The Rundown: Cashless celeb’s cab autograph trick; Bachelor diversity uproar; Roaming Brian returns

A star who left a taxi without paying after a long day at the races was easily tracked down after presenting the driver with a gift.

The Rundown is your weekly wrap of TV and radio news.

Chalk this one up to the dumb things celebrities do …

So, who was the network personality who tried to pay a cab fare by signing a piece of their clothing and handing it over to the driver after a long day at the races?

Let’s imagine for a moment the very well-known individual may have been a little tired and emotional and didn’t have any cash on them when arriving at their destination.

Signing their hat and leaving it for the driver probably seemed like a clever idea at the time.

Clever also was the cab company who called a certain network the following day and explained that while it was a charming hat, there was fare that still needed to be paid.

The signature didn’t make it too hard to track down the cashless star.

Bachies can’t catch a break

A day after Channel 10 finally confirms what was already very well and widely known, that there would be three blokes looking for love on The Bachelor this year, social media is already dumping on the show.

Not long after Ten pushed out its announcement that Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli would be the stars of the newly named The Bachelors Australia, comments popped up on social media criticising the casting for being too white and lacking in diversity.

“They had THREE opportunities to choose at least ONE person of colour and they used none,” one comment read.

“White man. White man. White man. The diversity is next level!,” read another.

“3 white men. Groundbreaking,” another post read.

The all white Bachie threesome that Channel 10 hopes can reignite viewers love for the show.

Brooke Blurton was a diversity boon but a ratings bomb.

“Three bachelors and still not a man of colour? Really?!,” wrote another.

“Omg!! Not one straight white man but three!!! So diverse!!,” say another social media user.

Last year the Bachelor star was Jimmy Nicholson who had Fijian heritage while Brooke Blurton broke new ground as the first Indigenous bisexual Bachelorette.

With three bachelors to choose from, 10 has turned the Bachelor into a lucky dip for love.

Von Hofe, 27, a basketballer and marketing manager from Melbourne, Machine Gun Kelly look alike McIntosh, 25, a drummer with the band Mood Monroe who grew up in Gippsland, and Malucelli, 35, a restaurant manager and lifestyle coach from Sydney are filming the show on the Gold Coast.

Brian roams again from June 3

Roaming Brian is back!

Brian Taylor will be on the prowl with a camera crew and microphone in the team change rooms on Friday, June 3 the AFL’s round 12 match up between the Western Bulldogs and Geelong.

Roaming Brian was benched in 2020 because of Covid protocols and has yet to return ... until now.

Current protocols, which are finally lifting, mean any roaming interviews would have to be done in a socially distanced manner.

As normality returns to the footy, Taylor and his slightly dour and bristling manner is to be set loose among the post-match players adding some colour and unpredictability to Channel 7’s AFL coverage.

In April Taylor was downcast about a possible glum future for Roaming Brian.

But like a phoenix Taylor’s segment is rising again. The new era of Roaming Brian dawns in 10 days.

Let the guessing game begin

The return of This Is Your Life, Channel 7’s latest deep dive into TV nostalgia, will be limited to four specials this year.

The episodes will feature two drama legends, a sporting star and a music star.

They will be filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney on June 7, 9, 10 and 14.

This Is Your Life is being hosted by former Sunrise anchor Mel Doyle and continues Seven’s lean into “blasts from the past”.

Melissa Doyle will surprise a sporting hero, two drama legends and a music star.

The network has enjoyed success with two top rating Hey Hey It’s Saturday specials and has two Red Faces specials up its sleeve.

The nostalgia card plays well to older commercial TV viewers and guarantees plenty of headlines.

If these This Is Your Life episodes rate well you can guarantee more will be on the cards for next year.

Family tree TV

Simon Baker, Sandra Sully, Dr. Chris Brown and Myf Warhurst have been announced as part of the celebrities taking part in the new season of SBS’s Who Do You Think You Are?

They join Paula Duncan, Matt Moran, Justin Hodges, and Liz Ellis on the journey to discover more about their families.

Who Do You Think You Are? starts June 21 on SBS.

Manu Feildel and Nigella Lawson try to whip up some interest in MKR.

Nigella to fire up MKR

British culinary queen Nigella Lawson is back in Australia and is filming her starring role on Channel 7’s MKR revamp.

Lawson is the special ingredient Seven hopes will fire up the rebooted cooking show which was once a ratings powerhouse for the network. The show went off the boil in its later season and was dropped in late 2020.

Lawson has been hired to add some international pull to the new look show which is being given a “Voice-like” makeover – as in it will be a shorter, faster, more viewer friendly season.

Lawson is co-hosting the show alongside Manu Feildel. Matt Preston will also be part of the new look series with Colin Fassnidge and Curtis Stone making appearances as guest judges.

MKR will air later this year on Seven.