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Andrew Rochford exits The Project

"I have loved every minute!" says Dr. Andrew Rochford who exits The Project after 4 years.

2014-05-28_1233Dr. Andrew Rochford will no longer be a regular co-host on The Project, having made his final appearance last night.

Rochford has been with the show since 2010, filling in as co-host for Charlie Pickering, and as its resident medical expert.

A TEN spokesperson told TV Tonight, “He was out of contract and he chose to leave.”

Rochford was also one of the three co-hosts on TEN’s failed Breakfast programme in 2012, but quit after five months, later citing it as “unworkable.”

He has also made appearances on Studio 10, The Living Room and the now defunct The Circle.

Since Charlie Pickering’s departure last month, The Project has held or increased its ratings with various guest co-hosts including Wil Anderson, Rove McManus, Waleed Ali and this week, Ray Martin. It is yet to announce a permanent replacement.

Last week TEN announced news cuts which would impact on around 150 staff.

27 Responses

  1. I suspect the travel got to him as The Project comes (mostly?) out of Melbourne, and the good doctor is a Sydneyite. (Maybe he’ll go back to doctoring). It all costs money, although I don’t know if the airlines and hotels pick up the tab these days as they used to. Credits are so quick or non-existent these days, so there’s almost nil value in such sponsorships.

    Maybe they’ll dump Steve Price as well. They don’t exactly get their money’s worth out of him, except as a punching bag.

  2. Maybe he will go back to Nine (where he started on The Block) Would like to see him do some medical reporting on 60 Minutes or even Inside Story.

  3. I have always been quite impressed by the Doctor. I would think he wanted the full time gig but it has not been given to him. I think he is a perfect fit for ten’s “Identified” now older target audience.

    I found Kate as a fill in host…..very poor and unnatural. But like her as a guest panelist.

    If ten are going to have guest hosts in place of Charlie, they need to be quality who can just step into the roll and work seamlessly with others at the desk….and that is a tough ask. Rove was fantastic. Ray has been great this week. The Doctor is was always good.

  4. Maybe he wanted the hosting role fulltime and 10 wouldn’t give it to him? You could see he really liked sitting in the main chair. He will be missed. I really didn’t like Kate hosting. I thought she was ditzy and just very annoying! I still love The Project!!

  5. I found it interesting that no real reason was given to as why he left. Maybe he is going to another network or are TEN going to try another breakfast show with the good Doctor.

  6. The Project rated the best the last month that it has in years. Ray Martin is fantastic – I hope he is a regular co-host. Perhaps rotating co-hosts is what the show actually needed?

  7. There really does seem to be a bigger story here missing I think… Seems to me the Exec are waiting for this show to fail too… With less news content being produced, it will be hard to continue momentum.

    Who knows? Maybe if Nuala, Tarsh & Matho hold out long enough they might be able to switch from 6.30am to 6.30pm….

  8. I wish they would find a new co-host and install them!
    That is a shame about Dr Dimples – he really did tick all the boxes for the role. I actually find the show somewhat shambolic with Carrie being absent (i find Georgie really insipid) and the litany of unrelated guest co hosts. It is remarkable that the ratings are what they are atm. The fundamentals of the show are great, but they gotta sort out the heads on camera.

  9. He chose to leave? Was he given any reason to stay? What is going on behind the scenes? Are we to see a re-vamped more conservative Project? Wouldn’t be surprised given recent management decisions. Big loss but he’ll be snapped up elsewhere.

  10. Doom and Gloom all round at Ch10.
    Talent starting to jump ship is a bad sign.

    Don’t push loyal people to the point that they no longer care….as the saying goes.

  11. This is such a shame, he was not only a nice guy but had excellent medical knowledge that the network needs.
    I think it far more likely that Ten offered him a new contract, for far less money and he chose not to accept it.

  12. Sad to see Dr Andrew Rochford depart on The Project. He was a fantastic presenter on Channel Ten, especially the hit show, The Living Room.

  13. Noooooo! Not another host! Is there something going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about or is it a very unlikely coincidence that 3 hosts have left within a year and aren’t related? Although the host rotation has definitely been entertaining, a permanent host has to replace Charlie sooner or later otherwise the show won’t project stability – something a news program must have.

  14. Ahhhh, that’s a shame, always enjoyed him on the show. I must say, Kate Langbroek was excellent when she hosted a couple of weeks ago – and she got an amazing reaction on the twitterverse.

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