Today show shake-up continues
Weekend Today has undergone a revamp, with two new hosts likely to join the crew in the wake of Belinda Russell’s departure.
The news comes barely two months after Sarah Abo was added to the Today show team, in what marked another shake up to the line-up at Channel Nine.
Now, Jayne Azzopardi and Clint Stanaway - who have acted as Weekend Today’s host since the beginning of 2023 - are set to helm the weekend edition, with the network reportedly close to formally announcing the update.
Stanway, for one, will have his work cut out for him with the upcoming changes for Weekend Today. The host, who appears on KIIS Melbourne’s Jase & Lauren as their newsreader, will face a seven-day week along with a new commute between the two gigs.
Prior to all-but-confirmed co-hosts Azzopardi and Stanaway, Belinda Russell and Charles Croucher ran the show - with the latter stepping away after a promotion saw him named Nine’s new political editor.
And despite Russell moving on from her position as well - with no known reason for her exit, and no mention of her departure on air - a spokesperson for the Nine network has assured that she remains “a valued member of the 9News team, which will enable her to work across all our new brands.
“We will be making further announcements soon.”
However, as these announcements roll out, many have been left to wonder what will happen to Nine’s entertainment reporter, Richard Wilkins.
The 68-year-old has primarily covered mornings and weekends since Brooke Boney’s 2019 welcome to the team, and eyebrows have raised over his apparent dwindling of his duties.
Wilkins’ career as an entertainment editor and reporter has seen him cover the likes of The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, and the ARIA Awards among others. And in 2017, Wilkins celebrated the milestone of his 30th anniversary with the Nine Network.
He is well-known for his daily features and Hollywood interviews, however, recently one of Wilkins’ weekend segments gave the impression of being limited to his audience, with the reporter only covering what people should watch, as well as a brief interview with a star from the hit HBO show The Last of Us.
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