What a transformation! Comedian Paul McDermott sports a wild bushy beard and thick-rimmed glasses as he promotes comeback stand-up tour on Today show By Monique Friedlander For Daily Mail Australia Published: 23:35 GMT, 17 February 2019 | Updated: 23:35 GMT, 17 February 2019 Viewcomments He's remembered as the sharply-dressed, clean-shaven host of now-defunct panel show Good News Week. But comedian Paul McDermott, 56, looked world's away from his former self when he appeared on the Today show on Monday. Sporting a bushy grey beard, a set of thick-framed spectacles and a tropical printed button-up shirt, Paul looked decidedly rugged as he promoted his new Adelaide Fringe Festival stand-up tour. Even host Deborah Knight couldn't help but remark on his new look, joking: 'He's got the skills and he can grow a very good beard too I have to say,' Paul has previously poked fun at his wild appearance, telling Today Extra in 2017: 'This is my Castaway look... Eric Morecambe and an Ewok had a child.' During his interview on Monday, the part-time musician and painter also told the Today hosts about his creative struggles, admitting that he lacks musical skill and is colour blind. The bold and the bearded! Comedian Paul McDermott, 56, looked world's away from his former self when he appeared on the Today show on Monday 'He's got the skills and he can grow a very good beard too I have to say': Host Deborah Knight couldn't help but remark on his new look 'I'm a deeply flawed person because I can sing well but I have no musical skills and can't do harmonies or anything of that nature. I'm a an artist who paints who is colour blind,' the Gold Logie nominee confessed. 'So every talent I have has a weight on the other side of it which deprives me of real joy in regards to it,' he added. The interview took a rather bizarre turn when Paul went on to describe himself as 'a tragic character', citing the 'darkness in his soul' as the reason why his singing voice is so moving. 'This is my Castaway look': Paul previously poked fun at his wild appearance, telling Today Extra in 2017: 'This is my Castaway look... Eric Morecambe and an Ewok had a child'. Pictured left in 2017, right in 2007 'An emptiness in me. A great hollowness. That's where the beautiful reverberation comes from,' the famously self-depreciating jokester reflected. Paul will take the stage with Tripod's Steven Gates for a string of performances at the Adelaide Fringe in March. As well as the Doug Anthony All Stars, Paul is best known for hosting Good News Week until 2012, which led to a Gold Logie nomination in 2010. The way he was: Paul is pictured in 2001 when he won the GQ Man Of The Year Award Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility