Channel Ten bosses have felt the wrath of Australian Survivor fans over the “brutal” axing of host Jonathan LaPaglia, but we’re told that’s the least of their problems!
TV insiders say the network has been “cleaning house” and culling top-earning talent across its slate as it tries to trim budgets and “freshen up” its stable of reality shows.
“Essentially anyone with anything close to six zeroes [salary] has been let go,” a source reveals.
With the backlash over Jonathan’s axing still rife, the network has risked the ire of another major star, Rodger Corser, who was rumoured to have been “quietly let go” as host of The Traitors. Now he’s said to be wondering whether switching to Nine to front new show The Floor cost him his post at Ten.
“He probably feels like he priced himself out,” the source adds.
Meanwhile, over in the news department, bosses are in a panic following poor early reviews and ratings for their The Project replacement 10 News+. A source says the “blame game has begun” as the higher-ups question how the $15 million show could go so wrong – and scramble to find a timely solution.
“First Ten wondered how they can shut this thing down before it gets really bad, but it seems someone in the think tank has thrown a bit of a lifeline – bring Sarah Harris back,” the source says.
The popular Project host was among the many left out of work when the show ended in June, but there are doubts over whether she’d even want to salvage 10 News+, which is fronted by Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace.
“If Sarah decides she doesn’t want a bar of it, Ten will waste no time shutting it down without too much collateral damage,” the insider says.
