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‘I Am … Roxy!’ Most shocking moment from Roxy Jacenko’s reality show

Viewers could not believe their eyes in the first 60 seconds of Roxy Jacenko’s new reality show which debuted last night.

Andrew BucklowAndrew Bucklow
@ACBucklow
4 min read
September 12, 2019 - 1:05PM
I Am … Roxy! preview

The most shocking moment in Roxy Jacenko’s reality show happened in the first 60 seconds of last night’s episode.

As 399,000 viewers (in the five capital cities) tuned in for the warts-and-all look at the PR Queen’s life, they heard a familiar voice narrating the program.

It was none other than Barrie Cassidy, the well respected political journalist who recently stepped down as host of ABC’s Insiders.

As #IAmRoxy trended on Twitter in Australia, many expressed their shock that Cassidy had participated in the project.

RELATED: Roxy Jacenko reads Mean tweets about new reality show

A scene from last night's episode of I Am … Roxy!
A scene from last night's episode of I Am … Roxy!

So how did Cassidy end up on the show?

Speaking to news.com.au this morning, Cassidy explained: “The way that it was pitched to me … is that given the nature of it, that it’s kind of lowbrow, fly-on-the-wall type television, that it adds a sense of mischief and irony to it if you have someone narrating it who has a background in something altogether different, something a bit weightier,” the political journo said.

“I have a bit of an association with Channel 10 anyway. They kind of persuaded me that it would work, that it would be a bit of fun. I decided I would do it.”

Cassidy told news.com.au that he had never heard of Roxy until her husband Oliver Curtis was convicted of insider trading a few years ago.

“That’s when I became aware of her, but obviously I read the outline of the script before I committed to it and what was clear from that was they had excellent access and had turned up some fairly startling stuff,” he said.

Barrie Cassidy on his final Insiders program.
Barrie Cassidy on his final Insiders program.

Cassidy laughed when he was told about the speculation from some on Twitter that he must have done the voice over purely for money, saying, “I can assure you it wasn’t a lucrative arrangement!”

I Am … Roxy! was produced by Michael “Wippa” Wipfli from Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa show.

Speaking to news.com.au about Cassidy’s involvement, he said: “We really needed somebody with a mature voice. We needed somebody with that dry tone and I’ve always loved the sound of Barrie Cassidy’s voice and I love his delivery as well.

“When we were throwing around ideas naturally his name came up. We were rapt when he said, ‘Yeah, why not? It seems like an interesting show, I’m happy to be a part of it.’

“We deliberately didn’t talk about it (before the show aired) because I wanted that to be a surprise so the minute the show opened you went, ‘Oh my god, that’s a familiar voice!’” Wippa told news.com.au.

RELATED: Roxy’s husband didn’t want to make the reality show

Nova's Wippa with Roxy Jacenko.
Nova's Wippa with Roxy Jacenko.

Last night’s episode of I Am … Roxy! gave viewers an insight into Roxy Jacenko’s hectic life. It showed the PR boss, who runs Sweaty Betty PR, scolding her staff during a meeting. “It bothers me that everyone just looked at me blankly when I said, ‘Give me stylists’ names,’” she said in the show. “F**king wake up!

“I don’t really care if you don’t like me,” she said to camera. “If I’m not tough and if I don’t pull you up if you’re not delivering, I’m not doing my job as your boss.”

In one of the other standout moments, Roxy was shown getting her two children, Pixie, 8, and Hunter Curtis, 4, ready for school.

“I got Pixie a skim mocha because she said she was feeling tired,” Roxy said, as her young daughter was handed a coffee cup to sip on the way to school.

But perhaps the most fascinating part of the show was the insight it gave viewers into Roxy’s relationship with her husband, Oliver Curtis, who was convicted of insider trading in 2016.

Roxy Jacenko and husband Oliver Curtis. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Roxy Jacenko and husband Oliver Curtis. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The couple, who also work together, were shown hurling profanities at each other in front of their kids as they argued over the renovation of their $6.5 million mansion.

I Am … Roxy! is one of four shows that are part of Channel 10s Pilot Week. Only one episode of each show goes to air and the network then looks at the ratings and social media reaction to determine which shows they’ll commission for a full series.

Given Roxy is such a divisive personality, the PR Queen was always going to cop a lot of negative feedback on Twitter during last night’s episode. But there was also a lot of love for the Kardashians-esque reality show.

We’ll now have to wait and see if I Am … Roxy! gets picked up by Channel 10, with Barrie Cassidy telling news.com.au he thinks there’s more to explore about the PR Queen.

“I saw some analysis on it. Some say that they felt it pretty much exhausted all of the Roxy material but based on what I saw, I don’t think so. I think you could take her into any situation and you’re going to get fascinating television of that genre,” he said.

As for whether or not he’ll return for voice over duties if the show gets commissioned, he said, “I’d have a think about it if it comes up again, but there was no commitment along those lines”.

Did you watch I Am … Roxy! last night? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments section below.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/i-am-roxy-most-shocking-moment-from-roxy-jacenkos-reality-show/news-story/f6a9122a1fe01d2a6895ddba695650c0