Shane Jacobson buys Dederang Hotel sight unseen for Seven series
Shane Jacobson bought the historic Dederang Hotel sight unseen, putting the country Victoria pub into the hands of two long-time collaborators. The purchase is now being filmed for a new Seven series, Ooops! I Bought A Pub.
Jacobson said the deal began with an email from Dean Murphy that ended, “By the way, have you ever thought about buying a pub?” Murphy told him it was not just any pub but the Dederang Hotel, and Jacobson said he moved quickly after that conversation.
Murphy’s Dederang link
Murphy grew up in Dederang and recently moved back to the area, where the hotel sits about 50 km from Falls Creek and 325 km from Melbourne. Jacobson said his wife was keener than he was from the start, and he made clear he would have walked away if she had said no.
He described the decision bluntly: “I actually purchased it sight unseen.” He also said, “I rang him straight away and said, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’” before Murphy explained, “It’s not just a pub — it’s the Dedarang Hotel.”
Seventeen years, then a pub
The pair have worked together for over twenty years, which gives this more weight than a novelty buy-and-sell story. It is a creative partnership turning into ownership, with a film crew trailing behind soon after the papers were in hand.
Jacobson also tied the decision to his wife’s reaction, saying her Irish heritage and her grandmother’s life in a pub gave the place a romantic pull. That matters because the story is not just about celebrity ownership; it is about a rural hotel with local significance being brought into a television project and handed new attention.
Ooops! I Bought A Pub
The series title makes the angle obvious enough: this is part property deal, part TV production, and part rescue mission for a beloved country venue. For Dederang, the pub’s new ownership means attention far beyond the tiny rural town, while for Jacobson and Murphy it puts a real business asset at the center of the screen.
The most useful takeaway for anyone watching from the region is simple: the Dederang Hotel is no longer just a local pub for sale story. It is now a working piece of television production, with Jacobson and Murphy owning it and the camera crew already following the move.
