Kruger under review say sources as Nine bosses shake-up Today
Today show anchor Georgie Gardner would be shunted to Nine's Today Extra morning show in 2020 to replace Sonia Kruger whose role at Nine is under review, TV sources claimed yesterday
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Today show anchor Georgie Gardner would be shunted to Nine’s struggling Today Extra morning show in 2020 to replace Sonia Kruger whose role at Nine is under review, TV sources claimed yesterday in comments that drew a swift denial from Nine.
With executives at the TV broadcaster under mounting pressure to finalise a series of anchor appointments across Nine’s underperforming breakfast and morning line-up before the end of the ratings year, Kruger is said to have been identified as the star most easily shed in a move that could make her the network’s biggest casualty of the new year.
As a consolation, Kruger could keep her role on The Voice — although that too is believed to be under review as the presenter explores her options outside Nine with rival networks.
Last night Nine denied Kruger would be replaced at the helm of Today Extra. It further denied Gardner would take Kruger’s place.
“All of the talk is made up,” said a network spokeswoman.
Among roles of interest to Kruger in 2020 is the anchor role on Seven’s revamped Big Brother, a program Kruger previously hosted on Nine from 2012-14.
Ten’s rebooted Dancing With The Stars, which wasn’t helped in the ratings by co-host Grant Denyer’s long absence from Amanda Keller’s side last year, would also be a natural fit for the glamorous presenter.
Kruger’s eight-year career at Nine followed the network’s expensive courtship in 2011 when it signed the former host of Seven’s Dancing With The Stars to co-host its morning show, then called Mornings, alongside David Campbell.
The deal saw Nine sign Kruger to a contract worth a reported $800,000, which at the time was widely believed to have made her the highest paid woman on Australian television. When Big Brother flopped, she was reassigned to The Voice in 2015.
Immense public backlash would follow in 2016 after Kruger told her Today Extra viewing audience Muslims should be banned from entering Australia.
The comment — and avalanche of condemnation — prompted a statement from Kruger, though no apology: “I believe it’s vital in a democratic society to be able to discuss these issues without being labelled racist,” she posted to Twitter.
In the weeks that followed, as sectors of the media focused on Kruger, Nine was forced to deny she was facing the axe from The Voice.
There is little question the comment caused damage to Kruger’s television brand.
Now comes word executives at Nine’s newly merged print division — infinitely less conservative than is Nine traditionally and more focused on hard news — is backing the push to oust Kruger.
Gardner meanwhile must be assessing her own brand following her two-year stint on Today.
If Gardner does move to Today Extra, her co-host on Nine’s breakfast show, Deb Knight, is expected to be recalled as Today’s resident newsreader, replacing Tom Steinfort.
Knight previously held the post of Weekend Today newsreader from 2011-14.
One year later she was appointed to the co-host’s chair on Weekend Today where she was partnered with a succession of male co-hosts — Cameron Williams, Peter Stefanovic and Tom Steinfort — over three years.
In January, Knight was confirmed as the replacement for Karl Stefanovic on Today following Stefanovic’s abrupt axing from the show after a messy divorce, a controversial new relationship, an Uber scandal and repeated controversies that eroded the program’s once competitive ratings.
Despite Nine CEO Hugh Marks’ assurance he would look after his friend and occasional holiday buddy, Gardner, both she and Knight have been bruised by Nine’s two-woman Today host experiment.
A question mark remains over who will replace them at Today should they be moved aside.
While Stefanovic continues lobbying openly for his return to the program — likely his last throw of the dice for a media career salvation before his Nine contract lapses in a year’s time — the network is said to be favouring
60 Minutes’ reporter Ali Langdon should an approach to Carrie Bickmore — previously denied by Nine — come to naught. Ben Fordham and David Campbell meanwhile remain dependable alternatives to Stefanovic.
Insiders note that in dropping Kruger, should it do so, the network stands to save $800,000, a figure that might sweeten a deal substantially should it be in the market for a big name star.
annette.sharp@news.com.au
Twitter: @InSharpRelief