TIPPING POINT AUSTRALIA: Monday - Friday, 5pm, Channel 9, 9Now
Tennis fans know Todd Woodbridge for his extraordinary doubles and singles career on court and his commentating at Grand Slams and other major sporting events.
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But how does he transition from sport personality into television host?
"I'm a bit like most people, thinking 'how's he doing that?'. It came about quite interestingly. Last April I was told 'we'd like you to screen test for the Australian version of Tipping Point. So I had 24 hours to watch as many episodes as I could before going to Sydney to do the screen test.
"I'd been doing segments for [travel show] Postcards and I guess they thought I was fairly natural and it's what I like to do. I asked [a colleague] what they wanted and she said 'for you to be you'."
Woodbridge knows people will compare him to British host Ben Shephard.
"The show is primarily the same but there are a few changes. What we have tried to do is make it more Australian. The contestants engage with each other so we build a different type of tension. I get to poke fun and tell them to have a go.
"We have a bank builder, quick fire, head to head and a jackpot round. It's really interesting to see the body language change as the tension builds.
"Sometimes I have felt guilty talking them into it [the jackpot round] when they have lost everything. I want them winning, and winning more. I guess you could say it's a bit pacier than the British version."
The tennis ace says he is "walking on cloud nine".
"When I got the call... I spoke to my family who said 'do it'. If I didn't think I could do it I wouldn't take it on. This is me away from playing and my serious side. It doesn't feel like hard work when you are doing something you love."
The Wimbledon doubles champion says they filmed a pilot 10 shows in the UK, putting a call out to Aussies there.
"Each episode is like playing a tennis match - sometimes you start and it's slow, then sometimes you get a group of contestants who are straight into it.
"We have a live audience, and contestants often have partners or friends in the audience. It's more like a sporting arena, although not quite Wimbledon."
He says the best advice he got from others was to be unique and don't try to be like someone else.
"I'm getting to use all of the skill sets I have acquired over the years. I've got enough space to be a little bit cheeky, and sarcastic."
Woodbridge says it has been hard work, filming 160 shows, three days a week, four shows a day, since October last year.
"It's hard work putting in the hours, but I am used to the discipline from sport and have to stay fresh and react with contestants, bantering with them. I think ours is more vibrant than the British version.
The sporting hero says he actually had to wear 21 different outfits throughout the filming.
"I'm not too worried about it. I don't feel that pressure when we are doing the recording. I go see the contestants before we begin and try to settle them. I spend five or ten minutes with them. They have nerves and adrenaline. It's a high; I feel that high with them.
"The worst thing is they get embarrassed when they get a block of hard questions - I feel for them.
"I'm doing hours I've never done before; you don't realise what goes on behind the scenes of a game show. There are 60 people working on the show daily.
"There is a lot of responsibility on me to make it work, but I have experience running my own tennis business and the disciplines of sport have allowed me to remain calm.
"It's the most fun I've had. I have found a different side of myself - bartering and negotiating. Sometimes I come off set and the team will go 'how could you do that?'."
Who is his biggest critic?
"My son Beau is in the arts - he just laughs at me."
