Rove kills off rumours of Karl on The Project
TV Tonight asks Rove McManus if there was any truth to the rumour that Karl Stefanovic might join The Project.
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This week The Project is filming in Sydney, which recently led to speculation the show could move permanently.
It’s a tall order given nearly all of the staff, both on and off-screen, are Melbourne-based.
One rumour even wildly suggested that TEN could poach Karl Stefanovic from Nine when his contract is up in November.
TV Tonight asked Roving Enterprises’ Rove McManus if there was any truth to the rumour.
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” he said wryly.
“Isn’t Karl at Nine? That’s kind of a stumbling block.”
But McManus was naturally complimentary of The Project team, especially in the light of their ability to adapt with a changing schedule.
“It’s an ever-changing beast and depending on whatever day or the time or week, it seems to get moved around quite a bit. So full credit to all those guys, because it’s a tough gig anyway, having to do musical chairs, and not much time to do it,” he said.
“Dave Hughes gets one day of the week back now, so he’s got only 6 days of the week he’s working! Lazy!
“Before the Game our Aussie Rules show has just launched in its new timeslot so it’s keeping everybody very busy. I think about them often because it’s hard and they’re not getting a break in between them at all.”
LA-based McManus was also recently a guest presenter on Entertainment Tonight.
“It was fun. Ultimately I was pleased that they let me play a little bit. I was very mindful that it was their show and they’d do it the way they want to, I would just come in and read the lines off the autocue and go home and say ‘thankyou very much.’ But there were a couple of takes where they said ‘Just muck around and see what happens.’ So that was a very pleasant surprise.”
Meanwhile he has a new season of his Foxtel show coming up soon and is off to London to cover the Olympics, which will mark the longest stay he has enjoyed in London.
But while there are no immediate plans to record shows in Australia, it doesn’t stop people asking about a return.
“Maybe it’s just me but I kind of feel that geographically it’s not so important. But I get asked about it a lot so maybe it’s more important than I feel it is.
“I guess to me the world’s a very small place and depending on who you’re talking to and how you’re talking to them then maybe it’s not so important where you’re doing it from,” he said.
“I get a lot of people saying ‘When are you going to be on Australian TV again?’ and I say ‘I am’ and they say ‘But I don’t get Subscription TV.’ So there’s not much I can do about that!”
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- Tagged with Before the Game, Entertainment Tonight, Olympics, Rove LA, The Project
13 Responses
Seriously? I bloody hope now. He appeals to a totally different demographic, I would imagine….
@y-ume: even on Subscription TV?
@Gonzo: not sure where you’re watching, but Southern Cross are plugging the great new Aussie shows coming up since the start of the week.
“Rove kills off rumours of Karl on The Project”. Now if only “Rove kills off Karl on The Project” I’d pay to see that 😉
Paul Henry on The Project last night said (In reference to the about 30 people in the studio audience) “Good to see the whole breakfast audience in one room together”. 🙂 Haha
What ever happened to Rove LA?
Did that get cancelled?
Nope. As the story indicates it is coming soon.
Speaking of Channel Ten, where are the on air promos for the Julian Assange series as well as Puberty Blues?? No one would know they were launching this year. What’s going on over there?!!
The other networks have been promoting for the back end of 2012 for over a month!
Karl certainly lacks the charm, wit and likeability of Charlie….I don’t like the High School Head Prefect attitude Karl displays so well on the Today Show
Well they’d lose me (in Victoria) if they dumped Charlie in favour of Karl (assuming that’s on the horizon). Charlie makes the show, he’s terrific. As for Karl …. pfffft. Nothing special about him, he has neither the wit nor intelligence of Charlie.
I don’t know that the rumour is really dead in the water. Afterall it’s Warbo himself who’s been openly telling people that he’s in talks with Karl to defect when his contract with Nine expires. And at head office the possiblity of relocating The Project to Sydney is openly discussed. Rightly or wrongly there’s a belief that shifting up north will help build the show’s audience in traditionally weak markets like western Sydney.
Wouldn’t this mean Charlie would be given the boot?
Did anyone believe that rumour?
I don’t know. Karl had an interesting comment on the Today show yesterday: they’re at Disneyland this week, getting fat on junk food, so the comment came up that Karl and Lisa would be on the next season of the The Biggest Loser. Wrong network? “Oh is it?” (or words to that effect) was Karl’s reply.
Interesting.