Popular TV presenter Chris Brown is quitting Network Ten to return to rival network Seven.
Seven confirmed the bombshell move in a statement on Thursday.
“We are very pleased to welcome Chris back to Seven. It’s been too long,” Seven West Media managing director and chief executive James Warburton said.
“Chris is one of the most popular and recognised people on Australian TV, bringing warmth, intelligence and a great sense of humour to everything he does. We can’t wait to have him on board and to announce the great new content he will star in.”
The 44-year-old will join Seven in July, after co-hosting his final season of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! with Julia Morris in April.
News Corp reported on Thursday the celebrity vet-turned-TV-host’s new contract was for two years – and whispered to be worth more than $1million a year.
Neither Brown nor Seven has commented on why the long-standing host is departing. But his The Living Room co-host, Amanda Keller, offered her view on Thursday.
The Living Room has been “rested” by Ten this year.
“I said at the time, this is the risk you take as a network. None of us are on contracts, they haven’t rested the show and retained us on contract,” Keller said today on her radio show on Thursday.
“As Chris said, ‘I’m working one month a year on television’.
“In terms of television, he’s doing I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, which pretty much goes for a month, and then he has 11 months where he’s looking for a TV project.”
Brown started his TV career on Seven’s Harry’s Practice two decades ago.
“I’m not entirely sure my old access pass works, but once we get over that hurdle and I’m back from the jungle, I can’t wait to sink my teeth into some exciting new projects in the second half of the year and beyond with Seven,” he said.
Brown’s Ten credits include Bondi Vet and The Project, as well as The Living Room and his I’m a Celeb gig with Morris. The network is yet to comment on his looming departure.
Seven said it would announce details of Brown’s new projects later in 2023.
Thursday’s announcement came days after Network Ten, Seven and Nine went head-to-head in the latest volley of the reality TV wars to kickstart 2023.
On Monday, Australian Idol returned to Seven after an absence of more than a decade, competing with Nine ratings juggernaut Married at First Sight and Ten’s gritty, ego-driven Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains.
Industry journal Mediaweek reports that Nine topped the night with MAFS, pulling in 840,000 views, followed by Ten’s Australian Survivor with 447,000, then Seven’s Idol with 413,000.
