★★★★★ 0/5

10 suspends filming on The Bachelor

"It is no longer practical to continue with production," say 10 & Warner Bros.

13
Leave a comment

Network 10 and Warner Bros. have decided to suspend production on the new season of The Bachelor featuring Locklan “Locky” Gilbert.

In a joint statement the companies said, “Although we have been employing extra precautions on set for some time, it is no longer practical to continue with production. The health and safety of our participants and crew members is our number one priority. These are extremely difficult times for all Australians and for our industry, and the full extent of those difficulties will not be known for some time to come.

“Our decision to halt production was made after considering all available options. We will resume production when it is safe to do so.

“While this decision is disappointing, we remain committed to keeping our audiences entertained and connected in these challenging times. We are also committed to ensuring the television industry remains in as strong a shape as possible so we can continue to bring Australian viewers local content.”

10 has completed production on Bachelor in Paradise but delayed its broadcast, possibly due to the loss of several reality shows.

Australian Survivor has been postponed while The Amazing Race Australia claims it will film in domestic destinations. Dancing with the Stars concludes on Sunday while MasterChef Australia continues with precautionary steps.

There is no announcement on plans for The Bachelorette as yet.

13 Responses

  1. Great updates as always David. Very telling which productions adhere to social distancing rules, and which ones don’t. Surely Masterchef is a hotpot (pardon the pun) for spreading germs between crew, cast, food and utensils. Very reckless of Shine. Lawsuit waiting to happen.

    1. From 10: “MasterChef Australia has always employed the highest standards of food safety and hygiene, and we now have an even keener focus on that. All recommendations outlined by Federal and State government health authorities are being followed.Under the current circumstances, we are introducing new measures for the foreseeable future. These include but are not limited to social distancing measures across every facet of the production and additional hand sanitising stations positioned around the set and offices. On the set, changes will be made to the spacing of contestant cooking benches and gloves provided for team challenges where equipment may be shared, as well as when handling food in the pantry. Additional sinks have been added as dedicated hand washing stations, so as to separate from any food preparation.Judges will step up to taste individually portioned meals and no cutlery or plates will be shared.”

    2. If cafes, fast food and restaurants are still able to operate on a T/A basis, why would cooking in the Masterchef kitchen be any different?
      And being televised, they’re under more scrutiny than any other kitchen.

      1. 100% agree. This is a gathering of more than 10 people. Which is very clear, can no longer happen. Putting profits before health. I wonder when workplace safety will step in?

      2. They are not cafes for public, they are television production which is a workplace environment. At this point the govt has not stopped non-essential workplaces, but there are some observations they must adhere to such as 4 square metre rule and social distancing. Biggest challenge are the usual public events, I can’t see those happening.

        1. But the Melbourne Showgrounds is an entertainment venue. The first round of restrictions are very clear. No entertainment venues. The location where Masterchef is made is an entertainment venue. No more events are being held here. Why? Because the venue risks being shutdown and fined if they do so. Masterchef must be worth the risk.

          1. Well that means ABC, Nine, Seven etc. buildings are also entertainment venues so News and PM’s press conferences should be off the air too. I feel I answered your question earlier, and it isn’t my role to explain govt policy thx.

          2. David’s right, Scomo has left room for a commonsense approach in the rules and he’s even said so. Since no blanket rule could take into consideration the unique circumstances of every workplace, the Masterchef kitchen is one example of a workplace that would have been unfairly shutdown otherwise. It remains to be seen if further restrictions are put in place but it sounds like ESA is doing the right thing by the rules in place so far. And I sincerely hope it’s able to continue production for the sake of everyone working on it.

            I’m not sure why anyone would be so keen to see all those people lose their jobs.

            We should be supporting each other at this time, not trying to tear each other down.

  2. How on earth does TAR Australia think they’ll be able to film their ‘domestic’ Race in June/July, when the flu season and COVID-19 pandemic are at sky high?

  3. I’m really curious to see how the narrative is played out on these shows after they’re finally in the can. Would a show like The Bachelor for example choose to have an episode dedicated to the crisis period and offer up potential for an intermediate story? “During the Corona shut down, Locky maintained video contact with Bethany, Shaniqua and Tortoise (*cut to text messages etc*) and couldn’t wait to see them again when he returned to the mansion. However he fell out with the pretentiously named Deni5e who decided not to return despite her interest in ropes which she thought would impress the adventurer…”.
    That’s an episode I’d tune in to watch!

  4. Social distancing is not what a show like the Bachelor is all about.
    David have you heard any more on Amazing Race now state borders are all closed?

Leave a Reply