Lisa Wilkinson quits Ten’s The Project
Lisa Wilkinson blasted ‘relentless’ sections of the media as she announced her decision to step down as a host of Ten’s ailing show | WATCH
Lisa Wilkinson has sensationally called out the “targeted toxicity” of media scrutiny she has encountered over the last six months, as she announced her shock decision at the end of Sunday night’s edition of The Project to step down from her role as host of the Ten panel show.
A much-scrutinised speech made by Wilkinson at the Logies this year prompted an unprecedented level of media headlines and scrutiny of the TV star, after the speech was cited by the presiding judge as a key reason for the delay to the high-profile rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann.
In an extraordinary address to viewers at the end of Sunday night’s show, Wilkinson claimed the coverage that followed the speech had affected not only the former magazine editor, but those close to her.
“The last six months have not been easy,” an emotional Wilkinson told viewers as her voice clearly started to waver. “And the relentless targeted toxicity by some sections of the media has taken a toll, not just on me, but on people I love.”
But Wilkinson claimed that she was not afraid of being held to account as a public figure: “Don’t get me wrong: I’m not above criticism. Far from it. I’m human, and I don’t always get it right. But by God, I’ve tried. I’ve given this job everything I have. I hope you at home know that. I hope I’ve brought you stories that matter, and introduced you to people whose lives and stories otherwise might never have been told.”
Sunday night represented the last time as host of The Project for Wilkinson, as she insisted that the decision to depart the show was hers and hers alone.
But she will remain with Ten on other projects, with years still remaining on an ongoing multi-year contract revealed by The Australian’s Media Diary last year.
Paramount executive vice president Beverley McGarvey confirmed that Wilkinson would continue to be a presence at the network for years to come: “I know she will be sorely missed both by our audience, and the entire Project team, and while we are saddened that Lisa will no longer be on The Project, we look forward to continuing our strong relationship with Lisa into 2023 and beyond.”
Wilkinson also took time in her address to viewers on Sunday night to give a shout out to other high-profile women who have recently announced high-profile departures from national TV shows during 2022: Bickmore, A Current Affair’s Tracy Grimshaw and the ABC’s former 7.30 host, Leigh Sales.
“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.
Wilkinson also took time to pay tribute to those who had been “incredibly supportive and reached out” in the wake of the recent headlines. “You will never know how much it has meant to me,” she said. “I especially want to thank Peter Meakin here at The Project, the wise old owl of news and current affairs in this country, who has been such an unwavering and generous supporter and mentor of mine, right across my time in TV, just as he has to so many others.”
Wilkinson’s shock decision means that in the space of just over a month, The Project has seen both of its main female hosts, Wilkinson and weekday host Carrie Bickmore, announce their departures, triggering what will now have to be wholesale changes at the Ten panel show.
New hosts at the show are set to be announced in coming days and weeks ahead – given that Bickmore will depart the show on November 30 – with Ten making it clear it remains committed to The Project for 2023 and beyond.
Wilkinson’s departure from The Project has come after a rollercoaster last year for her at the show, in which she has taken extended breaks during the ratings year both in 2021 and 2022 following some difficult moments for the TV star.
Her most notable controversy this year came after the Logies speech when Wilkinson won a gong, when she spoke out in praise of former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins.
The speech resulted in a three-month postponement of the high-profile rape trial of Lehrmann, who was accused of raping Ms Higgins. Days after the Logies speech, ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said through “gritted teeth” that she had no choice but to delay the trial because of the publicity that flowed from the speech.
Wilkinson eventually returned to hosting duties on The Project late in August after taking close to a two-month break from the show, in the wake of the speech.
The Friday and Sunday editions of The Project have been battling persistent ratings problems this year. In an analysis conducted by The Australian’s Media Diary last month, it was revealed that the Monday to Wednesday version of the show helmed by Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Aly averaged 410,000 viewers nationally and 308,000 in the five capital cities.
But the Friday and Sunday editions of The Project have been averaging only 295,000 viewers nationally and 219,000 viewers in the five capital cities. That meant that the Monday to Wednesday version had 38.9 per cent more viewers nationally, and 40.9 per cent more audience in the metro market.
Wilkinson’s decision to join The Project in 2017 was also dramatic, amid suggestions that the former magazine editor was seeking “gender pay equality” with her Today co-host, Karl Stefanovic. Again, when she departed Nine, it was Wilkinson who announced the news herself.
Her decision to move to Ten came after Nine’s CEO at the time of her departure from Today, Hugh Marks, walked away from negotiations with the star. Marks later claimed that Wilkinson had rejected a $1.8m a year package to stay at Nine, suggesting that she “wanted $2.3 million”.
Wilkinson started on air with The Project in January 2018, later becoming the co-host of the Friday and Sunday editions of the show with Hamish Macdonald, who then departed to the ABC to host Q+A from the start of 2020. At this point, Peter van Onselen became Wilkinson’s co-host for much of 2020 and 2021, before Macdonald defected back to The Project to be reunited with her in the second half of last year.
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