Carrie Bickmore confirms four more years of Hit Network’s Carrie & Tommy drive show

Days out from her final episode of The Project, Carrie Bickmore has confirmed a four-year contract that will see her remain in the public eye.

As The Project audience prepares to farewell longtime host Carrie Bickmore, the media personality has confirmed she won’t be leaving her radio show anytime soon.

The Hit Network today announced that Bickmore and Tommy Little will continue on as hosts of the national Drive show, Carrie & Tommy, for the next four years.

In a statement, Carrie gushed over the Hit Network and Southern Cross Austereo, calling her role “an incredible joy”.

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Tommy Little and Carrie Bickmore have signed on for the next four years on The Hit Network’s national drive show. Picture: Tony Gough

“This show is such an incredible joy for me and being able to bring that joy to our listeners for another four years is extremely exciting,” she said.

“We already have so many thrilling adventures locked in for 2023 but in true Carrie & Tommy style, I am sure none of those will go as planned!”

Her co-host, comedian Tommy Little added: “We’re here for a good time and a long time. Carrie is my best mate so another four years of riding her coat-tails is a dream come true.”

It comes amid questions surrounding Carrie’s TV future, given when she signs off from The Project on November 30, she’ll also be leaving the Ten network.

Last month, TV Tonight reported the mum-of-three will be leaving Channel 10 altogether after 17 years with the network. A spokesperson told the publication: “Yes, Carrie is leaving 10, but we hope to work with her again.”

At the time, the report supercharged speculation she could be decamping to a rival TV station.

Carrie announced her resignation in October.

When she announced her intentions, Carrie choked back tears as she said: “It’s been the hardest decision of my professional life to make this call, but it’s time for a new challenge.

“I’m going to miss my best mates on the desk, the job itself which is just so incredibly fulfilling, our wonderful viewers who’ve been on the journey over the last 13 years.

“It’s no secret this show has become a second home for me and I can’t be more thankful to everyone that has been involved on and off screen.

“I’m leaving at a time that I’m so happy to be here, which feels so confusing, but I just know it’s time, I know it’s right.”

It was the first of a “mass exodus” from the show, with The Sunday Project host Lisa Wilkinson announcing her sudden departure this week, citing a difficult last six months marked by “relentless, targeted toxicity”.

Lisa Wilkinson has also announced her resignation from The Project. Picture: Channel 10.

“It’s time to reprioritise a few things in my life,” Wilkinson told viewers on Sunday night’s edition of the Channel 10 show.

Wilkinson thanked The Project’s audience for being “passionate”, “engaged” and for making her feel “so welcome”, but admitted her recent time in the spotlight this year has been a struggle.

“I have had a ball. But for me, right now, it’s time for a change,” she explained.

“To be clear, I’m not leaving Ten, and we’re looking at some very exciting work ideas ahead. But I also have to be honest with you.

“The last six months have not been easy, and the relentless targeted toxicity by some sections of the media has taken a toll not just on me, but on people I love,” she said, concluding with a cheeky reference to a Daily Mail story written about her in March. 

“Finally, to Leigh Sales, Tracy Grimshaw and Carrie Bickmore – if you guys are up for a drink, I’ll see you at the bar, because the margaritas are on me,” she said, making light of an article which included “creepy” photos of her having dinner alone, published with the headline: “Lisa Wilkinson sips on a margarita as she dines alone as a restaurant in Melbourne following The Project's recent panellist shake-up”.

The report came after Carrie had announced she was taking a few months off from the show for a sabbatical in Europe with her family.

Both Carrie Bickmore and Lisa Wilkinson have left The Project this year. Picture: Jerad Williams

Meanwhile, entertainment reporter Peter Ford has hinted there will be more resignations from The Project in the next fortnight after Wilkinson’s dramatic exit and ratings struggles earlier this year.

“There will be more ‘shock resignations’ in the next two weeks,” he tweeted. “How coincidental so many people all decide at same time they ‘need a change’.”

Ford has promised to reveal “the real story behind Lisa Wilkinson’s shock decision and who is going next” on breakfast television, as well as “the last ditch attempt to rebrand the show”.