‘Reflected the best of this country’: Waleed Aly’s teary on-air send-off as Network 10’s The Project airs final episode

Waleed Aly has delivered a teary send-off alongside his co-hosts and some surprise guests, as the final episode of Network 10’s The Project aired on Friday.

Waleed Aly has delivered an emotional send-off on-air alongside his regular co-hosts and some surprise guests, as the final episode of Network 10’s The Project aired on Friday.

The 16-year-old show came to an end after a period of declining ratings and to make room for a new current affairs and insight program 10 News+.

Aly has been a co-host since the first episode aired, and paid tribute to the “audacious TV experiment” started by some “outstandingly creative people”.

The show straddled the world of news, pop culture and comedy, he said.

“Could you create a world where Will Ferrell can interview the Prime Minister? It’s not the done thing,” he told viewers.

Co-host Waleed Aly said the program made a conscious choice not to demonise marginalised communities.

“Could you do a prime time commercial news show that hooked its audience by playing with them instead of scaring them. That didn’t trade on demonising groups of people who have no platform to respond?

“Not the done thing. Well, we done the thing.”

“This show reflected the best of this country.”

The Project launched in 2009, and Friday’s finale was the 4504th episode.

Australian and international celebrities sent in supportive farewell video messages, with thanks and well wishes coming from G Flip, Robert Irwin, Jess Mauboy, Andy Lee, Pete Murray, Dannii Minogue, Katy Perry, Guy Sebastian and Shane Jacobson.

Prominent Australian broadcaster Lisa Wilkinson hosted the show for four years from 2018, but was one of the few former hosts not to appear live or by video link.

Reporter Hamish Macdonald said criticisms of The Project sold the program short.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work that we did in helping to expose the toxic workplace culture women working in Parliament House have for far too long had to endure,” Wilkinson said in the prerecorded message.

“I’m really sad that a show as important and loved as The Project has been over the years won’t be on any screens any more. I mean, 11 Logies and a Walkley, that ain’t nothing.”

Dialling in from a UK airport on his holiday, long-serving reporter Hamish Macdonald pushed back against critics after a highlight reel of the show’s grittier reporting.

“Reflecting on all of the stories put together – I read these descriptions of The Project as things like ‘woke’ and watching all of those stories – it’s not what I see reflected.

“I see stories of Australians that maybe weren’t always shown on television, that were really important. Really meant things.”

The final episode marked the 4504th edition of The Project.

Macdonald mentioned the ongoing saga of refugee Ali Yasmin, one of a group of Indonesian teenagers unlawfully imprisoned in adult jails by the Australian government.

“I’m really proud that we’ve done that work. I think journalism that doesn’t irritate people isn’t really journalism, it’s just PR. So I’m really proud of all of that work,” Macdonald said.

The Project’s longest-serving host, Carrie Bickmore, was close to tears thanking everyone she crossed paths with over 13 years.

Bickmore left the show to fully devote herself to fundraising efforts.

“It’s been ten years since my Gold Logie speech, since I started Carrie’s Beanies for brain cancer and I genuinely, I wanted to raise $1m. I would not have raised over $25m if it wasn’t for you guys at home watching. So thank you so much.”

Comedic regular Tommy Little explained his motivation for joining the show.

“The one thing that I did want to say is to the people back home; my time on the show – which I will be forever grateful for – was just trying to make you laugh.”

“People at home, if you’d often have days where you wouldn’t have a laugh – that’s all I wanted to give you and I understand that it is a privilege doing what we get to do.”

Originally published as ‘Reflected the best of this country’: Waleed Aly’s teary on-air send-off as Network 10’s The Project airs final episode