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The Project former co-host Lisa Wilkinson has broken her silence on the show’s shock cancellation.
The 65-year-old veteran presenter, who co-hosted the Channel Ten panel show from 2018 – 2022, recently shared a precious gallery of throwback photos from her time on the program to social media.
One picture captured a beaming Lisa posing on the set alongside her former co-stars, including Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Peter Helliar.
Another showed Lisa having fun with several of the A-List guests who appeared on the program, including Magda Szubanski, Tommy Little and Backstreet Boys stars Brian Littrell and Nick Carter.
She captioned the gallery with some heartbreaking words.
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The Project former co-host Lisa Wilkinson has broken her silence on the show’s cancellation. The veteran presenter shared a precious gallery of throwback photos from her time on the program to social media. Pictured with former co-stars Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore
One picture captured a beaming Lisa posing on the set alongside her former co-stars, including Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Peter Helliar
‘Vale The Project. So many talented people, so many laughs, so many incredibly important stories – many of which may have otherwise never been told,’ Lisa began.
‘It was a joy and privilege to be a part of it all. My love to everyone, particularly the huge hard-working team behind the scenes. Along with the audience, you were the true heart and soul of the show.’
It comes after The Project was officially axed this week and will air its final episode on June 27.
Network 10 announced the news on Monday, sharing a post to Facebook thanking viewers for their support before announcing the show’s replacement.
Hosts Waleed Aly, Sarah Harris and Hamish Macdonald will also reportedly exit the network, while comedian Sam Taunton will continue his guest appearances on other Ten shows.
Meanwhile, one of the shows former stars, Peter Helliar has revealed the emotional toll the shock axing has had on himself and his former co-workers.
Appearing on Nova’s Jase and Lauren on Tuesday, the veteran presenter, who co-hosted the panel show from 2014 – 2022, admitted he was devastated over the cancellation.
‘Really sad. What an amazing legacy that show has, 16 years. Very few shows get to the second season. This was like the little engine that could,’ he said.
One picture showed Lisa having fun with several of the A-List guests who appeared on the program, including Backstreet Boys stars Brian Littrell and Nick Carter
Lisa captioned the gallery with some heartbreaking words
‘In its first year, it was going to get axed every second week. And 16 years later to see that the people have become household names who have gone through that show!’
Helliar, who quit the show in 2022, the same year Carrie Bickmore, Tommy Little and Lisa, said he believes the axing will leave a huge gap in Australian television.
‘I don’t think audiences realise what they’ll miss out on now. The amount of comedians, musicians and filmmakers who have said to me over the years, “The Project was the reason we sold tickets.” That’s missing now,’ he said.
He added that several of his former Project colleagues told him they had a ‘really hard day’ upon hearing the news.
The news show, which has been in a ratings free-fall since Bickmore left her seat as host at the end of 2022, has aired ‘nearly 4,500 episodes’ to date and will wrap up in three weeks.
The Project first aired in July 2009 and exceeded more than a million metro viewers at the height of its success – It boasted a rotating panel with stars like Aly, Harris, Tunny, Hamish Macdonald, Rove McManus, Taunton and Susie Youssef.
It won several accolades including 11 Logie Awards – two of which were viewer-voted Gold Logies won by Aly and Bickmore.
However, audiences began to dwindle in recent years and earlier this month, it attracted between 238,000 and 357,000 viewers nationally.
