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Ajay blasts Nine: “Shame on You”

"Come on Channel Nine, have some faith," writes angry Excess Baggage contestant Ajay Rochester.

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Reactions on the fallout of Excess Baggage continue.

Yesterday The Australian branded it “an expensive, highly-promoted investment in wresting back control of the 7pm slot that has failed dramatically.

“There’s no way of sugar-coating Excess Baggage’s removal,” it noted.

True enough. Even Ben Elton had a handful of shows in primetime during ratings. But Excess Baggage -which rated below The Bold and The Beautiful on Tuesday- perhaps makes TV history as a new show to fail before ratings even begin.

It has been sent packing to GO! from Monday.

Meanwhile outspoken participant Ajay Rochester (The Biggest Loser) has vented on her blog, tagged; “Channel 9 have some balls.”

Okay, I am currently stuck on the bum’s f*** end of Australia, Kangaroo Island, when the ratings/channel say that we should move channels. Well, anyone who knows me, and who knows that I turned down $50,000 from Woman Day to say “I lied” , when I didn’t, knows that I will never ever ever take a buck versus NOT say what is on my mind.

“Come on channel nine, have some faith. Excess baggage is a grower not a shower! Don’t flick US (our show) off onto another channel in the first week without standing behind the product you sell.  SHAME ON YOU!

“I know that I risk not ever being employed by channel nine again, but I also did that with channel 10. I refused to endorse their online weight loss club and their shakes and protein bars…call me a Diva!!!!!! Or just NOT a PUPPET! … seriously, channel nine. Don’t try to beat an established starvation routine weight loss competition non reality tv show ….omg  the irony here is that in REAL life we want QUICK fixes but they don’t work …well it is the same with this show. It gives real life solutions to healing your life! You want to heal your life watch our show!…”

Unfortunately a TV show can’t afford to be a “grower” in a 7pm timeslot at the start of the ratings year.  Nine was right to react to the show’s dismal figures. It was wrong when it cast the celebrities it offered viewers.

24 Responses

  1. I am currently watching both shows (EB & TBL) and prefer this one over TBL.

    There’s a good contrast of characters on this one and although he is an execrable character, Darren makes some good points about getting serious about weight loss. I am over the highly scripted format of TBL (count how many time someone says “I don’t know what’s going to happen next ). This is the reason why I gave up on Masterchef last year.

    EB should have been given a bit more time.

  4. Come on Ajay, you knew exactly what you were getting into with Nine. You rolled the dice and, not unexpectedly with this program, it didn’t work. This isn’t exactly new territory. Excess Baggage – another multi-million dollar waste of money by Nine [shakes head].

  5. I like the show….and the contestants…good mix…..
    And I suspect they are not in any of the tourist type venues on KI….
    I wlll still be watching…..never could get into TBL

  6. Ditto on the unnecessary rude comments re Kangaroo Island – it’s a terrific spot. Maybe the natural beauty is spoiled a bit when you’re busy sweating considerable excess baggage off your ass…and your low rating show gets shunted?Biggest disapointment is that less people will now get to experience KI’s beauty on GO!.

  7. Agree with Bella, it has a primetime slot on a Nine Network station. Anyone who was watching it on Nine (raise your hands and be ashamed) can still watch on GO! It hasn’t been axed. I just don’t think people (TV Tonight readers aside) understand what multichannels are all about.

  9. Give her a break people. as least she has the guts to say what she thinks, unlike other yes people in the industry. I don’t like her Kangaroo island comment though. Hopefully it was just a light hearted throwaway line.

  10. They should have started off with The Block to have a point of difference from Ten. I hope this doesn’t jeopardise their whole 7pm reality year, since BB hasn’t even begun auditions yet.

  14. I remember a few months before this show began she was raving on about the new show she was involved in like she was the host. Yet she was only a contestant. Now it is being moved to GO she realise she no longer gets the proper exposure she thought she deserved.
    Serves her right.

  16. Interested in your final comment, David. Surely the 7pm Project is an example of a show being allowed to grow in that timeslot? However my understanding is that a 12 month commitment to the show by Ten was a clause in the deal with Roving. That may be just rumour, but it would explain the very rare situation of a network sticking with a poorly performing show and giving it time to find it’s audience.

    Nine’s wisdom of putting a weight loss show up against another established weight loss show and fragmenting the audience must be questioned.

  17. Please,

    She doesn’t want to help heal other people’s lives.. she just wants her mug back on prime time TV. It’s over Ajay… accept it and finally move on.

  18. If people are willing and motivated to lose weight, I wish them success. But I’m glad Excess Baggage failed just so the programmers can get the message that viewers don’t want to see lame clones of successful programming from other, or rival networks in order to score cheap ratings. Networks will have to come up with original content, or they risk viewer backlash and wasted money.

  20. Oh poor Ajay, how will she get her mug on tv now?? She’s an attention seeker.
    And “bum’s f*** end of Australia, Kangaroo Island”???? Real charming Ajay. Hope the locals show you how they feel about that comment. KI is one of the best places in Australia.

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