Sam Pang won the 2026 Gold Logie, and Robert Irwin turned hosting into a full reptile enclosure

Sam Pang has taken home the 2026 Gold Logie, and honestly, the real story of the night might be everything that happened around him.

The 66th TV WEEK Logie Awards landed at The Star in Sydney on Sunday night, and it delivered. Pang beat Ally Langdon, Julia Morris, Lisa Millar, Poh Ling Yeow, Robert Irwin and Todd Woodbridge for the industry's top gong, off the back of a huge year hosting Sam Pang Tonight and Have You Been Paying Attention?

Speaking of Irwin, he was busy. First time hosting the Logies, and he turned up with a blue tongue lizard and two snakes draped over his shoulders. Guests visibly squirmed. Irwin looked completely unbothered, which tracks.

He also used his opening monologue to take a swing at Karl Stefanovic, who didn't RSVP. Irwin joked they had saved him a seat anyway, on the right, the far right, a pointed reference to Stefanovic's recent axing from Today following his interview with UK far right activist Tommy Robinson. The line split the room and split the internet, with plenty calling it unnecessary for awards night.

There was a proper moment of heart too. The ceremony paid tribute to Sam Neill, who died last month, with a posthumous Logie for Best Lead Actor in a Drama for his role in The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer. A quiet, genuinely moving beat in an otherwise chaotic night.

Deborah Mailman made history of her own, becoming the first Indigenous Australian inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame, alongside Andrew Denton and A Country Practice.

Elsewhere, RFDS took out Best Drama, Dog Park won Best Scripted Comedy and MasterChef Australia kept its grip on Best Competition Reality. Brooke Satchwell, Simon Baker and Claudia Karvan all picked up acting Logies, and Magda Szubanski's surprise appearance had the room on its feet.

A well earned Gold Logie, a genuinely emotional tribute, and a host who thinks snakes are appropriate formalwear. Classic Logies. Go find the highlights reel, because half of Sunday night's best bits never made the broadcast.