{"id":677306,"date":"2026-05-17T20:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677306\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:11:15","slug":"dave-hughes-on-family-sobriety-and-creating-laughter-until-his-dying-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677306\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Hughes on family, sobriety and creating laughter until his dying day"},"content":{"rendered":"

With his ocker accent and rough-around-the-edges charm, Dave Hughes has been serving up comedy on Australian TV and radio for almost three decades.<\/p>\n

But despite his fame, and contrary to what his larrikin demeanour might have you think, 55-year-old Hughes is a “bit of a contradiction”.<\/p>\n

He favours clean living, embracing veganism and sobriety.<\/p>\n

“I haven’t had a drink since 1992,” he told ABC iview’s The Assembly.<\/p>\n

“I was a big user of alcohol as a young person, and it would always get me in trouble and it wasn’t making me happy.”<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Comedian Hughes (centre) in his early 20s drinking with mates. (Supplied: Dave Hughes)<\/p>\n

Hughes explained that part of his problem with alcohol was being unable to drink in moderation.<\/p>\n

“I always got too drunk. I’d sometimes wake up in a police cell,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I wasn’t violent \u2014 I’m not a violent person \u2014 but I would be locked up for my own safety really, because I was asleep on the road or something.<\/p>\n

“I could see my future laying ahead of me \u2026 So, I made a decision before I turned 22 to stop drinking alcohol and I gave up all drugs.”<\/p>\n

But it wasn’t just Hughes’s own behaviour that led to his choice to embrace sobriety.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Hughes (centre left) tells The Assembly’s journalism students about his experience with alcohol. (ABC iview)<\/p>\n

“I came from a long line of drinkers,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I grew up with my dad drinking too much, which can be really stressful for kids, and I saw myself doing the same thing.<\/p>\n

“He kept drinking when he shouldn’t have, in my opinion. I think he would have had a better life if he hadn’t drank.”<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:<\/p>\n

Once Hughes found the resolve to quit drinking, for him, there was no turning back.<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘I’m not going to drink anymore’ and I just made a decision,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If you realise alcohol is terrible for you and you fully accept it, then you go, ‘I accept it’ and it’s just gone.<\/p>\n

“So it wasn’t that hard actually.”<\/p>\n

Although, according to Hughes, people still routinely assume he’s hungover.<\/p>\n

“Often people go, ‘Oh you look terrible, you guys had a big night?’ \u2014 ‘No, I’ve had nine hours sleep, I’m fine,'” he joked.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>‘My wife thinks I’m addicted to work’<\/p>\n

While Hughes embraces a sober lifestyle, he admits his relationship with work has been more problematic.<\/p>\n

The father of three told Australian Story last year that he was “definitely addicted” to work and comedy.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Dave Hughes and Holly Ife with their children Sadie, Rafferty and Tess. (Australian Story: Simon Winter)<\/p>\n

“I’ve spent a lot of time \u2026 concerned about being a hero or wanting to be known or wanting to be adored by everyone or as many people as possible,” Hughes said at the time.<\/p>\n

Finding a happy medium while juggling work and family time is still a work in progress, Hughes told The Assembly.<\/p>\n

“My wife thinks I’m addicted to work \u2026 You’ve got to try and get the balance right,” he said.<\/p>\n

When Hughes began working on Channel Ten’s The Project in 2009, he was presenting the show each night as well as his breakfast radio program.<\/p>\n

“I was gone both ends of the day and we had three kids in that time, so I wasn’t there that much,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I should have been there more, but I was too worried about my own ego, and I have since realised that it doesn’t matter.”<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Top-left: For almost 20 years Dave Hughes presented radio with Kate Langbroek, pictured together in 2015.<\/p>\n

Top-right and bottom: Then prime minister Julia Gillard in 2010 with Dave Hughes and fellow hosts of The Project Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and Steve Price. (AAP: Dean Lewis\/Gary Ramage)<\/p>\n

Despite previously disregarding advice from his father that “family is the most important thing”, Hughes now understands what his dad was trying to say.<\/p>\n

“It took me a long time to realise that he was right,” Hughes said.<\/p>\n

And he’s now forgiving of his dad’s heavy drinking during his childhood.<\/p>\n

“We had some tough times, but in hindsight, he wanted the best for me,” Hughes said.<\/p>\n

“He had a lot of wisdom, there’s no doubt.”<\/p>\n

Hughes thinks a lot about his relationship with his 16-year-old son Rafferty, and aims to be a supportive parent.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people have troubles with their dads \u2014 a lot of blokes \u2014 and I get it, so I’m trying to not to do that with my own son.”<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Hughes, pictured with Rafferty in 2021, nurtures a healthy relationship with his son. (Getty: Brett Hemmings)<\/p>\n

‘Laughter is everything to me’<\/p>\n

While Hughes now better appreciates the importance of family, he says comedy will always remain a core part of who he is.<\/p>\n

“That was my first love,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I loved comedy long before my children were born, and they need to know that.”<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Hughes, pictured at the 2023 Melbourne Comedy Festival, thrives on making people laugh. (ABC Archives)<\/p>\n

As for how much money it would take for Hughes to agree to quit the career he loves?<\/p>\n

“Hand on heart, give me $10 billion \u2014 I would say ‘no’ if I had to stop comedy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The joy of creating laughter is everything to me.”<\/p>\n

Even on his death bed, Hughes predicts he’ll be making his trademark self-deprecating jokes.<\/p>\n

“Because everything that goes wrong in my life is where I get my best material, so on my dying day, that’s a good day for me to get material,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’ll grab my phone and say, ‘I’ve got one funny bit to do.'”<\/p>\n

Stream all episodes of The Assembly on ABC iview<\/a> or watch Sundays on ABC TV at 7:30pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With his ocker accent and rough-around-the-edges charm, Dave Hughes has been serving up comedy on Australian TV and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[113139,55093,64,63,447,28567,74785,134,326389,326388,91621],"class_list":["post-677306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-abc-tv","tag-alcoholism","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-comedian","tag-dave-hughes","tag-entertainment","tag-holly-ife","tag-standup-comedy","tag-the-assembly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}