Dave Hughes quits The Footy Show to host Network Ten panel show

STAND-up comedy king Dave Hughes is departing The Footy Show, becoming the second Channel 9 star within a week to defect to a rival network.

STAND-up comedy king Dave Hughes is departing The Footy Show, becoming the second star within a week to defect from Channel 9 to network rival Ten.

Hughes will front a new comedy-based, eight-episode panel show for Ten called Hughesy, We Have A Problem.

Hosting the show for Ten means Hughes can’t remain a full-time member of Nine’s headline-prone cast of The Footy Show.

“I am out of contract with Channel 9 and this Channel 10 deal is going to mean I can’t be a regular on a rival network during the term of the deal which is up until midyear next year, which means I could not be a regular on The Footy Show,” Hughes said.

“The Footy Show production team and all the guys on air, including Eddie (McGuire), Sam (Newman) and Bec (Maddern), are fantastic to work with and I will miss not working with those guys. They are a great bunch and Sam in particular was very generous to work with. I really will miss them.”

Dave Hughes on set of his new TV Show Hughesy, We Have A Problem. Picture: Tim Hunter

Dave Hughes (right) with The Footy Show team Eddie McGuire, Sam Newman and Rebecca Maddern.

Hughes joined The Footy Show in 2015 and particularly in the past year found himself a target for online hecklers.

His one-year deal with Nine, which was not network exclusive and enabled him to make guest appearances on other stations, recently lapsed.

He has not ruled out making cameo appearances on the show if asked.

Hughes said he was looking forward to becoming a modern-day agony aunt and sorting out the problems — good, bad and ugly — of everyday Aussies with Hughesy, We Have A Problem.

“It is going to be a group of people sitting around trying to work out the problems of the people of Australia, whether it be people in our audience, people who have emailed in, celebrity problems, the problems of our panel members,” he said.

“I think sharing is caring and what I want is honesty from everyone involved so we can realise we all go through the same bulls--t.”

The new show is an original format produced by Screentime. It will be filmed in Sydney this year and will air on Ten next year.

Dave Hughes on set of his new TV Show Hughesy, We Have A Problem. Picture: Tim Hunter.

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Hughes will have a new radio home as well as a new TV role next year, having recently confirmed he and Kate Langbroek will move from KIIS FM to the Hit Network to host the national Drive shift in 2018.

Langbroek revealed in March she fought with KIIS FM chiefs in 2016 to be paid the same as her co-host and won that battle after discovering Hughes earned 40 per cent more than she did.

Hughes then took a pay cut in 2017 to ensure the pair was on the same money.

They will be paid the same at their new home at Hit.

“She is a very talented performer and I did not want her to walk,” Hughes said of his decision to take a pay cut in support of Langbroek.

“With our long relationship and the chemistry we have she definitely deserves the same money I get for the Hughesy and Kate Show.

“It is a no brainer. She stood up for herself before I ever got involved. I want her to be happy and she deserves to be happy. The relationship is so strong that you would not want money to get in the way of that.”

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