Exclusive: While lying in a hospital bed after nearly drowning, Lynne McGranger had one thought.
“I’m lying in hospital thinking, ’I am going to be so pissed off if I die because I’m going to miss meeting my grandbabies,” the Aussie TV icon told nine.com.au.
McGranger had taken on water when her mask filled during a dive. Nine
McGranger, 73, had learned her daughter Clancy was pregnant with twins before flying to the Bahamas for Nine’s high-stakes series, Shark! – so it was all she could think about after an underwater medical emergency led her to be airlifted to Florida.
Thankfully, she recovered without issue and is now soaking up being a brand-new grandparent, after Clancy and her husband Luke welcomed twin girls Stevie and Daisy on May 29.
McGranger with her partner Paul, daughter Clancy and son-in-law, Luke. Instagram
“I’m so proud. I’m so proud as a mother, as is [partner] Paul, obviously he’s a proud father,” McGranger said.
I’m just so proud of both Luke and Clancy and the beautiful little girls they’ve brought into the world.
“They are just very, very gorgeous and very tiny.”
Becoming a grandmother is the latest in a long list of incredible recent moments for McGranger.
“Oh, my god, it’s unbelievable,” the TV star said of her past year.
“I leave Home and Away after 33 years, then I win two Logies, and then I go overseas three times, one of which is to swim with sharks,” she said.
The TV icon rounded out her long-time performance with a Gold Logie win in 2025. Getty Images for TV WEEK Logies
“I’ve got my third, Grandparents Club [theatre show] looming at the end of the year, and then of course, icing on all the cakes is the fact that we’ve become grandparents, which of course we’ve always longed for, and we’re so happy, and I feel so blessed.
“The last 12, 14 months have been nuts!”
McGranger aspirated water during her underwater emergency, and while it was a scary moment, she was in good spirits about it playing out on screen during Shark.
“I didn’t have PTSD or anything like that watching it, I didn’t feel that at all,” she said, adding that she put her quick recovery down to staying fit.
“I think it was just a wake-up call to just stay above ground,” she joked. “I may not be able to breathe underwater, but I can talk under wet concrete.”
The cast of Shark 2026. Nine
What struck her most was seeing her celebrity co-stars, Ariarne Titmus, Tammy Hembrow, Scott Cam, Sam Thaiday and Matt Nable, so worried for her.
“I felt honoured, and in a way humbled, by the fact that everyone was so concerned,” she said.