FBoy Island star Abbie Chatfield could be on the hunt for a new job as claims emerge that the reality show is facing the axe.
The series, which airs on BINGE, is hosted by the former Bachelor star, and follows three women as they date 24 men, who are either players or looking for love.
FBoys are only on the show to play the game and win a cash prize of $50,000 if they fool the women into thinking they are a ‘nice guy’.
However, after two seasons, it appears that the reality show is on shaky ground after it was mysteriously absent from the Foxtel and BINGE Upfronts event last month.
‘At the Foxtel and BBINGE Upfronts last month there were a few big shows left off the 2025 announcement and FBoy Island was one of the “noisier reality shows” viewers had expected to return,’ a source told Daily Mail Australia.
Despite launching strongly, FBoy Island has struggled to compete with the Channel Nine dating reality show, Love Island Australia, which offers a similar format.
FBoy Island star Abbie Chatfield could be on the hunt for a new job as claims emerge that the reality show is facing the axe. Abbie is picured at the FBoy Island season one launch in 2023
The source claimed a possible reason for the axing was that FBoy Island had thus far failed to give any contestants a sustainable career after their series ended, unlike its Channel Nine counterpart.
‘In its sixth series, Love Island Australia has continued to prove that it has a place amongst its target demographic and has launched the careers of the likes of Callum Hole.’ the source said.
‘However, in two seasons of FBoy Island the format has not generated a household name like Callum. Which in fairness isn’t the main reason networks make these shows.’
Since his stint on the 2022 series of Love Island Australia, Callum has forged quite a reality TV career.
The Welsh-Aussie has since starred in the likes of the Geordie Shore-inspired spin-off Aussie Shore, and I’m A Celebrity…Get me Out Of Here!
Daily Mail Australia also exclusively revealed last month that the 26-year-old is set to join Love Island All Stars: Season 2, airing in the UK January 2025.
There’s no denying that, aside from her FBoy Island hosting gig, Abbie Chatfield is also known for having quite a vocal presence on social media.
She often shares opinions about topics of the day, such as the recent US election and climate change, and vaping.
‘At the Foxtel and Binge Upfronts last month there were a few big shows left off the 2025 announcement and FBoy Island was one of the ‘noiser reality shows’ viewers had expected to return,’ a source told Daily Mail Australia
‘In its sixth series, Love Island Australia has continued to prove that it has a place amongst its target demographic and has launched the careers of the likes of Callum Hole.’ the source said
However the source said that any decision to axe FBoy Island would not be due to its host’s often controversial opinions.
‘It had more to do with economics and nothing to do with Abbie’s recent posts on social media,’ the source said.
The source said that Warner Bros Production Australia, which distributes FBoy Island, will be focusing new Channel Nine reality series The Golden Bachelor, hosted by Samantha Armytage, when FBoy Island was slated to go into production.
It was also claimed that while Foxtel have not confirmed the show’s axing, its location, in the NSW coastal town of Casuarina is not booked within the series’ normal February – March production timeline.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to BINGE, Foxtel and Warner Bros for comment.
The claims come after Foxtel recently swung the axe on popular series Gogglebox Australia.
Back in August, after FBoy Island’s season two premiere, Abbie hit back at critics of the show who felt it painted men in a bad light.
‘We are making fun of patriarchy and of men, but also we don’t want to do it too earnestly. That kind of puts off anyone. It’s a very complex tone to hit,’ Abbie told news.com.au.
The source said that any decision to axe FBoy Island would not be due to its host’s often controversial opinions that she shares on social media
The source said that Warner Bros Production Australia, which distributes FBoy Island, will be focussing new Channel Nine reality series The Golden Bachelor, hosted by Samantha Armytage, when FBoy Island was slated to go into production
‘If you are a hardcore feminist, you’re not going to learn anything from this show. You can enjoy it, you can have fun with it, you can digest it. But you’re not going to be like, “Wow, mind blowing,”‘ she added.
‘But I think it’s really good for a standard reality TV audience, who’s maybe even a bit conservative or unaware, to watch this show and have easily digestible little nuggets of feminism sprinkled on top of a dramatic reality show.’
Abbie went on to say that the show allows her to ‘call out sexism in the moment’ adding, ‘I don’t think any other show has a host that’s allowed to do that’.
The finale of the 2024 season saw leading ladies Krystal Thomas, Nicole Mitrov, and Ally Woodfall making their final decision about the dating pool of FBoys and Nice Guys.
But before each of the ladies’ top two men could face up to the final decision, contestant Chad Homan made the shock decision to leave the show.
The bombshell walkout came after all the eliminated contestants were asked to return to the villa ahead of the final elimination.
Chad was then alerted to Ally kissing contestant Joe Blanch behind the villa when they thought no one was watching.
After seeing the offending kiss with his own eyes, an emotional Chad made the decision to take himself out of contention with Ally, leaving her with Andrew Tate enthusiast Joe as her only option.
