Our favourite TV talking heads will return from the comfort of their living rooms with season 14 of the popular reality show, airing on Foxtel’s LifeStyle channel at 7.3opm.But filming in line with Covid-19 measures means the show will look a little different, with two families, the Delpechitras and the Elias’, unfortunately unavailable to participate given they’re located in high-risk LGAs.Other stars have been forced to Zoom in, with Jad Nehmetallah joining besties Matty and Sarah Marie Fahd from his computer, while Isabelle Silbery is only featuring in a few episodes via video call for the safety of her 92-year-old grandmother Emmie, who will join her daughter Kerry at the home they share.Executive producer David McDonald tells us Gogglebox’s new season premiere couldn’t come at a more perfect time for Australians yearning for connection.“In its simplest form, they just want to laugh. The lovely thing about this show is the connection people have made with the Goggleboxers, it’s like they’re mates,” Mr McDonald says.“For a lot of us in isolation depending on how separated you are from your family members, at least with Gogglebox you can unwind and forget about your problems for one hour with people you like spending time with.“It’s always been one of the goals of the show to have the audience look at these people and see themselves, or if you don’t see yourself, you see someone you know.“That’s the relatability. Getting a lovely diverse group of people where people can go, ‘That’s me!’, or ‘That’s my dad!’”But with the loss of some cast mates, Gogglebox gained a couple of old favourites for a special return. After announcing they quit the show in 2019, hilarious duo Adam Densten and Symon Lovett are making their long-awaited comeback, and it turns out it didn’t take much convincing.“When you start planning as far out as we do, and with the state we’re in we knew it was likely to change and that we could lose some contributors, so we thought, ‘Do we bring back a team that we know are loved and we know deliver? Why don’t we see if they’d be keen as special guest stars, Heather Locklear style?’,” McDonald says.“They were right up for it. It’s something to do that’s entertaining and will also entertain them for themselves. “It didn’t take any hard convincing to get them to come back. And honestly seeing them in the edit, it does your soul good.”The series is going into its seventh year on-air, during a window in which streaming platforms and binge-watching has surged.Despite the changing landscape of television, McDonald believes there’ll always be appetite for a show like Gogglebox.“Sometimes you do go into certain shows thinking there is a timeline. I think some of the cast felt lucky to get a second episode after episode one went to air, they thought no one (would) watch it,” McDonald said.“Television changes and taste changes. The narration about what we’re watching will always change.“(But) apart from relatability of the characters, I describe it (Gogglebox) as a trojan horse. You can get into a couple of areas and ideas and talk about some serious stuff and it’s surprising where it can take you. “The show is reflective of the society we’re in. We need to reflect the reality of what that is. It can’t be an idealised version of it, it has to be the real deal. I hope that’s what we do, and we evolve to keep up with habits.”Gogglebox airs tonight at 7.30pm on FOXTEL and Thursday at 8.30pm on Ten
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