When radio network Nova announced at the end of last month that their biggest show, Fitzy & Wippa With Kate Ritchie, was being dropped for a fresh show starring Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell, it was touted as an “evolution” that was all about giving their “incredible talent the perfect platforms to deliver great content”.
But was that really the reason? Or was there another tension-riddled catalyst that drove the network to make their greatest reshuffle in decades?
RADIO RESET
Talk of a “major reset” over at Nova first began after Kate, 47, took a break from her breakfast radio show with Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald, 49, and Michael “Wippa” Wipfli, 46, in order to focus on her “deeply personal” mental health battle around this time last year. However, radio insiders spill that it may have been due to some talent unrest within the hit drivetime show, Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel, that caused the conversations to ramp up.
“While Ricki-Lee, Tim and Joel [Creasey] were so good on the air, behind the scenes Joel had begun to notice Ricki-Lee and Tim growing particularly tight. Especially as he was patched in from the Melbourne studio,” a source tells Woman’s Day.
“There were times when Joel felt like the third wheel. Not intentionally but naturally, Ricki-Lee and Tim were together more.”
The dynamic, the spy adds, started to feel like a family of three where the youngest child can sometimes feel left out.
“Joel’s got incredible stories, humour and life experience. But being the ‘third banana’ meant some of that was getting lost.”
Behind closed doors, Joel, 35, began questioning whether staying in a trio was limiting what he could really bring to radio.
“He felt he had more runs on the board creatively than he was able to play,” the source says. “And that realisation became a turning point.”
We hear that the stars aligned after Kate returned to work following her break and expressed concerns about continuing the breakfast hours and her promise to her daughter Mae, 11, that they would spend more time together and she would be a “school run mum” again, thus beginning the game of musical chairs that eventually saw their tentpole talent switch timeslots.
“Most of the talent had heard whispers, but a lot of them were shocked when the news broke,” adds our source.
PAY DISPARITY
Now, Ricki-Lee, 40, and Tim, 44, will headline Nova’s breakfast show, going head-to-head with arch rivals Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O over at KIIS FM, while Fitzy, Wippa and Kate have moved to drive.
Joel, on the other hand, will get his own midday national show, a role that’s said to be his “dream”. But while everyone seems to be happy, two of the network’s stars won’t want to be out of pocket.
Fitzy and Wippa, who were rumoured to be on an eye-watering sum of $1.5 million, will be playing hardball at the negotiation table to ensure new lucrative contracts, while Kate is said to be keeping her tidy pay cheque of $1 million.
No doubt, Nova’s big shake-up is one big gamble, and a pricey one at that – made even more expensive with the hiring of Sarah Harris.
The popular presenter is joining Nova as their breakfast newsreader.
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