These are the media personalities who work tirelessly in the television industry, and seemingly well with others, but haven’t been able to carry the weight of a big-budget, overly-hyped television show as a solo host. ANDY LEE TV stations have repeatedly banked on the success of Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. As a team they are a sure fire hit, but while Blake has stepped out on his own to host the much loved Lego Masters, Lee has until now limited himself to either co-hosting with Blake or working within a panel format such as on The Front Bar and Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation. Will he find success working as a solo host on Channel ten’s new show The Cube? The first night ratings came in at 567,000 viewers, but last week they plunged to 340,000 before climbing slightly again to 402,000 on Wednesday night. It is a case of watch this space. ROVELet’s be clear, we are talking about ‘new’ Rove McManus. In the early 2000s, the TV host was at his prime with his Rove Live variety show. Many would think you could put McManus on just above any TV show and it’ll do well. Wrong. Kids quiz show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader hit its stride in 2009, the same year Rove farewelled his live TV show. Everything after that we can write off. Does anyone remember the reboot Saturday Night Rove in 2019? The show bombed, obviously, as the creators wrongly assumed Millennials were at home on Saturday nights watching free to air television. To be fair, McManus runs his own production company and hosting TV shows is no longer his number one priority. He is a businessman who picks and chooses projects that interest him which is why he fronted Whovians for ABC and Life Drawing Live for SBS.RENEE BARGHMany will remember Renee Bargh for her stint as an entertainment host on Channel V Australia in the 2000s. She then went to Hollywood and landed a gig on Extra, interviewing big-name celebrities on red carpets at movie premieres. She returned to Australia last year to co-host The Voice Australia for Channel 9 with Darren McMullen. She was barely seen in that role and may as well have not been on the show for all the impact – or lack of impact – she had. She was decorative but ultimately unnecessary for the show. Whether or not she has what it takes to make a stand alone host in prime time remains to be seen. JACKIE OShe’s best known as being the other half of controversial radio duo Kyle and Jackie O.While she’s a hit on radio, Jackie O hasn’t always found her TV footing.She scored her break as a judge on Popstars back in 2000 — the music talent series that launched the career of Bardot (ahem, Sophie Monk). After Popstars, Jackie hosted a number of other shows including Network Ten’s Australian Princesses, a reality show which transformed a group of Aussie bogans into princesses, and Surprise Surprise Gotcha (a failed local version of the US Punk’d series). Kyle and Jackie O replaced Gretel Killeen as hosts of Big Brother in 2008 before the show was canned by Channel 10. Now she’s on our screens as a Masked Singer Australia judge. Jackie’s power comes from being teamed with Kyle. On her own she is just not as interesting. JAMES MATHISONJames Mathison is another Channel V Australia alumni, having hosted music shows on Foxtel for a number of years alongside Andrew G (now known as Osher Gunsberg) and Renee Bargh. He joined Gunsberg hosting Australian Idol back in the day. Gunsberg was the star and Mathison was the likeable sidekick. Since then, Mathison has only had one stand-alone show — the now-defunct Channel 10 breakfast TV show, Wake Up! with Natarsha Belling and Natasha Exelby. He also appeared on The Project and had a stint on Celebrity Apprentice. In 2016, he stepped into politics and challenged former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in his federal seat of Warringah. Abbott kept his seat, with Mathison only receiving 11.4 per cent of the primary vote. He stayed in politics, becoming the Australian Democrats communications director in 2018 and helping MP Zali Steggall eventually win the seat of Warringah in 2019. These days it appears Mathison has stepped away from the limelight to spend time with his family.DARREN MCMULLENMcMullen has some dedicated fans – he is a smart live TV host and has hosted TV shows in the UK and the US – but there are others who just can’t warm to him. He was the original host of The Voice Australia from 2012 four years. He hosted Commercial Breakdown for Channel 9 and Minute To Win It for Channel 7, neither of which were great successes. In 2016 he hosted The Big Music Quiz for 7 which also tanked. After dabbling in acting with roles on House Husbands and SeaChange: Paradise Reclaimed and Doctor Doctor, he popped up on The Masked Singer Australia in 2019 as the ‘Prawn’.LAUREN PHILLIPSFormer WAG and longtime socialite Lauren Phillips has really made a name for herself. Once only known as the girlfriend of Geelong great Gary Ablett, she’s now hanging out with Hollywood royalty — The Hemsworths — in Byron Bay. Phillip’s got her break on Channel 9’s Postcards as a lifestyle presenter, and host of children’s show Kids WB. After a very public divorce from Lachlan Spark, Phillip’s new gig as Weekend Sunrise’s weather reporter has been keeping her busy. She also recently was at the Australian Open for Channel 9. It is fair to say her personal life has more headlines in recent years than her professional endeavours.PETE EVANSIf anyone is TV poison right now, it has to be old mate Paleo Pete. Evans was once a fan-favourite judge on the Seven Network’s My Kitchen Rules. But now the anti-vaxxer/ecowarrior has been shunned from mainstream — and social media — after his bizarre health claims around COVID-19, one of which involved a $15,000 l’bio-charger’ light machine for which the Therapeutic Goods Administration slapped him with a $25,000 fine.ADRIANO ZUMBOTV chefs don’t always get lucky with thriving TV careers, aside from anyone on MasterChef. Adriano Zumbo was doing all the right things — making excellent desserts and had built enough hype to have lines out the door of his South Yarra kitchen -but a television career just didn’t fly. Zumbo’s Just Desserts debuted in 2016, but was quickly axed when people realised it didn’t follow the same, engaging format as MasterChef.MATT MORANSydney-based Matt Moran is another chef who gave TV a good crack. He was a judge on season 3 of MasterChef, appeared as a judge on the Great Australian Bake Off on Foxtel which was good but not as great as the UK version and hosted The Chopping Block for Channel 9. Sadly his latest project for Nine, Family Food Fight lasted just two seasons.LEHMOAnthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann is a jack of all trades. He’s a stand-up comedian with a career spanning 15-years with performances in Melbourne and Edinburgh. Lehmo has completed seven tours of duty for Aussie troops in the Middle East and at army bases and navel ships around the world. He’s hosted radio and TV shows (Brig and Lehmo for Breakfast on Gold FM, Will and Lehmo on Triple M and most recently ABC Grandstand), performed guest TV appearances on Utopia, The Project, Before The Game and even played himself on Neighbours. But will TV execs put Lehmo forward to head a prime-time show? I’m not sure many would tune in for that.ABBEY GELMI Granddaughter of an Olympian, ex-Fox Sports News TV journalist, former Miss Universe contestant and now part of the Channel 7 presenter stable — Abbey Gelmi has all the right ingredients for a stellar television career. Who is Gelmi, you may ask? Six years ago she landed an internship at Fox Sports Sydney and was a field reporter and newsreader before joining Channel 7. She hosted the Brownlow Medal red carpet in 2018 and has presented for the Spring Racing Carnival, but things haven’t really taken flight in a prime-time spot for the Perth-raised journalist. In 2019 she replaced Johanna Griggs as co-host of House Rules: High Stakes alongside Jamie Durie, but soon after, the show bombed and never returned to our screens. Gelmi now co-hosts Ultimate Tag with Matt Shirvington; a sports entertainment obstacle course based off a US series. On its second night only 280,000 tuned in. What Channel 7 show will Gelmi crop up on next? Let’s wait and see.
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