Gus Worland

Gus Worland is a much loved Australian television and radio host, and passionate advocate for building the mental fitness of Australians who wants all Australians to have their GOTCHA4LIFE mate.

Gus founded Gotcha4Life in 2017, following the success of the ABC series Man Up and losing a very close friend and life mentor to suicide, as he realised he had the ability and networks to make a real difference.

Fast forward to April 2023, Gus was selected to speak at TED2023 in Vancouver and received a standing ovation and over a thousand hugs from the live audience. In a live and raw TED talk, which will makes it’s way around the globe, Gus spoke on helping people develop the emotional muscle and social connections needed to prevent suicide and build mental fitness.

The curator of the TED session said, “Thank you for bringing your heart and soul to our stage. Thank you for being so open and honest and brave and vulnerable, and for sharing a talk that will undoubtedly help to spark the conversations that really matter. The work that you do is so profoundly important for the ongoing health of humanity, and I’m so glad that we can give you our platform to share your work and thoughts just that little bit further.”

Gus was honoured to be nominated as a NSW finalist for the 2023 Australian of the Year.

Gus simply does not accept the alarming statistics surrounding suicide in Australia and that nine beautiful people take their life every day. Gotcha4Life believes in the power of prevention through connection and champions the idea of proactively building mental fitness and the emotional resilience required to navigate the challenges that life throws at us.

We trust in the concept of starting meaningful conversations by developing better social and emotional connections with mates, families, colleagues and community.

Gotcha4Life’s mission is to inspire and enable people to take action to build their mental fitness, so no one worries alone. Driving change through projects and programs in schools, sports clubs and communities.

Gus wants to:

• Get to the bottom of the suicide crisis, effect real social change and hopefully save lives.
• Raise awareness about the multifaceted health benefits associated with having a close mate.
• Reduce the alarming statistics on suicide across Australia and the world regardless of culture, socio-economic status, religion, ethnicity, gender identification or age.
• Have a real impact in helping all people identify when they are struggling.
• Empower men & women with positive strategies to seek support and social connectedness.
• Enable people to actively listen, to have transparent conversations and express themselves in meaningful ways.

Gus Worland is an Australian television and radio personality and director and founder of mental health foundation, Gotcha4Life. He is well known for his series of reality television programs for Foxtel (An Aussie Goes Barmy, An Aussie Goes Bolly and An Aussie Goes Calypso) and A&E (Marathon Man). He has also covered Commonwealth and Olympic Games for Foxtel.

In 2024, he is a regular for the Nine Network on Sports Sunday, Today and Weekend Today as an expert panellist and host.

Gus is a prolific keynote speaker and speaks to audiences of all demographics from all over Australia. Gus was selected to speak at TED2023 in Vancouver to present a segment on helping people develop emotional muscle and social connections needed to prevent suicide and build mental fitness.

In recognition of his service to building mental fitness, Gus was a state finalist for the Australian of the Year in 2023. An enormous honour for the most respected Australians working in the community.

Gus is a sporting tragic and continues to use his passion to entertain audiences. He appeared on Fox Sports hosting Cricket Tragic (season 2 aired over the 2020 summer of cricket) and regularly on Fox’s sports panel program, The Back Page.

Gus spent 10 years in breakfast radio on Triple M. Starting on The Grill Team in 2009, within two years they doubled their ratings for this time slot, and Gus was awarded ‘Best On Air Newcomer’ at the 2010 Australian Commercial Radio Awards. The Grill Team changed to Moon Man in the Morning in 2019. In 2020, Gus moved to The Deadset Legends, a live sports chat show every Saturday Morning with Wendell Sailor and Jude Bolton. Due to popular demand the trio moved to Sydney Triple M Drive in 2021 with the show being called The Rush Hour.

Hosting the 2016 ABC series Man Up was pivotal for Gus. The series was an exploration of modern masculinity (which Gus views is toxic) and men’s mental health issues – challenging masculine stereotypes and getting men better connected and breaking the silence around suicide.

Following the enormous impact of Man Up, Gus founded Gotcha4Life with the mission to target Men’s Mental Health. Gotcha4Life today drives real change and funds educational workshops and innovative training programs throughout Australia that build mental fitness in all individuals, organisations and communities to activate strong, open and binding relationships.

He was an enormously engaged ambassador for the 2018 Invictus Games.

He has been married for over 20 years to Vicky and has three grown up kids. Women want him to meet their families and blokes want to be him: Gus just wants to give them all a hug.

Gus Worland Speaks About

Vulnerability in the C Suite
Duration tailored to each setting.
Based on the TED Discovery Session format that Gus has delivered twice now for TED in Vancouver. Gus will engage with senior leaders to unpack and unlearn myths of vulnerability in leadership. Part keynote, part workshop with activities and facilitated by Gus Worland.

The Journey to Zero Suicide
Keynote or In Conversation. 45 – 60 minutes including Q&A.
Insights and lessons from 8 years on the road to building mental fitness. After speaking to thousands of people from all walks of life across the country and overseas, Gus will share where this human issue of suicide is at. He has stories to share of how building mental fitness has worked from mine sites to primary schools. What comes next after connecting with your village, unlearning everything you have learnt how to be a human and reframe it as mental fitness, with the steps to do that.

Mental Fitness Workshop
Keynote and Workshop with Gus & Vicky Worland, 2 hours.
Keynote from Gus and interactive discovery workshop that Gus joins, facilitated by Vicky. Discussing mental fitness fundamentals and tailored each group. No limit in scale.