Nine sacks a Fatty Footy Show favourite ousted after 23 years
NRL television stalwart Paul “Fatty” Vautin is being punted from Channel 9’s Footy Show
after 23 years and 11 Logies.
The longest-serving host on Australian television will be restricted to commentary box duties at live NRL games in 2018 with the network to groom glamorous star Erin Molan as his replacement.
The Gold Coast Bulletin can reveal The Footy Show will be expanded next year to broadcast in a new timeslot on Monday night, then Thursday night and Sunday lunchtime.
Molan yesterday paid tribute to her fellow Footy Show
stars, Vautin, Darryl “Big Marn” Brohmann and Beau Ryan as well as executive producer Glenn Pallister.
“I’m not sure what the show will look like next year but I am so grateful for the past six seasons alongside Fatty, Big Marn, Beau and Glenn and the whole team,” she said. “I love them.
“They are family and, whatever happens, always will be.”
The move to replace 58year-old Vautin and promote Molan is a tactical manoeuvre by the network to win back female fans who have deserted
The Footy Show and switched to Fox Sports, where Yvonne Sampson heads up an impressive line-up of female presenters.
Vautin is on a family holiday in the US and did not return phone calls or text messages.
The futures of the show’s current stars remain uncertain.
The highest paid panellist, Beau Ryan, still has two years to run on his contract.
Nine executives stress that Vautin will remain on the network in a commentary role for at least next year.
“He is rated very highly in the broadcast box,” one source said.