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Alcott’s love affair adds intrigue to Footy Show’s demise

LAST week’s story about Paralympian Dylan Alcott’s new love affair with a Melbourne sexologist might not have been the final nail in the coffin for the AFL edition of The Footy Show, but the timing certainly proved too close for comfort.

The AFL Footy Show's unceremonious axing

LAST week’s story about Paralympian Dylan Alcott’s new love affair with a Melbourne sexologist might not have been the final nail in the coffin for the AFL edition of The Footy Show, but the timing certainly proved too close for comfort.

Alcott and his co-panellists on the program — Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann, Neroli Meadows, Brendan Fevola and Matthew Lloyd — were notified their show had been cancelled on Thursday night at the conclusion of the eighth episode of the recently revamped program,
just four days after we revealed Alcott has a new love interest.

Neroli Meadows, Brendan Fevola, Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann, Dylan Alcott and Shane Crawford. Picture: Nicki Connolly
Neroli Meadows, Brendan Fevola, Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann, Dylan Alcott and Shane Crawford. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Alcott is nine weeks into a relationship with Chantelle Otten who, in the week before hooking up with Alcott, separated from her husband.

The couple met at a book signing two weeks before Alcott started on The Footy Show.

On Friday, Nine said the decision to axe the program was made after the show hit a ratings low of 53,000 in Melbourne two Thursdays ago.

News of Alcott’s new romance — coming after The Footy Show was previously sunk in controversy after it emerged in 2016 that former panellist Garry Lyon was having an affair with his colleague Billy Brownless’s wife, Nicky — is unlikely to have helped.

Dylan Alcott and new girlfriend Chantelle Otten. Picture: Instagram
Dylan Alcott and new girlfriend Chantelle Otten. Picture: Instagram

Lyon, now on Fox Sports, said on Friday it was Nine’s decision to rein in controversially sexist commentator Sam Newman that sounded the death knell on the earlier format of the show — a statement that surely proves why the program has had its day and why Lyon could still be making producers nervous.

Originally published as Alcott’s love affair adds intrigue to Footy Show’s demise

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/alcotts-love-affair-adds-intrigue-to-footy-shows-demise/news-story/954554a27c69015137736c6d38afbb4c