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Production delay on The Chase

Seven hits pause on filming new episodes as star takes more time out for personal reasons.

Production on  The Chase has been suspended to allow host Andrew O’Keefe to address ongoing personal and health issues.

It is the second time the show has halted filming in the last year, while production also wrapped in November, ahead of time. Filming was due to start in Melbourne this week but crew were told on Wednesday those plans were cancelled.

“Production on The Chase is to be held over for a couple of months,” Seven said in a statement.

“Andrew O’Keefe is taking time to manage and recover from a health issue.

The Chase continues 5pm weekdays on Seven unaffected by this delay.”

O’Keefe has spoken about personal issues recently following an eight week break in April last year.  he also toured a Johnny O’Keefe tribute show last year. Seven has been generous in accommodating time off requested for one of its biggest stars and most-consistent ratings shows.

The network maintains it has a stockpile of new episodes for viewers, screening 5pm weekdays.

Source: Herald Sun

12 Responses

  1. I have massive respect for AoK and wish him a speedy recovery. I can’t help but think it might be time for a total TV sabbatical for his own personal good, then bounce back with something new and exciting.

  2. This is where Seven needs a back up game show. I think Wheel of Fortune would be a good choice. Also as someone else said earlier, or get a backup host for The Chase Larry would be a great choice.

  3. Wish Andrew the best. Spare a thought too for the mostly freelance production crew who were expecting to return and are now cooling their heels with no income.

      1. Maybe this was part of the reason behind those comments. One would think he was planned to be heavily part of this new block of episodes given apparently he doesn’t feature much in the 50 new episodes to air across coming weeks (only 3 a week so as to not burn through them too quickly).

  4. Andrew is one of the brightest stars on Aussie TV. Hope he takes all the time he needs to properly recover.
    In the meantime 7 should get a fill in host such as Larry Emdur and film a block or two of episodes. If this means Larry is absent from The Morning Show for an extended period so be it. Its not fair on the other staff who work on The Chase for production to be constantly halted. Plus fifty new episodes will quickly run out and viewers will begin to lose engagement with the show if too many repeats are shown.

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