Ninja Warriors, Beauty and The Geek and The Weakest Link axed by Nine

Some were ratings juggernauts, others fell flat from the get-go. Once-popular Australian Ninja Warrior is among the shows which won’t be returning to Nine in 2023. Have your say.

Nine has launched the 2023 upfront season, listing its new and returning shows for the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 and a few fan favourites are missing.

After six seasons, Australian Ninja Warrior won’t be making a return, nor will Celebrity Apprentice Australia or reality dating series Beauty and the Geek.

The axing of Ninja Warrior was expected but is surprising given the program was once a ratings juggernaut for the network, luring in 1.76 million viewers at its peak.

Ninja Warrior will not be returning in 2023. Picture: Supplied/Channel 9

Celebrity Apprentice was also once a top performer for Nine, however the inability to get a decent cast in recent years has resulted in viewers tuning out.

As for reality series Beauty and the Geek, people are asking what that means for former host Sophie Monk, who signed with the network in 2017 to host Love Island and Beauty and the Geek.

Beauty and the Geek hosted by Sophie Monk has also been axed.

Less surprising is the axing of The Weakest Link with Magda Szubanski, which failed to rate since its conception.

Newbies for RHOS cast

It looks like Foxtel’s Real Housewives of Sydney is making a comeback.

Sunday Confidential hears a few of the originals, including Krissie Marsh and Nicole Gazal O’Neil, will make a return and that some newbies will take to the screen.

Apparently PR guru Roxy Jacenko, former banker Vanessa Fennell, stylist Eleni Taylor and Linda Rogan – who runs Laser Clinics Australia in Double Bay – have also been approached to feature in iconic reality series.

Vanessa Fennell.

The Real Housewives of Melbourne wrapped up its fifth season in December, after more than three years off the air. The last new entry into the Aussie franchise was The Real Housewives of Sydney, which premiered in 2017, but was cut after one season.

Scaling greatest heights

Sophia Banks describes her journey from being a budding film director to an award-winning one as being ‘”like scaling a cliff to the top of the Himalayas”.

Despite having her sights set on directing from a young age, the self-confessed ‘sci-fi nerd’, was persuaded to take jobs in “more female-friendly areas” including costume design, after being told it was impossible for a female to direct action films.

Australian director, Sophia Banks. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“It’s been relentless and tough,” Banks tells Sunday Confidential.

But the 44-year-old has proven herself in a notoriously male dominated industry and 20 years on, the girl from Sydney’s north is not only playing with some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Michelle Monaghan and Jason Clarke, but is fast making a name for herself in the action space.

She has since directed short film Proxy and is currently in pre-production on sci-fi action film Street Rat Alley as well as recently releasing the director’s cut for action thriller Black Site, starring Clarke, Monaghan and Jai Courtney which was produced on the Gold Coast.

“I want to be able to help women break in to the industry and tell them what they need to do to get into this space.”

That’s why Banks is taking part in Tuesday night’s Australian Womens Film Festival, where the director’s cut of her feature film Black Site will be shown for the first time.