Amanda Keller’s big TV return revealed at ABC Upfronts

Keller didn’t hide her disappointment when The Living Room was axed by Ten. Now, she’s launching two brand new shows on another network.

Australian TV and radio veteran Amanda Keller didn’t hide her disappointment when The Living Room was axed - sorry, “rested” - by the Ten network at the end of 2022 after 10 seasons.

At the time, she voiced concerns that the popular lifestyle show’s “rest” would surely become permanent, as she and her three co-hosts - Dr. Chris Brown, Miguel Maestre and Barry Dubois - moved on to other opportunities before Ten had a chance to reassemble them.

Indeed, Brown was the first to go, making a much-publicised move from Ten to Seven early last year.

And now, after some time without a regular TV gig, Keller has been announced as the host of not one but two new shows premiering on the ABC in 2025.

As well as hosting the previously announced parenting series The Role of a Lifetime, Keller will also be at the helm for The Piano, which sees everyday pianists take on “the opportunity of a lifetime,” under the guidance of expert musicians Harry Connick Jr and Andrea Lam.

Amanda Keller has a new TV gig - two, in fact.

Keller didn’t hide her disappointment when The Living Room finished in 2022.

“I miss The Living Room every day, but since it finished, I have been quite judicious about what TV projects I have taken on, and both Role of a Lifetime and The Piano were the right projects for me at the right time,” Keller told news.com.au ahead of today’s ABC Upfronts.

She said it was a “delightful coincidence” that she’d be hosting two new ABC shows in 2025, given her lifelong love for the national broadcaster.

“When I was 15, I wrote a fan letter to the ABC to tell them how much I loved the TV show Soap, that 15-year-old me would have been thrilled that I’m going to hog the ABC in 2025.”

And she revealed that The Piano, originally a successful UK format that’s now being brought to Australia, has some interesting quirks to the concept that should draw in those sceptical a show about pianists will be a must-watch.

Harry Connick Jr returns to Aussie TV for The Piano - let’s hope it’s more Australian Idol and less Red Faces. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty

“What is so special about The Piano, is that people applied to be on what they thought was a documentary about their connection to the piano,” she explained.

Keller revealed the participants weren’t aware they were being watched by Harry Connick Jr and Andrea Lam - and that some would be asked to perform in a concert with them. “Everyone arrived ego-free,” she said.

Keller’s two new shows are among a number of new ABC projects announced today, among them the animated children’s series Do Not Watch This Show, based on Andy Lee’s book series Do Not Read This Book, and the seaside mystery The Family Next Door, starring Teresa Palmer and based on Sally Hepworth’s novel of the same name.

And English actress Miriam Margolyes shows no signs of slowing down at 83 years old, travelling around New Zealand in the series Miriam Margolyes: Made in NZ.