Fiona O’Loughlin thinks she’s been ‘blacklisted’ by TV bosses

Fiona O’Loughlin has been unable to land a permanent TV gig since winning I’m a Celeb last year. And she thinks she knows why.

Fiona O’Loughlin believes she’s been “blacklisted” by Australian TV executives.

Last year the comedian won the fourth season of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! but she has been unable to land a permanent TV gig since.

“I reckon I’ve been blacklisted from the television,” O’Loughlin said on The Little Dum Dum Club podcast.

O’Loughlin explained that she thought she’d be an attractive prospect for TV executives after 65 per cent of viewers voted for her to win the Channel 10 reality show over Danny Green and Shannon Noll.

Fiona O'Loughlin with Shannon Noll and Danny Green.

“If you win a reality TV show, surely that tells them … don’t the networks want what the people want?” she said. “I do think it’s rude to the audience and I don’t think Australian networks listen to the f***ing audience.”

The comedian, who has been performing stand-up for 20 years, speculated that her battle with alcoholism might be a contributing factor as to why she’s been overlooked by executives.

“It makes total sense to me if it is because of my alcoholic history,” she said. “And why would you employ someone who has the history that I’ve got?”

She suggested another reason could be because she’s “on the wrong side of 50”.

Fiona O'Loughlin has been performing for 20 years.

Speaking about the roles she’s missed out on, O’Loughlin told The Little Dum Dum Club co-hosts Tommy Dassalo, Karl Chandler and Josh Earl that last year she discovered she was in the running to land a permanent gig on Studio 10.

“I heard whisper, whisper, whisper at the Logies last year,” she said. “Denise Drysdale was leaving Studio 10 and she said, ‘I’ve put your name up for it.’”

After another Studio 10 co-host mentioned to her that she was in with a good chance, O’Loughlin admitted that she “started getting a bit excited about it”.

“Anyway, I turn on the tele … Guess who they got? Kerri-Anne Kennerley!” O’Loughlin said.

The comedian also revealed that she desperately wanted to land a role as one of the judges on Australia’s Got Talent.

Australia's Got Talent is hosted by Ricki-Lee Coulter. The judges are Shane Jacobson, Lucy Durack, Nicole Scherzinger and Manu Feildel. Picture: Channel 7

“I was like, ‘That’s the one, that’s the gig!’” she said when she heard the show was starting up again on Channel 7. “I got my agents to ask and I said, ‘Please go hard for that.’

“Guess what the feedback (was)? Not experienced enough. At what exactly?” she asked.

O’Loughlin also revealed in the podcast how much she was paid to appear on I’m a Celeb last year.

“It was $120,000 if you stay in for the first two weeks, that was the base,” she said. “Then they pay you a daily rate. I ended up with $150,000.”

No wonder she wants another TV gig.