differently, spent decades trying to silence that part of herself, and eventually found the courage to embrace it.

I am a certified medium, but more than anything, I consider myself a storyteller and an advocate for the extraordinary potential of the human spirit.

My work explores the intersection of intuition, identity, grief, spirituality and self-discovery.

And if I were to introduce myself in just one sentence, it would be this:

I am a woman who spent the first half of her life learning how to fit into the world, and the second half discovering that she was never meant to.

Struggle – What hardships have you gone through in life?

I think one of the greatest misconceptions about people who live seemingly extraordinary lives is that success somehow protects them from suffering.

It doesn’t.

Behind every public-facing life is a private human experience, and mine has certainly had its share of challenges.

I’ve faced grief, post traumatic stress disorder, post natal anxiety, severe hyperemesis to the point of hospitalisation. I have nursed my husband through a broken back. Lost one of my closest friends to cancer.  

Growing up, I experienced things I couldn’t explain and didn’t have the language to understand. I was a deeply sensitive little girl who felt things intensely, including what I understood to be connections with people who had passed away.

Rather than celebrating that sensitivity, I learned to suppress it. I spent years trying to become the person I believed the world wanted me to be.

As an adult, I navigated trauma, grief, anxiety, the pressures of motherhood and the challenge of maintaining my own identity while working in a demanding entertainment industry and sharing a life with someone in the public eye.

I was also diagnosed with ADHD at 40, which brought an entirely new understanding of my own mind and the ways I had spent decades adapting to the world around me.

More recently, one of the most profound challenges has been watching my beautiful mother disappear into dementia.

She was my best friend. Today, there are moments when she no longer recognises me as her daughter and instead calls me Mum.

There is a particular kind of grief that comes with losing someone who is still physically here. It changes your understanding of love, time and everything you once believed was permanent.

My father’s journey with cancer has also reminded me how fragile and precious life really is.

But perhaps my greatest transformation has come from recognising that hardship doesn’t have to become the defining story of our lives.

We cannot always choose what happens to us, but we can choose what meaning we make from it.

I have learned that vulnerability is not the opposite of strength. Very often, it is where strength begins.

My greatest achievements haven’t come from avoiding life’s difficult chapters. They’ve come from finding the courage to keep writing my story through them.

What do people usually not know about you?

I think people are often surprised to discover just how different my private world is from the public life they may associate me with.

For years, I was the woman behind the camera, producing television, raising our children and supporting the extraordinary career of my husband.

What very few people knew was that I had an entirely different story quietly unfolding beneath the surface.

I had spent much of my life experiencing what I understood to be connections with the spirit world, yet I was also a trained journalist — someone whose professional instincts were grounded in questioning, investigating and looking for evidence.

Those two worlds might seem contradictory, but I believe they have made me a much more curious and compassionate human being.

I am fascinated by the things we don’t yet fully understand about consciousness, intuition, human connection and the experience of being alive.

I am also someone who has had to work incredibly hard to overcome self-doubt.

People sometimes assume that confidence comes naturally to those who work in entertainment, but being surrounded by extraordinary talent and success doesn’t automatically teach you to recognise your own worth.

For a long time, I was far more comfortable championing somebody else’s dreams than standing confidently behind my own.

Publishing my book changed that.

It required me to reveal the parts of myself I had spent decades protecting and hiding.

And in doing so, I discovered something beautiful: the more honestly we share our stories, the more permission we give other people to embrace theirs.

The woman people see today is not someone who has always been fearless. She’s someone who finally decided that being authentic mattered more than being accepted.

What sets you apart from others?

I believe my greatest point of difference is the combination of two worlds that are rarely brought together: mainstream media and spiritual exploration.

I have spent more than 20 years working in television, journalism and entertainment — industries built around communication, storytelling, public perception and the ability to connect with an audience.

I understand the discipline, creativity and extraordinary teamwork required to bring a story to life.

But my personal journey has also led me into mediumship, consciousness, intuition and the exploration of experiences that conventional society has often dismissed or misunderstood.

I have undertaken formal mediumship training internationally, including at the renowned Arthur Findlay College in the United Kingdom, and achieved certification with honours through The Mediumship School in Canada.

Those experiences have deepened both my understanding of myself and my commitment to approaching spiritual subjects with curiosity, compassion and integrity.

What I hope sets my work apart is that I don’t ask people to abandon their critical thinking in order to explore their intuition.

I believe there is room for both.

My background in journalism taught me to ask questions. My spiritual journey taught me that not every meaningful question has an immediate answer.

I also bring the perspective of a woman who understands the complexities of living alongside fame while trying to preserve a grounded family life and an authentic personal identity.

I know what it means to build a career behind someone else’s spotlight, and I know what it takes to eventually step into your own.

My work speaks to people who have spent years feeling misunderstood, underestimated or disconnected from themselves.

I don’t believe our purpose is to become extraordinary in the eyes of the world. I believe it is to recognise the extraordinary things that have existed within us all along.

What are your upcoming major events?

This is an incredibly exciting chapter for me, both personally and professionally, because what began as one very personal book has evolved into something much bigger than I ever imagined.

My memoir, The Weird Little Girl Who Talked To Ghosts, released March 2026 became a number-one bestseller in Australia, sold out its initial print run within weeks, and has since undergone multiple reprints.

The response has been extraordinary, with readers from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and the United States connecting with its message.

What has moved me most is not simply the commercial success, but the deeply personal conversations the book has inspired. People have shared experiences they have never felt comfortable speaking about, and many have told me that reading my story has helped them reconnect with parts of themselves they thought they had lost.

I am now exploring opportunities to take the book and its message further into the international market, particularly the United Kingdom and United States.

I am also developing my second book, The Weird Wise Woman Who Talked To Ghosts, which explores what happens after we finally find the courage to embrace who we are.

It follows the extraordinary experiences, encounters and human connections that have unfolded since the publication of my first memoir.

Alongside this, my husband Grant and I are developing a series of children’s books exploring intuition, belonging, individuality and grief. Subjects we believe deserve more thoughtful and accessible conversations within families.

I am also creating my own oracle card collection, Whispers From The Universe, designed to encourage reflection, self-trust and a deeper connection with one’s inner wisdom. These are due to be released just before Christmas.

Beyond publishing, I am continuing to develop opportunities in television, podcasting, keynote speaking and international events.

My long-term vision is to build a global platform around storytelling, intuition and the courage to live authentically.

What excites me most is that these projects are all connected by one central message:

You don’t have to become somebody else to create an extraordinary life. You have to find the courage to become more fully yourself.

What expert advice would you like to give?

If there is one thing I have learned through my career in entertainment, my journey into motherhood, my spiritual studies and the experience of writing a deeply personal memoir, it is that the most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself.

We live in a world that constantly tells us who we should be.

We are surrounded by carefully curated images of success, beauty, happiness and achievement. We measure ourselves against other people’s highlights without ever truly understanding the private struggles behind them.

And somewhere along the way, many of us lose touch with our own internal compass.

My advice is to stop confusing external validation with personal fulfilment.

Applause is wonderful. Recognition is meaningful. Success can open extraordinary doors.

But none of those things can replace the quiet certainty of knowing who you are when nobody is watching.

Learn to recognise your intuition. Give yourself moments of stillness. Ask questions. Stay curious. Pay attention to the things that bring you a sense of peace and the things that consistently leave you feeling disconnected from yourself.

And perhaps most importantly, don’t allow fear of other people’s opinions to become the architect of your life.

You are allowed to evolve.

You are allowed to outgrow the version of yourself that other people have become comfortable with.

You are allowed to change direction, rediscover forgotten dreams and begin again at any age.

I published my most personal work after spending decades in an entirely different professional role, and it has opened doors I could never have predicted.

I would also encourage people to remember that compassion and ambition can coexist. You can pursue extraordinary things without losing your humanity.

Ultimately, I don’t believe a successful life is measured solely by what we accumulate, achieve or become known for.

I believe it is measured by how deeply we love, how courageously we live, and whether the people whose lives intersect with ours feel a little more seen, understood and valued because we were here.

The greatest legacy we leave behind is not our fame, our fortune or even our achievements. It is the way we made other people feel, and the courage we inspired in them to become themselves.

Your social media handles and website links?

• Website: www.chezzidenyer.com.au
• Instagram: @ChezziDenyer
• Facebook: @thechezzidiaries
• For collaboration, email: a.maramenides@reveagency.com