A Hobart-born structural engineer has taken home the $200,000 grand prize in the finale of Channel Nine’s hit game show The Floor Australia.
Patrick Neasey, who has lived in the Netherlands for eight years, emerged victorious after correctly identifying world leaders in the final duel of the competition.
I’m just in shock,” Neasey said moments after his win was announced.
“It was stressful. It was fun. I met many new friends. I had a blast.”
The tense final saw Neasey facing off against another contestant, with both taking turns to identify global political figures before Neasey secured the victory.
Neasey joined the show after responding to an Instagram advertisement, undergoing multiple interviews including a test similar to the format of the game show before being selected.
He was one of 81 Australian contestants chosen for the Aussie version of the global hit format, being the second Tasmanian to appear on the program alongside Devonport resident Renusha.
The contestants gathered from across Europe and Australia at a location in the Netherlands for five days of intensive filming.
The show is the brainchild of Tasmanian producer turned global TV mogul Paul Franklin, who co-founded Eureka Productions and is behind other hit shows like Farmer Wants A Wife.
The Floor originated in the United States, after Fox acquired American rights to the show from Eureka Productions in 2023, before Nine launched the Australian version this year.
Franklin, who is the brother of Hobart All Aerobics Fitness founder Guy Franklin, was in Hobart over the weekend to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the TV station where his career begin.
Speaking to the crowd at the TVT6/WIN TV anniversary on Saturday, Franklin said he got his start in television digging out the trenches for camera cables at Bellerive Oval, before moving through a number of other roles at the station.
“I ended up producing the show Good Sports. And off the back of that, [I] went to Sydney, got jobs there,” he said.
“[I] went to London, had a great career off the back of that. But every time I look back, it’s the fundamentals that I learned in those nine and a half years at TVT6.”
“That’s actually what’s my bedrock and how I’ve operated ever since.”
