career move – Michmutters
Categories
Entertainment

Kyle Sandilands reveals he’s returning as Australian Idol judge

Kyle Sandilands has confirmed rumors he’ll be reprising his role as a judge on the returning season of Australian Idol.

The 51-year-old shock jock made the announcement on the Kyle and Jackie O Show on Monday morning, despite getting a text from an unknown figure saying, “Don’t officially announce that you’re on it.”

The new father, who welcomed his first child Otto with fiance Tegan Kynaston last week, revealed he’s set to be the first judge attached to the show – which has been off-air for more than a decade and is finally returning to screens on Channel 7 in 2023.

And true to form, Sandilands said he only agreed to the gig if Seven bosses delivered his contract personally so he could sign the papers live on-air.

“I think this week they’re bringing the contract, I said I’ll only sign it on the radio show, so all the big head honchos have to march into the studio with the contract. I’ll sign it live on-air,” Sandilands said.

Sandilands also claimed he was heavily involved in recruitment for his three co-judges, while he ruled out Osher Gunsberg’s return as host due to his multiple Channel 10 hosting duties.

“They can’t sign on someone else unless I sign off on it… I’m not going to be doing the show with a bunch of knobs,” Sandilands said.

“I’ve got a long list of knobs I won’t work with. I’d like at least one other Australian, and I would love a big name US and a big name UK, but it all depends, everyone’s touring around … But there’s a lot of big stars interested.”

When pressed by Jackie whether any of the original judges would be returning, including Marsha Hines, Ian Dickson and Mark Holden, Sandilands said, “No, none of them.”

“I’m the only one who’s still alive, I feel the others have all passed away… I mean alive on TV,” he clarified.

Sandilands said the show would follow a similar format, which would see contestants audition around Australia before a top 12 is chosen for live shows.

As for whether he would soften his infamous brutal honesty, Sandilands said he’d be sticking to what he knows.

“I like The Voicebut I won’t be one of them wishy washedy Voice judges that say, ‘No matter how disgusting you are to look at, you’ve got a great voice.’

“I’m not interested in that sh*t. I can only be myself.”

At this point, Sandilands got a text advising him not to officially announce his role.

“Yeah, okay. Well, I haven’t signed on yet but I’ve verbally agreed,” he added.

australian idol aired for seven seasons on Channel 10 from 2003 until 2009, and made big stars of contestants including Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy and Casey Donovan.

In 2020, the Seven Network announced at their annual upfronts that they would be reviving the series.

.

Categories
Entertainment

Keanu Reeves lands first TV role in Hulu’s The Devil In The White City

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

.

Categories
Entertainment

Alan Fletcher reveals major career change after Neighbors finale

Neighbors veteran Alan Fletcher is the third longest serving actor in Australian soap opera history, having starred on the iconic soap for almost three decades.

And after the long-running show’s emotional finale last week, which saw viewers say farewell to the residents of Ramsay Street after 37 years on-air, the 65-year-old actor is considering a major career change.

Fletcher, who had played Dr Karl Kennedy since 1994, told Magic Radio’s breakfast-show: “Now that I’ve finished neighborsI’m thinking about actually going into medicine.”

The Perth-born TV star added he had always tried to keep his personal life separate from his on-screen persona, but was now having a change of heart.

“While I’ve been on neighborsI religiously don’t give medical advice, because I’m really worried about the authorities tracking me down,” he joked.

It comes after Fletcher’s co-star Ryan Moloney, who had played Jarrod “Toadie” Rebecchi on the show since 1995, revealed his own big career move away from the small screen.

The 42-year-old actor said he was planning to settle into post-neighbors life as a humble tradition.

“I’m not ruling anything out,” Moloney told The Daily Telegraph. “I’m doing civil construction course which is about driving excavators and building roads.”

Moloney added: “I like playing with those kinds of machines. I like doing earthworks, all that kind of manual labor stuff.

“That’s where I’m at, but who knows where it’s all going to end up?”

After 37 years and 8903 episodes, neighbors finally drew to a close in a tear-jerking finale last week.

The nostalgia-filled episode saw the return of Australia’s brightest names who got their big break on the soap opera, including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem, and the show’s most famous alumna, Margot Robbie.

Up to 3 million people tuned into the finale in the UK, while almost 900,000 viewers watched in Australia.

It was announced in March that neighbors was being axed after Australian production company Fremantle media failed to find a new broadcast partner, following UK network Channel 5’s decision to withdraw its partnership.

Channel 5 had been covering the majority of the production bill.

.