A low-cost airline has come up with what could be a game-changing idea to get passengers off airplanes quicker and keep the jets in the sky for longer.
One of the frustrations of air travel is the slow process of leaving the aircraft, with passengers having to squeeze through a single left hand door at the front of the plane.
If you’re at the back of the plane that can mean long waits as sometimes hundreds of people disembark in front of you.
To speed this up some airlines, including Virgin Australia and Qantas owned Jetstar, regularly allow passengers to disembark from a set of stairs at the rear of the airplane.
But India’s largest carrier IndiGo has gone one step further and has introduced a third door for passengers to exit through.
And uniquely, the third door is on the right hand side of the plane which is rarely – if ever – used as an exit in anything other than an emergency.
The carrier reckons it could almost halve the time it takes to get passengers off the plane from up to 13 minutes to a mere seven.
“The new Three-Point Disembarkation process will be carried out from two forward and one rear exit ramp, making IndiGo the first airline to use this process,” an IndiGo spokesman told India’s Hindustan Times.
A video uploaded by Indian business journalist Sumit Chaturvedi shows the new process with passengers leaving an IndiGo Airbus A320 aircraft via the various ramps.
While the giant Airbus A380 “superjumbo” often boards and disembarks by three doors, this is the first time it’s been done for a smaller narrow-body plane typically used on domestic and short-haul routes, such as the A320.
“An A320 aircraft usually takes around 13 minutes for its passengers to de-board the aircraft. However, the new process will make the drill faster and will reduce the disembarkation time from 13 minutes to seven minutes,” the IndiGo spokesman said.
That could be good for passengers who won’t have to hang around on-board.
But it could be a boon for the airline too. The quicker passengers can leave the plane, the shorter the turnaround time to get it back in the air with more fare-paying passengers on board.
Do time savings add up?
However, some are skeptical of the airline’s claims.
Ben Schlappig of US aviation blog One Mile At A Time questioned if all the claimed time savings would occur in real-life settings.
“The process of actually getting out the door is one bottleneck, but I’d think that getting down the aisle is another thing that takes time, and that’s still an issue, even with a second door in the front.”
Why plans usually board from the left
Traditionally, jets board and deplane from the left, despite doors being on both sides of the fuselage.
This helps to keep passengers separated from ground crew in what can be a hectic and potentially dangerous environment. For instance, staff loading bags into the aircraft from the right don’t have to worry about tripping over travelers who remain on the left.
In addition, the right hand door is often used to bring supplies on board an aircraft, such as water and food, at the same time as passengers enter and exit on the left.
Initially IndiGo’s routes in and out of Delhi as well as the cities of Mumbai and Bengaluru will feature Three-Point Disembarkation. But the airline has said it could roll out the new process across the whole country and its fleet of 181 A320s in just 90 days.
Ford has axed its popular Fiesta and Focus hot hatches as it focuses on utes and SUVs.
The brand ditched the regular Focus and Fiesta some time ago but continued to import the ST performance models in limited numbers. So far this year the pair has attracted only 183 buyers.
Ford President Andrew Birkic says the decision recognizes the fact that buyer tastes have shifted in recent years. He also hinted there would be performance-car replacements in other segments.
“Both the Focus ST and Fiesta ST have been segment defining hot hatches for Ford Australia and have put smiles on the faces of enthusiasts across the country and we want to thank those fans for their passion,” he says.
“But with semiconductor-related supply shortages and our focus on emerging areas of growth, we’ve made the difficult decision to call time on these iconic hot hatches in Australia. We look forward to sharing more about the next era of our performance vehicle line-up soon,” he says.
The move comes as somewhat of a shock as the brand has just started imported updated versions of both cars.
Ford says it has secured just 40 Focus STs for the remainder of the year, but Fiesta supply is likely to be more than that. The company will also look at trying to secure more vehicles from the plant in Germany if demand warrants it.
The move continues Ford’s shift away from traditional passenger vehicles to utes and SUVs, in particular the Ranger and the Everest wagon, which is based on Ranger underpinnings.
Between them, the Ranger and Everest made up roughly 85 per cent of Ford sales this year. The percentage would have been higher but sales have tapered off as buyers waited for the new models.
The new Ranger was launched last month and the Everest will follow shortly.
A new version of the Ranger Raptor will also arrive soon. It is powered by a potent twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine putting out a V8-like 292kW of power and 583Nm of torque.
Ford will also take the covers off an all-new Mustang at the Detroit motor show next month.
“The Ford Mustang remains the country’s most popular sports car and we’re preparing for the launch of the next-generation Ranger Raptor, which sets a new performance benchmark for dual-cab utes in Australia,” Birkic says.
Both vehicles could become sound investments for those buyers who snap them up, as discontinued performance vehicles have been attracting big prices from car collectors.
Second-hand versions of the Subaru WRX STI EJ25 Final Edition, which launched last year for $62,440, are selling for between $125,000 and $170,000.
Keanu Reeves is taking on his first big television role.
Reeves, 57, is set to star in Hulu’s The Devil In The White Citywhich is being executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese as well as the John Wick star.
The show, written by Castle Rock producer Sam Shaw, has been in development for over a decade after DiCaprio took on the project in 2010. The streaming service only announced on Thursday that it would be moving forward.
Based on Erik Larson’s bestseller of the same name, Reeves will portray Daniel H. Burnham, a young architect who helped develop early skyscrapers.
Deadline reported that the limited series will begin production in 2023 and will be released the following year. A representative for Hulu did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
The series will be a meeting for DiCaprio and Scorsese. The duo worked together on gangs of new york in 2002, Shutter Island in 2010 and The Wolf Of Wall Street, all of which Scorsese directed and DiCaprio starred in.
Aside from Reeves’ four-decade-long acting career, the Matrix star has experience in producing as well. He is currently executive producing John Wick: Chapter 4which is set to be released next March.
Reeves has played the iconic action hero John Wick for nearly a decade, but the role was originally intended for an older actor such as Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford.
One of the John Wick producers, Basil Iwanyk, revealed in the new book, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Oral History Of John Wick, Gun Fu, And The New Age Of Action by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, that the legendary assassin was supposed to be played by a 75-year-old man.
Iwanyk said in the book that one of his best friends sent him a script from Derek Kolstad — the creator of the John Wick franchise, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick a**. I thought, ‘OK, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford,’” Iwanyk said.
Reeves has been dominating the big screen since he landed his first major film part in 1986’s Youngblood. The Devil In The White City will mark the actor’s first big TV role.
This story originally appeared on Fox News and is republished here with permission
New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey has candidly recalled the body-shaming she and other actresses faced while filming the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly.
“All the girls had this regimen they had to go on. It was ridiculous,” the actress told The Hollywood Reporter. “I was already starving myself and as thin as I could possibly be for this body, and I was still a [size] four [Australian size eight].”
Lynskey, now 45, played Gloria, a woman who was the best friend of actress Piper Perabo’s lead character, Violet, in the movie.
Now the New Zealand actress has said she faced harsh criticism from the original costume designer, makeup artist and others while she was filming, new york post reports.
“There were already people putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings and being very disappointed when they saw me, the costume designer being like, ‘Nobody told me there would be girls like you,’” Lynskey said.
“Really intense feedback about my physicality, my body, people doing my makeup and being like, ‘I’m just going to help you out by giving you a bit more of a jawline and stuff.’ Just the feedback was constantly like, ‘You’re not beautiful. You’re not beautiful.’”
Lynskey later clarified that the costume designer credited on the movie was not the person she was referring to in her comments.
“The costume designer who initially worked on Coyote Ugly left for some reason, and a lovely kind woman named Marlene Stewart took over and she was AWESOME,” Lynskey tweeted on Wednesday.
“The first person was mean, the person credited was not,” she wrote. “And my answer was kind of a jumble – I had experiences with makeup artists offering to help my face look better but that did not happen on Coyote Ugly. The hair and makeup team were amazing and so kind and among the best I’ve ever worked with.”
But the body-shaming did not stop in the early 2000s.
In January, the Heavenly Creatures actress revealed that she faced a similar situation with a crew member while filming Showtime’s yellowjackets recently.
“They were asking me, ‘What do you plan to do? I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this,’” she told rolling stone.
The actress’ co-star Juliette Lewis found out about the interaction and wrote a letter to production on Lynskey’s behalf.
“I want women to be able to watch [Yellowjackets] and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one.’ That representation is important,” Lynskey concluded.
This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission
One of Australia’s biggest building bosses has issued a sober warning about the state of the construction industry with expectations many more businesses will collapse in coming months.
The chairman of Queensland construction company Hutchinson Builders, Scott Hutchinson, put it bluntly.
“I bet more builders go broke in Australia,” he told Australian Financial Review.
Mr Hutchinson blamed the way Australia’s construction system worked, with most of the onus placed on the builders themselves rather than developers.
He explained how developers tried to attract customers to their projects with competitive deals with little understanding of the very tight margins that builders had to fulfill to turn a profit.
Construction companies mostly have to oblige these developers as there is no shortage of builders but there are limited projects out there, Mr Hutchinson said.
Developers also can take on clients with very little financial stake while builders bore the brunt of the risk.
They [builders] will roll the dice with their fingers crossed every day of the week,” he said.
There’s no denying it, Australia’s building industry is in crisis; many companies have gone into liquidation so far this year amid rising costs for construction materials but also being stuck in fixed contracts, driving them out of business.
Two months ago, news.com.au spoke to Russ Stephens, co-founder of the Association of Professional Builders (APB), who warned that the industry was in dire straits with as much as 80 per cent of building firms haemorrhaging money.
More than half of the estimated 12,000 construction companies in the country are reportedly trading at a loss, with many on the brink of collapse.
And those who work in the industry are having regular mental breakdowns and crying to colleagues and family members as the pressure to survive mounts.
“Eighty per cent of builders in Australia have lost money in the last 12 months. That’s horrific,” he said.
He said around 50 per cent of building companies wouldn’t be able to pay back all their debts at once if creditors asked for their money back at the same time.
“About 25 to 30 per cent [of these companies] can’t pay their bills on time,” he said.
An industry insider told news.com.au earlier this year that half of Australia’s building companies are on the brink of collapse as they trade insolvent.
Overall, the construction industry has been plagued with a spate of collapses caused by a perfect storm of supply chain disruptions, skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics, and extreme weather events.
Earlier this year, two major Australian construction companies, Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild, went into liquidation.
Victorian construction companies in particular have been hit hard.
Two building companies from Victoria were casualties of the crisis having gone into liquidation at the end of June, with one homeowner having forked out $300,000 for a now half-built house.
Then there have been smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Horsham, which was also based in Victoria and a franchisee of a national construction firm – which collapsed earlier this month affecting 11 homeowners with $1.2 million in outstanding debt.
It is the second Hotondo Homes franchisee to go under this year, with its Hobart branch collapsing in January owing $1.3 million to creditors, according to a report from liquidator Revive Financial.
Snowdon Developments was ordered into liquidation by the Supreme Court with 52 staff members, 550 homes and more than 250 creditors owed just under $18 million, although it was partially bought out less than 24 hours after going bust.
Others joined the list too including Inside Out Construction, Solido Builders, Waterford Homes, Affordable Modular Homes and Statement Builders.
The most recent collapse was NSW building company Willoughby Homes, which went into voluntary administration last week, leaving 44 homes in limbo.
News.com.au also raised questions about Sydney-based Ajit Constructions on Thursday after the builder hadn’t commenced construction for months, cleared up its offices without telling customers where it was going and disconnected its phone line.
There are between 10,000 to 12,000 residential building companies in Australia undertaking new homes or large renovation projects, a figure estimated by the APB.
A healthy construction industry is vital to a strong economy and ongoing growth, with the sector accounting for the employment of almost 9 per cent of Australian workers and 7.5 per cent of Australia’s GDP, according to CreditorWatch.
You know how you’re always complaining that there are too many streaming services and it seems like you have to pay for about five different platforms just to watch the 10 shows you hear about?
That may be about to change. The long-promised consolidation of the sector seems to finally be happening.
This morning, Warner Bros Discovery announced it will combine the media conglomerate’s two existing streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, into one service.
While neither HBO Max nor Discovery+ operates in Australia, the significance of today’s news could herald forthcoming changes within the industry that will eventually affect locally available services.
In Australia, there are close to two dozen subscription video on demand platforms. The high number of services has led to frustrations among consumers who are asked to shell out more and more money to access a fractured slate of programming.
The growth in the number of streaming services is approaching unsustainable levels, especially as customers began to evaluate household budgets during a challenging global economic environment.
The number of streaming services has been steadily increasing, ranging from niche platforms such as the horror-focused Shudder to broad appeal brands such as Disney+.
A consolidation of services within the industry has long been mooted and the Discovery+ and HBO Max merger could be the first in a coming wave as the sector evolves.
HBO programming, including Succession and the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragonand Discovery shows such as Deadliest Catch are distributed in Australia through Foxtel and Binge* while some HBO Max originals titles go to Stan.
Warner Bros Discovery’s announcement was light on details on what the combined streaming platform might look like, only that it would roll out in the US in mid-2023. The current timetable for global plans are Latin America in late-2023, Europe in 2024 and Asia-Pacific in mid-2024.
There’s no confirmation on whether Australia would be one of those Asia-Pacific markets. Warner Bros currently has a multi-year content deal with Foxtel, which it signed in 2020 with no publicly disclosed end date.
Warner Bros Discovery chief executive David Zaslav said of the combined streaming service: “We think that product is going to be superb.”
According to The Verge, Zaslav hinted that the new streaming platform would be built on Discovery’s technology platform, referencing the technical glitches that have beset HBO Max.
The changes to Warner Bros Discovery’s current multiple streaming platforms were pre-empted earlier this week with the revelation the studio was to shelve several projects that had either wrapped filming or delivered finished work.
The most prominent of the canceled titles was DC movie batgirlwhich reportedly had a $US70 million ($A100 million) production budget.
Early media reports suggested that batgirl had performed poorly with early test audiences and the studio was unwilling to spend the money for reshoots or the added cost of marketing.
Other media reports hinted that batgirl and canceled projects such as Scoob: Holiday Haunted they were sacrificed in the name of tax breaks.
the batgirl axing fueled speculation of a significant announcement about HBO Max’s future, given the DC movie had been commissioned specifically for streaming and not cinema release.
HBO is an American pay TV network which has been responsible for some of the most acclaimed series over the past three decades, including The Sopranos, Succession, TheWire, Game of Thrones, Sex And The City and veep.
Even though HBO has never been directly sold to Australian viewers, the strength of its brand and its association with quality programming has made it an international phenomenon.
Iconic Aussie children’s cartoon Bluey has been bombarded with negative reviews in a targeted attack to bring down the beloved program’s online ratings, Reddit users have speculated.
Online sleuths have identified what they say is a secret war raging between anime fans and the children’s series on movie and TV website IMDb.
At the end of last month, bluey‘s executive director, Daley Pearson, tweeted a screenshot of an IMDb page that showed a bluey episode — titled “Sleepytime”, for all you fans — ranked second on the list of best TV shows of all time with a star rating of 10 out of 10.
I don’t even have kids and I love blueyso I find no fault here — however, a Reddit theory suggests that anime fans did.
A mere three days after Pearson sent out the tweet, the bluey episode dropped down the list to 17th place. The number of people rating the show increased by 700 during this time, and the star rating stats show that there was a sudden uptake in one-star ratings, making it the second most popular rating for the show. Seeing as the most popular rating is 10 stars, it’s looking pretty suspect.
At the same time, a popular anime series rose up from nowhere to the top spots. why? It seems the trolls got to it.
A Reddit thread of bluey fans (yes, that is a thing that exists) suggests anime fans saw the tweet and started to review the show badly, while at the same time rating their favorite shows well, for the sole purpose of getting their own favorites higher in the rankings.
Reddit was quick to point out that trolling is really the sincerest form of flattery the internet can provide.
“It’s a badge of honor really,” wrote one user. “Anything starts to get haters once it gets enough elevation. The fact that it’s getting review bombed, the silly recent attacking articles – all just testament to how good this show is that’s it’s hit that level. And that it’s a kids show makes this all more amazing.”
Others have suggested that this could be the start of an all-out war between fans of a kids’ show and of anime.
“If it HAS to come to this, then I HOPE us in the bluey fandom can make a rebellion over the anime fans,” said one bluey supporter.
“This might be one of the worse things we’ve done, but we shall bring upon war. If you want to contribute to attacking the Anime fandom than comment on this post and leave poor reviews on Attack on Titan!”
“Welcome to why so many anime fandoms are so toxic,” said another.
Yet no one summed up the situation so neatly as this Reddit user and bluey fan: “The internet is such a weird place.”
It shapes as one of the biggest, most complex deals of the trade period. But unfortunately for the Gold Coast Suns, it involves another one of their budding stars departing.
Foxfooty.com.au confirmed a report from the Herald Sun that Suns young gun Izak Rankine has been offered a five-year, $4 million deal from the Adelaide Crows as he considers a move back to South Australia.
Originally thought to be close to re-signing with Gold Coast, who are reportedly offering around a $650,000-a-season deal and won’t match Adelaide’s offer, the report states the 22-year old is highly likely to be playing at West Lakes in 2023 given the size of the offer.
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However as Rankine isn’t a free agent, he’d need to be acquired via trade, setting the stage for one of the most fascinating negotiations between the Suns and Crows in some time.
Pick No. 3 in the 2018 draft, Rankine showed promising signs early in his career before really elevating his game in 2022 into the competition’s elite bracket.
Rankine has booted a career-best 27 goals from 16 games this season while averaging 13.6 disposals per game (both ranked above average as a general forward by Champion Data), and his 1.5 goal assists ranks fifth in the league (ranked elite).
What’s more, his 2.9 forward 50 ball gets rank first in the competition and his 10.6 AFL Player Rating ranks ninth (both elite). His 6.4 score involvements per game (elite) come in fifth in the league including three games in 2022 with 11 score involvements.
And from Rounds 8-15 Rankine was the No. 1 ranked overall forward in the competition during a stretch where he ranked second in score assists.
“They signed probably six of their top eight players over the last six months and you just expected Izak will sign … then this comes in as a bit of a wildcard, so incredibly tough for the Gold Coast,” Roos legend David King said on SEN.
“Rankine is going to be a top liner. The ball’s not even kicked to him and his ability to hit the scoreboard is second to none.
What would Rankine cost in a trade? (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
A potential future face of the Suns and just 46 games into his AFL career, Rankine’s upside is scary, and he’s clearly only going to keep getting better, thus complicating his trade value given he’s not yet the final product.
So what’s he worth in a deal right now and how might it look?
Adelaide currently holds Pick 4 in the draft — a pick that could yet get moved back also pending on where potential Pick 1 and father-son draftee Will Ashcroft lands.
You’d think Adelaide’s first pick would be the starting point to any trade, but surely the Suns would want more.
A second first-round pick from the Crows feels like overs, especially considering it’d likely again be a top five selection or thereabouts. Would the Suns accept a first and second rounder?
Looking at recent history, the Adam Cerra trade from last year is a fair comparison given he was also aged 22, an early draft pick (No. 5) and still coming into his prime but didn’t yet qualify for free agency.
The Dockers ultimately received Carlton’s Pick 6 as well as a future third rounder despite originally putting a bigger price on Cerra’s head — although Fremantle had other deals to get done including acquiring Jordan Clark.
Prior to that, Jaeger O’Meara moved from the Suns to Hawthorn at the end of 2016 when he was also aged 22 and rated as one of the best young talents in the game.
O’Meara while playing for the Suns (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
O’Meara, who joined Gold Coast with the No. 1 pick of a special ‘mini draft’ as part of its early concessions, only cost the Hawks Pick 10 and a future second rounder.
Then there was the original Adam Treloar (who was also 22) trade back in 2015 that saw the star midfielder along with Pick 28 move from GWS to Collingwood for Picks 7, 65 and a future first rounder.
Similar to O’Meara, Treloar was drafted by the Giants as an under-age selection.
But making Rankine’s situation slightly more unique is that he was a bona fide top three pick (and taken ahead of the likes of the King brothers, Connor Rozee and Bailey Smith in the highly-rated 2018 draft), and factoring in that the Suns have already lost so much young talent over the years to add a potential extra tax of sorts.
And losing too many young stars to rival clubs has seen Gold Coast already top up with a stack of early picks in recent years.
It held selections 5 (Mac Andrew) and 7 (Elijah Hollands) respectively over the last two drafts, 1 and 2 in the 2019 draft (Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson) and 2 and 3 the year prior (Jack Lukosius and Rankine).
So would the Suns really want or need more picks? Finals should be firmly on the agenda next year after the club has finally made inroads in 2022, currently sitting 11th on the ladder with nine wins and on track for its best ever season.
Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes wasn’t yet convinced Rankine is going to be a “top liner,” but emphasized the Crows would have to give up something given he’s not a free agent — proposing a swap for Riley Thilthorpe or a package of Josh Rachele and Darcy Fogarty if draft picks don’t appease the Suns.
Is Buddy going back to Brisbane? | 00:33
“Adelaide would hope that (Pick 4) gets it done, but Rankine was a Pick 3 four years ago and is probably better than what you’re going to take a put on with Pick 4 in this year’s draft, which probably goes to ( Pick) 5 or 6, so that won’t get it done,” he said on SEN.
“They (the Suns) don’t want or need draft picks… is it Rachele and Fogarty or something like that for Rankine?
Of course, the Crows could dig their heels in if they can’t meet Gold Coast’s demands and try and walk Rankine to the pre-season draft (and hope other clubs don’t pounce on him).
This happened most recently in 2019 when Jack Martin joined Carlton via the pre-season draft after the Blues and Suns failed to reach a deal during the trade period.
King believes the Suns should take a stand and be willing to let Rankine walk for nothing if it comes to it.
“I just wonder if they would say, ‘you know what, we’re not going to do this deal, we’re going to take a stand. We’ve got enough first-round picks, future picks coming in, trade commodities to be able to shift if we want to go down that path. Let’s dig our heels in and say if you want to leave you can go to the draft’,” he said.
“Why not? Does it really rock their boat (losing him for nothing)? Do they say, ‘do we just draw a line in the sand?’ Because this is going to continue to happen if they allow it to happen.
“I think they’ll take a stance. I don’t think they’ll say, ‘oh yeah, no worries, what do you (Adelaide) want to discard? You don’t think Rachele is going to be a top-liner? OK, give us Rachele.’ That’s of no value to them.”
Former NRL star Michael Lichaa has been acquitted of domestic violence charges after his former partner refused to turn up to court and ex-teammate Adam Elliott vouched for his version of events.
The 18-month saga finally drew to a close on Friday when Mr Lichaa was found not guilty of assaulting his former partner Kara Childerhouse during a heated late-night incident at his south Sydney home.
Mr Lichaa, 29, has persistently denied assaulting his former finance and Magistrate Melissa Humphreys on Friday acquitted him of common assault and intimidation charges.
His trial before Magistrate Melissa Humphreys took a sensational twist on Thursday when Ms Childerhouse refused to turn up to Sutherland Local Court to give evidence.
Despite being subpoenaed and midway through her testimony police were unable to contact her after knocking on her door and calling her.
The court heard that she no longer wanted to take part in the proceedings and was pregnant and worried about the stress of reliving the incident.
All of her testimony which she had given up until that point was excluded though a statement, in which she retracted the allegations, was admitted into evidence.
It left the prosecution with no evidence to tend on the assault charge.
Police had alleged he was involved in an argument, which prompted concerned neighbors to call police to his Connells Point home.
The court has heard that the incident occurred after Mr Lichaa caught Ms Childerhouse performing a sexual act on his mate and former teammate Adam Elliott.
Mr Elliott told the court on Thursday that he had been drinking for 12 hours following a party at Mr Lichaa’s home.
When it was suggested that Mr Lichaa had assaulted Ms Childerhouse, he said “I disagree.”
Mr Elliott told the court that Mr Lichaa exclaimed “what the f*** are you doing?” and he went outside and walked back and forth in a heated state.
A witness previously told the court that she heard a man saying loudly “I’m going to f***ing kill her”.
His lawyer James Trevallion denied that amounted to an offense of intimidation, adding there was no evidence the words were said in her presence.
“Clearly it was a situation where there was a lot of emotion and feeling and it would be remarkable when walking up and down the street if he wasn’t yelling and screaming and emotional and upset about what had occurred,” Mr Trevallion told the court on Friday.
The Block ‘quitters’ Elle Ferguson and Joel Patfull have remained dead silent amid questions about their exit from the renovation show after just 48 hours.
And in an attempt to finally hear their side of the story, Nova’s Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli cold-called the Sydney couple this week, but things didn’t quite go to plan.
The radio duo welcomed The Block host Scott Cam onto their show Thursday in the wake of his repeated public sprays at the Instagram influencer and retired AFL player, when Wippa told Cam they attempted to contact Elle and Joel the day before.
“We rang them yesterday, Scotty we can’t even play the audio because there isn’t anything to play,” Wippa said.
Fitzy further claimed, “Elle picked up the phone and said ‘This is Joel’s phone.’ And I said, ‘Hi Elle we’re looking for Joel, it’s Fitzy and Wippa here.’ And then Joel comes in and goes ‘Hi, how are you guys?’ And we introduced ourselves again and then bang, he was gone. I have hung up. He’s not a fan of [our] Show.”
Cam has been busy sledging the pair for throwing in the towel so quickly into filming, calling it “p*ss poor” and “unAustralian”, despite reports they left to care for Joel’s mother who’d suffered a Nasty fall in Adelaide.
Given the understandable circumstances, many have been wondering why Cam has hit out so passionately against them.
Speaking to news.com.au in the lead up to the Tree Change season premiere next week, the Channel 9 personality said his frustration stemmed from the couple upping sticks in the middle of the night with “no explanation.”
“They didn’t give us a reason why they were leaving. They never mentioned anything to us about visiting their sick mother,” Cam said.
“In fact, we flew them to Adelaide before The Block started for a week, and put them up in a hotel so they could see (Joel’s mother), and they came back and said ‘everything’s fine’.”
According to Cam, the cast and crew were stunned when Joel and Elle then disappeared.
“They never spoke to us, they just left in the middle of the night,” he said, adding: “I still don’t know why they left. They never mentioned their sick mother in the 48 hours before they left, or after they left. The executive producer spoke to them (after they left) and they didn’t mention their sick mother then either.”
Following up his comments on Fitz & WippaCam said the network would’ve “shut down production” to allow Elle and Joel to see their family.
“You know, come and talk to me and just tell me,” he said. “We would have sorted them out. Because a couple of years ago, Bec from Bec and George, great couple, contestants on The Block … Her mum passed away through the show and we shut the whole show down for a week.
“We brought them all back and we started again when she was ready, we would shut down for two weeks if she needed it.”
Cam revealed Elle and Joel did express some concerns with the executive producer just hours before fleeing, and that their sudden disappearance caused “chaos” on-set.
“We had a promo day that day. It was a Saturday morning, we had 50 or 60 people coming from Sydney. A whole crew with trucks and everything. And we’ve got two contestants missing,” he said.
“So we had to reshoot a lot of stuff, and it was really chaos.”
Elle and Joel are still yet to officially comment.
