If you’ve tuned into Seven this year, chances are you’ve seen Sonia Kruger pop up on at least one prime-time reality show, be it Big Brother, Holey Moley or Dancing With The Stars: All Stars.
And while audiences are expecting to see a lot more of her in the coming months on Big Brother VIP and The Voice Australia, executives are said to be on the brink of rethinking her role, after her shows have failed to deliver the huge ratings they wanted – leaving Sonia, 55, in the dark about her future.
“Executives are concerned they’ve spread Sonia too thin,” a well-placed source tells Woman’s Day.
“They were really hoping Holey Moley and Big Brother were going to take off this year, but given the lukewarm reception, they’re unsure now how to move forward.”
According to the source, Sonia is also “miserable” over the lacklustre ratings, and is feeling immense pressure from the network.
“She feels as if she’s walking on egg shells with the Seven bosses at the moment, given three of her shows haven’t really delivered this year, though through no fault of her own,” the source explains.
Sonia is said to be nervous around her next steps at Channel Seven next year.
(Credit: Channel Seven)And it seems there have already been some top-level discussions with the star, with our source revealing that the uncertain future of her shows was relayed to her at a recent Seven annual meeting.
“She left that meeting feeling demotivated and uninspired,” says the insider.
The news comes after photos of a weary-looking Sonia raised eyebrows last week.
The usually glamorous presenter appeared to be pained and unhappy as she ran errands in Sydney, sparking debate that she was working too hard.
The news of her shows’ lacklustre viewership has been a bitter pill for Sonia to swallow, particularly as she will not be in the hosting line-up for another major TV event, the Tokyo Olympic Games.
According to the source, Sonia jumped ship from Nine to Seven to host the Tokyo Olympic Games – however, was taken off the lineup after it was postponed.
(Credit: Channel Seven)Our source says one of the main reasons why Sonia initially made the leap from Nine to Seven was so she could host the coverage of the Olympics.
And while she was happy to throw herself into entertainment in the meantime, Sonia was left disheartened by missing out on the sporting line-up.
“Not being in the Olympics coverage this year is salt in the wounds for Sonia,” says the insider.
“The Olympics were a huge selling point for Sonia in leaving Nine in 2019 and while she loves doing entertainment, her heart really is in live TV where she can throw around off-the-cuff remarks and bounce off co-hosts.”
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Adding to her stresses, Sonia is also said to be regretting her recent $1 million renovations at her $6.5 million mega-mansion in Sydney’s exclusive suburb of Mosman, which she shares with partner Craig McPherson, who is Seven’s director of news and public affairs.
At the beginning of their build in December last year, the couple suffered drastic 20 per cent pay cuts at Seven due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Had [coronavirus] happened before we decided to go ahead… there’s no way we would have done it,” Craig told the media at the time.
“It’s possibly the worst time to be doing anything like this… it’s too late to go back.”
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